I’ve also experienced this behavior for days, with or without the beta plugin.
I seem to be stuck on WordPress 3.3-RC2-19567
Same here. I’m sure it’s just a matter of catching up. Current beta 3 release is available for download here if you want to do a quick manual upgrade: http://wordpress.org/wordpress-3.3-RC3.zip
You know this is going to sound crazy, but I prefer using the “Update Now” method instead of the manual upgrade. I don’t trust getting a correct match-up of files from the downloaded .zip file, and the installation on my Host’s server (Go-Daddy). Seems like I have extra files on each location. Then I have to search folder’s/files for stragglers and delete them. Kind of like using CCleaner or Disk Cleanup on a Windows machine. I guess I’m lazy. It’s not WordPress’s fault. I was under the impression that the current upgrading procedure only changed “new files”; not all of them. Oh well, I’ll wait it out.
You know this is going to sound crazy, but I prefer using the “Update Now” method instead of the manual upgrade
That isn’t in the least bit crazy, or lazy. I know exactly what you mean. I’ve become accustomed to using the automatic update on several sites. Frankly, it’s a pretty darned convenient feature!