Golden Master (GM)

A physical CD that contains the approved Final Candidate that will be distributed to customers.

Phase: Release

Purpose: The Golden Master is necessary in order for a First Article to be created. The purpose is to ship the software to the customers.

Entry Criteria: QA should receive the Final Candidate burned on to a CD.


Activities
Apart from all the testing activities done during FC phase, a few additional activities are done which are as follows:
• Test the CD for Viruses.
• Test the CD for block/sectors quality.
• Verify CD structure.
• Verify that all the files are being installed at the proper location.
• Verify that all the files appear with correct extension and icons on respective platforms.

For more software testing definitions, please go here