Apple recently posted the first beta release of an update to OS X Yosemite . If you're a registered developer or part of the AppleSeed public beta program, you're eligible to download it. But what if you don't want to? Read on to find out how to avoid downloading it.

First of all, why would you want to avoid the beta?

Many of us want beta updates, and that's fine. But beta software is, by nature, not ready for general release. While Apple may be improving overall reliability and usability, sometimes beta software can introduce new problems you weren't expecting. And many of us may be experiencing beta fatigue right now after months of looking at Yosemite pre-release.

Apple itself advises that the beta software should only be installed "on a system or partition you are prepared to erase as necessary," and says that the beta shouldn't be installed on a production Mac or one that you depend on for your business. Apple also recommends backing up your Mac before installing it.

That's all really good advice. Advice I'd strongly recommend that you follow.

If you're seeing messages to download that update from the Mac App Store and you're not ready to — it's your only Mac, or you haven't backed it up recently, or you just don't feel like it — it's trivial to make those alerts stop. Here's how.

To stop showing Yosemite beta releases

Click on the  menu. Select System Preferences... Click on App Store. Click on the Change... button next to "Your computer is set to receive pre-release Software Update seeds." Click the button marked Do Not Show Pre-release Updates.

The change will take effect immediately.

If you don't see the "Your computer is set..." message, your Mac isn't configured to receive beta updates. If you're a registered Mac developer, or if you're enrolled in the AppleSeed public beta program, you can download a configuration utility to do so.