You seem very difficult to please.
Before hub firmware version 2.3.9 was released (with the new easy dashboards), did you actually consider your hub to be “semi working?”
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I used to work in digital telecomms.
When the vendor released a major update to our digital switches it would go into our test plant where it would get hammered with all types of call scenarios. Bugs would be found and fixed by the vendor.
After 2 months of extensive testing it would get released onto one live site and be closely monitored.
More bugs would be found and fixed.
It would then get released into 5 more sites.
More bugs would be found and fixed.
We would then go into full national rollout.
We would sit back and be ready for the issues to start rolling in. Thankfully most of these would be minor but occasionally a biggy would slip through.
The point of this post is in my experience you can beta test as much as you like but there will be people out there who do things you do not expect and will have an issue.
This doesn't mean you shouldn't do extensive beta testing but there does come a point when you have to bite the bullet and release.
As has been said above though, when something is spotted, the HE team are pretty darn good at finding and then releasing a new build with a fix in pretty short order.
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Correct. So it wouldn't affect non-testers. I have 3 hubs now, one dedicated to just betas. So, I don't need this. I never see "beta versions" on my two production hubs. BUT, when I had one hub I sometimes accidentally updated to a beta when it was not a good time - family events, pending vacation etc. Then it was a bummer leaving these less stable or having things break when you want things to "just work." I remember what a pain it was and how a little thing like knowing if a version was Beta or production would help. It's pretty odd frankly that it isn't marked in some distinctive way.
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I love the fact you can rollback to whatever version you need to. No one is beholden to update. The way this is handled by a $150 product is amazing.
That said I'll chime and say regardless of the amount of people beta testing, you cannot account for everything. This is in terms of how people use a product. combination of hardware and installed apps/drivers. Again, for a $150 product they do an amazing job. If you feel that a release is buggy, roll back... Problem solved.
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Guys ..
I am Not saying that this not a great platform or the team is not trying to make a great product.
Nor am I saying that bugs are not going to happen ..
If you read the forms like I do .. you will see that these "bugs" happen way to often.
also I think and have said many times they are doing a great job in this forum !
and yes they work hard to "fix" stuff as the bugs pop up.
See some of my other posts like this one ..
But it does seem like they tend to release new firmware that we the people are bug checking.
when a lot of this could and should be found before they release it.
This should have been found very easy before it got released.
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Opera is kind of niche product. Is there a definitive list of "supported browsers"? Because current browser market share in the US is:
Most current declaration of supported browsers was in 2019 and Opera wasn't on the list. Supported Operating Systems and Browsers
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The drag and drop on the original dash was put in after the 2.3.9 release in a very short beta cycle. If it does not work for some users then it is not breaking anything or causing any issues, it just doesn't work. I don't understand why this is such a big deal, you did not lose any existing functionality, a new (highly unexpected) feature just didn't work for every user.
If you want an extremely stable release then stay on 2.3.8 until they are totally done with 2.3.9 and only update to the final version of each major release.
No idea why you quoted my post up above??? Are you saying that is a bad thing or a good thing?
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The problem is real, regardless of the investment made. It could be a system that costs $150 or $15,000. After all, a system like Hubitat is the brain of your home, and could be even more critical than a computer or a phone. If something goes wrong with your phone or a computer, you can pick a different one to complete the task you need (E.G. borrow some else's phone to make a call). Try doing that with your home automation hub. 
What matters most is to have a solid fallback plan and the tools you need to carry out that plan. With Hubitat, you can wait to install a new release, you can go back to a previous version if you already installed it, or you can be sure that our engineers are quick to remedy the situation and get your system back up and running with minimal downtime.
For a $15,000 system, more often than not, if something goes wrong, you need to call the installer who set-up the system, then wait for the installer to escalate the problem to the system provider.
Hubitat gives you the peace of mind that not many companies in the smart home industry come close. And that's the power of DIY!
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Just copy and pasted the link .. thats what came up ..
was not quoting you .. it auto did that .. lol > fixed sorry !
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From the TOS
c. Customer acknowledges that the Hubitat Platform is under continuous development, is not complete or otherwise at the final stage of development and that Hubitat makes no representation that the Hubitat Platform is error or bug free.
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Well since you asked, I guess I am on the being a bit too hard on the developers side,
I think they do a pretty good job, I, like you, don't want to be a beta tester, but that also means I want my system to remain stable. So updating as soon as a new firmware is released is not a good strategy.
HE puts out pretty extensive release notes on each update. So I always read that and if there is something they fixed that I think may be an issue for me or there is something new I want to try then I will download. Otherwise I wait until it's been in the wild for at least a week or more.
After living with ST for a couple years and not having a choice I appreciate, not having to update unless I want to.
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My goodness. I've lived long enough to see someone read the Terms of Service. Surely a sign of the apocalypse!
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I got one better.. They pushed a firmware update to my SmartThings branded devices and bricked them permanently.. This was the point I started looking @ Hubitat..
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I blame ITV, BBC ETC. a poor line up of watchable TV last night which made me bored, so I had a look in here on my laptop and saw another update which I installed and lost 2 of my basic rules, I usually wait a few days for any reports of bugs
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I had a very long response prepared for this discussion but see that most if not all of my points have already been eloquently made by others so I'll just quote a line from the registration and setup document to cover one that was overlooked and move on.
Google Chrome is recommended for the best experience, but Firefox may also be used.
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Anytime someone buys a new car, they are a beta tester. That is why there are recalls. Only until something is put in the real world can it be fully tested.
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This is bang on.
My only suggestion is after alpha and beta (which most people don’t see) that there should be a release candidate RC indicator on the versions so people that do not visit the forum or those that do not want to install a early release can hold off when they get the update indicator.
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I've suggested that multiple times. Rejected.
So I default to recommending those that value stability over new features simply WAIT and do not install every new release as soon as it comes out... 
If stability is tantamount to you, then it makes ZERO sense to install brand new versions of ANYTHING, regardless of the vendor.
The exception to that may be if a release addresses a specific bug that you are having, and that bug is painful enough to "roll the dice" on other issues being present. Only the end user can make that decision though.
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Yeah I thought it would be at least good to be able to see right from the update screen on the hub if you are about to install a Beta or a normal release. Especially with all the newer beta testers who don't even realize they are beta testing, just blindly update.
Next level on top of that would be more info, something like RC, or even LTS when it is probably the final release of that major version.
Next Next level would be an option on the hub to only notify you of updates in a certain channel (or above). So if you set it to LTS you only get told about the update if its another LTS version. If you set to RC you get RC and LTS, etc...
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