Apple asks retail employees to test Mountain Lion
The company's retail store workers are now being recruited to test the near-final release of the latest update to OS X.
Apple store employees can now join the party of people testing OS X Mountain Lion before it hits the streets next month.
In an e-mail to store workers revealed by 9to5Mac, Apple has invited its Genius Bar members and Creatives to partake in the AppleSeed testing program. Available to select customers as well as employees, this program gives participants access to pre-release software so they can test the products and provide feedback to the company.
Those who join the program adhere to a confidentiality agreement that prevents them from sharing the software with anyone else. Apple provides various tools for users to offer their feedback, including Web forms, discussion lists, mailing lists, engineering questionnaires, and bug reports.
Store employees who volunteer to test Mountain Lion must use their own personal machines, 9to5Mac added.
Beyond providing feedback, workers will get a feel for the latest OS X version before it goes on sale, a useful training exercise if they're to explain and demo the product to customers.
Outfitted with around 200 new features, Mountain Lion will be available as a $19.99 update for current Lion and Snow Leopard users.