approx release time for 7.1 alpha

Any ideas on how long its looking before we get out of beta release and into production version?

Alpha would be a step back from beta.  From how it looks now, I would say maybe two or three weeks at most before a final, but I know about as much as everyone else.

I suspect it is going to be longer than that, but I don't have any specific information either. 

My question is when they do the next release - whatever they call it - beta 2 or whatever, will we still have to do serial upgrades, or will it be a one step process?  In other words, will we have to upgrade to this beta, and then do another upgrade?   Given the mess I created with this one, I hope not.