Over the weekend, an <ahref="https://www.freelists.org/post/haiku-development/Wrapping-up-R1-alpha-2">official commitment to enter the release cycle mode</a> has been made for a <strong>tentative release date of May 10th</strong>! In the seven months since the release of R1 Alpha 1, there has been <ahref="https://dev.haiku-os.org/wiki/R1/ImprovementsSinceAlpha1">numerous improvements</a> to Haiku, with over 300 <ahref="https://dev.haiku-os.org/wiki/R1/Alpha1ReportedIssues">reported issues with R1 Alpha 1</a> fixed.
With <ahref="https://www.freelists.org/post/haiku-development/VOTE-R1-alpha-2-release-coordinator">unanimous support from the developers</a>, Ingo Weinhold has stepped up as the acting release coordinator, with offers of support from Niels Reedijk. Already, a <ahref="https://dev.haiku-os.org/browser/haiku/branches/releases/r1alpha2">development branch</a> has been made and <ahref="http://www.haiku-files.org">Haiku Files</a> has been updated to serve <strong>pre-release nightly images of r1alpha2 for testing purposes</strong>. We encourage all of you to help out by testing these images and <ahref="https://dev.haiku-os.org">reporting any regressions in stability or other issues</a>.
In addition to testing, <ahref="https://dev.haiku-os.org/wiki/R1/Alpha2/StatusAndCoordination">numerous other tasks</a> need volunteers. These include coordinating mirrors and distribution via torrent files; reviewing the various documentation for improvements or inaccuracies: <ahref="/guides/building">Building Haiku Guide</a>, <ahref="http://svn.haiku-os.org/haiku/haiku/trunk/docs/userguide/en/contents.html">User Guide</a>, <ahref="http://svn.haiku-os.org/haiku/haiku/trunk/docs/welcome/welcome_en.html">Welcome Page</a>; improving the <ahref="http://hta.haikuzone.net/">localization of applications</a>.