Clarification please 17.1 VS 17

I want a response from BMD devs, not people guessing:

Am I to understand that Macs NOT using an M1 chip is BETA 17-9, and if you ARE using an M1 machine then 17.1-9 is the correct path?

Not guessing, but having been corrected myself by the guys from BM: 17.1 is a universal version for Macs running Big Sur, both for Intel or M1, while 17.0 will run on Mojave and Catalina too, but Intel only.

You are guessing, because they have now separated the BETA updates; v9 has a ".1" for M1 and a 17-9 for non M1.

I too have seen the post about ".1" supposedly being universal, so now BMD has once again contradicted themselves - hence the clarification request.

Well, the Apple info box says 'universal' and I can start it under Rosetta2.
I'm not going to install Big Sur on my other machines to verify

[Peter Chamberlain]

17.1 is a universal build, but as some feature parity is still being worked on if you are not on M1 you can still use 17.0 builds.

Ultimately, the 17.1 will become the basis of MacOS releases moving forward.

Much appreciated, Peter.

This is a bit puzzling. Yesterday the new release version 17.0 was uploaded and the following day there is an upload of 17.1 beta. I wasn't expecting that; someone's had a busy 24 hours!
I imagine there may be others who updated yesterday and are wondering whether they should have waited and whether it is now worth doing another update to 17.1 beta.

17.1 beta is only for M1 users.
You really shouldn't use it if you're not one ...

It's still not clear. Why is there 17.1 beta 10 for windows?

What is the difference between 17 official and 17.1 beta 10 for Win?

I was surprised too, but obviously they have started a new beta program, where there is now a Windows version and a universal one for MacOS (and one for Linux too).

17.1 beta is only for M1 users.
You really shouldn't use it if you're not one ...

That doesn't make much sense given that there is a windows installer version of 17.1 beta.

Definitely not Apple only anymore now.
Just a beta aiming for the next release on all platforms.

[Peter Chamberlain]

At some stage soon, we will release 17.1 for all platforms to replace 17.0.

The MacOS version is a universal binary for M1 and Intel Macs.
The win and Linux versions are the next update from 17.0.