diff --git a/ANNOUNCE b/ANNOUNCE
index de94212f6a..050b04d5f9 100644
--- a/ANNOUNCE
+++ b/ANNOUNCE
@@ -1,13 +1,18 @@
-Pre-release of LyX version 2.0.0 (alpha 6)
+Pre-release of LyX version 2.0.0 (beta 1)
 ==========================================
 
-We are pleased to announce the sixth alpha release of LyX 2.0.0.
-This release is for testing purposes only, users are encouraged
-to use current 1.6 stable release for any serious work.
+We are pleased to announce the first public pre-release of LyX 2.0.0.
+Development moved to the beta phase which basically means we will no more
+include new features and focus on polishing the current ones.
+We are thus grateful for any feedback you sent us regarding any bugs you
+encounter while testing the beta release.
+
+Please note that this release is for testing purposes only, users are
+encouraged to use current 1.6 stable release for any serious work.
 
 Tarballs and binaries can be found at ftp://ftp.lyx.org/pub/lyx/devel/
 
-LyX 2.0.0 will be culmination of more than 21 months of hard work
+LyX 2.0.0 will be culmination of more than two years of hard work
 and you can find an overview of the new features here:
 http://wiki.lyx.org/LyX/NewInLyX20