Editing Software release life cycle (section)

=== Release candidate ===
[[File:Microsoft windows 2000 server rc2 media.jpg|thumb|upright|Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Release Candidate 2 media.]]

A ''release candidate'' (''RC''), also known as gamma testing or "going silver", is a beta version with the potential to be a stable product, which is ready to release unless significant [[software bug|bugs]] emerge. In this stage of product stabilization, all product features have been designed, coded, and tested through one or more beta cycles with no known showstopper-class bugs. A release is called ''code complete'' when the development team agrees that no entirely new source code will be added to this release. There could still be source code changes to fix defects, changes to documentation and data files, and peripheral code for test cases or utilities.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}