there is nothing wrong with making "it freely available to...

there is nothing wrong with making "it freely available to everyone"

its what all the large software houses do... you are :-
a) getting people hooked for free and building anticipation for a launch date.
b) leverages the concept free beta testing (end users) and feedback of the product, as if users report or have a problems or difficulties or identify problem with the product, it allows time for evaluation and patching, or for instructional documentation to be revised so its easier to understand.... before an "official release"
c) generates word of mouth from happy testers in various tech communities

to me, this means they are getting closer to a launch, putting the product out there to gather marketing intelligence from the users that attempt to use it.