The difference is... Ah, fuck it. Your mother's a whore. And your banner is gay.

... You could definitely hide this blog and go ask this in the forums.

after you're done with the alpha, you move on to the beta...duh.

Okay Amigo, I realize that I shouldn't be doing this but I will anyway.

Alpha Build: This is the initial playable build of a game. It's yet to have all it's kinks worked out and is rarely seen by the public.

After rounds upon rounds of extensive testing it moves on to the next step.

Beta Build: This is the next stop in a game's life cycle. It has been released for testing by end users. The best way to think about it is as a "prototype" of the final game.

Beta Tests can be divided up into several categories. They are usually performed in the following order.

Closed-Beta: A test performed by a preselected group of individuals. The main goal of the closed-beta is to test for initial quality-assurance.

Open-Beta: The game is opened to user who simply volunteer to test the game. The purpose of this is usually stress-testing. The developer want's to see how the game performs in the "wild": on a number of different hardware configurations, with countless play styles, and (in the case of multiplayer) with a large number of plays on hosted servers.

Don't worry about pre-alpha. It just sounds cool, and doesn't actually mean anything.

I hope that helps. Post this question in our forums' section next time, and you'll receive quicker assistance.

http://pc.wikia.com/wiki/Software_Development_Timeline

Very simple and concise overview.

Rucksack: I wouldn't call the beta version a prototype. That would be the alpha version where things can still change and features added and whatnot. Beta means that all the important features are in place and working. It may still need a bit of polish and bug fixes but nothing major will change between the beta and the final version.

i promise: forums next time. i swear. rucksack wins it. by a long shot. but i will include an honorable mention by jamnontheone for that lovely timeline. thanks guys. huge help.

@Silverdragon

No