MaidSafe has recently announced the immediate availability of the alpha release of the SAFE Network – the first public testing phase – which comes after 5 months of testing and 8 test nets.

“[I]t is our pleasure to announce the immediate availability of the alpha release of the SAFE Network. This represents another significant milestone on the way to creating a new, decentralised Internet”, the announcement reads.

The release is available for Windows, Mac and Linux, and comes with 2 components, the Launcher and the Demo App, each with their own installer. By installing both the Launcher and Demo App, users will be able to store private data, publish public data, create their own SAFE webpage and even host an existing site without charge. The demo app is the first of several apps currently under development, MaidSafe said.

According to the announcement, Vault installers will be rolled out within a couple of weeks which will enable users to contribute their own computing resources.

“Running 2 parallel networks will enable us to provide a more stable network for end users and app developers, while also enabling ongoing development of the vault, which has a much more active code base at present. Once we are happy with performance, we will revert back to having one network”, it said.

However, MaidSafe cautioned its users saying that data on the network will be wiped from time to time and that there is a possibility that users’ data will be lost.

“This is the first of several alpha releases that MaidSafe will make. Future versions will improve performance and increase stability, combine the Client and Vault networks, as well as adding features such as; contact management, messaging, test safecoin and safecoin wallets”, it added.

MaidSafeCoin is currently among the top ten cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization of $49.5 million.