Halo: Reach multiplayer in alpha....sort of.

In Bungie's customary weekly update, the first thing they mention is that the upcoming multiplayer beta for what they call "the definitive Halo" is kind of in alpha, but not quite.

Well, not exactly. We’re actually in the Release Candidate phase, which essentially means that the team has already put an astounding amount of absurdly hard work into crafting a representative slice of Halo: Reach’s multiplayer that will ultimately serve as the foundation for the tasty pie that is the public beta. As we speak they’re scrubbing the spit out of it for game breaking bugs and packaging it up real nice so it can be tested and certified before we open the internal flood gates and let a few thousand friends pound on it big time. It's a ton of work and it'll all ensure that the finished product meets our ultra high quality bar across the board.

Sounds like they're really trying to get the beta as sweet and polished as they can and are putting a lot of effort into it.
I for one am looking forward to getting in on some Halo: Reach multiplayer goodness!