Which forum to use?

Tricky1571 said:

New code releases like beta11.64 was not announced (users just found out somehow themselves).

I wonder how you came up with that. 11.64 is not a beta.

https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/enduro-3/385210/enduro-3-system-software-11-64 

Tricky1571 said:

This very forum looks like "Announcements" and "Public Beta Reports" for the Enduro3 combined. But why did it move - and separate from Fenix8? And why use this forum when users cannot Upvote bugs?

It never moved. Each recent Garmin model has a public forum, and most of them have also a section in the Beta Program forum. Beta Program forum is designed for beta-testers and for discussing issues with the beta versions of the firmware. Public forum is for the general public, and for discussing issues once the firmware was released publicly. 

While bugs in beta versions should be reported exclusively on the Beta Program forum, in the bugs section, once the firmware is released, you should report any issues with the watch directly to the Support, and if you wish, you can also post to public forum, but there is no guarantee anyone from Garmin will read it.

Tricky1571 said:

This very forum looks like "Announcements" and "Public Beta Reports" for the Enduro3 combined. But why did it move - and separate from Fenix8? And why use this forum when users cannot Upvote bugs?

This is the forum for general Enduro 3 discussion. The beta forums (for any product) are their own thing - they're (supposed to be) solely for discussing beta firmware.

Tricky1571 said:

But why did it move - and separate from Fenix8?

That's not the right way of looking at things. Historically (and currently) Garmin devices have had their own (non-beta) forums. It's more that there's a single beta forum for Fenix 8 / Enduro 3 / Fenix E, probably because those devices all share the same or similar firmware. Regardless of the structure of the beta forums, they have always been separate from the "regular" product forums.

Note that the Garmin forums have been around for a lot longer than the beta program (and beta forums), and not everyone is in the beta program, so it's not the case that the beta forums are the normal place to talk about your device, as you have assumed.

Tricky1571 said:

And why use this forum when users cannot Upvote bugs?

Well, this forum isn't a bug report forum. Unfortunately there's no general bug report forums for non-beta device firmware.

Ppl use this forum bc it's a general discussion forum for Enduro 3, as opposed to a forum that's specific to the beta program for Fenix 8 / Enduro 3 / Fenix E.

Tricky1571 said:

So please explain to me/us which forum we should use and tell us users in both forums so we can end this chaos.

Use this forum for general discussion and use the beta forum for beta discussion.

Yeah obviously there will be overlap and duplication between the forums. One thing I've noticed is when a particular device (like FR955 or FR965) receives release firmware (so there's no currently active beta firmware), the beta forums (including bug reports forum) for that device are locked (new posts and replies can't be made, bugs can't be voted on). This highlights the difference between the general forum and beta forums. (Idk why the Fenix 8 / etc. beta forums aren't locked tho.)

If a firmware becomes final people are asked to post bugs in the non-beta forum of their device (even if they have been discussed in the beta forum before), I does not mean those bugs will be processed here, some selected might get the attention of Garmin employees, that will ask you then for individual reports by PM.

But it is a good place to to get in touch with other affected people and then use the official contact form for bug reporting, each individual should do so (numbers matter, if there is only one person complaining, even if it is a justifiable bug that affects everyone, Garmin won't care).

Use beta section Discussions to discuss Beta functions.
Use beta section report area to report Bugs. The only Curiostiy (but a smart move) is that there is a section for final Firmware to report bugs
Use Outdoor - Watch subforum to discuss final firmware functionality. 

11.64 was announced. It was never a beta. People assumed it was beta because they registered their watch for beta and later received a final firmware, but it was announced as final.

I don’t get the confusion, if you can read it is clearly defined wich forum to use for what. Especially for the beta forums.

BeneGi said:

I don’t get the confusion, if you can read it is clearly defined wich forum to use for what

Apparently they've been using the beta forums, and only the beta forums, for years, so the existence of a non-beta forum for their device is a huge shock. For them, the beta forums are the "normal" forums.

The part I don't get is everyone knows you have to opt in to the beta program, and clearly not everyone is going to do so, so how can the beta forums be the normal place to post?

As if Garmin made a whole set of non-beta forums (not just for Enduro 3, but every other current Garmin device) by accident.

Cheers. Thanks for explaining. Got it. ;-)