The Windows Insider Page
What is the Windows Insider program?
The Windows Insider Program is a way for enthusiasts to gain early access to the latest changes to Microsoft Windows, and a way for Microsoft to test their software for bugs across a much wider range of devices than they could gather on their own, and also a way to gauge interest in potential new features.
How did the Windows Insider Program get Started?
Microsoft has offered “beta testing” programs for products like Windows and Office for years, back to the days of special Usenet channels, but the Windows Insider program started in 2014 with the upcoming launch of Windows 10. Initially expecting no more than 40,000 testers, the Windows Insider Program quickly grew to millions of testers, reaching some 18 million at one point.
How do i join the Windows Insider Program?
Potential testers can learn more about the Insider Program from Microsoft at the Windows Insider site, and register to try out the latest versions of Windows.
What are Windows insider channels?
Microsoft initially broke Insider builds into “Rings,” with a Fast Ring for the most cutting edge builds, the Slow Ring for more stable and closer to shipping releases, and the Release Preview Ring for versions of Windows just about to ship. This later changed into a series of Channels, to align better with Microsoft’s other Insider programs for Office, etc. Currently, there are four Channels: the Canary Channel, a potentially unstable release containing features that may or may not make it into shipping versions of Windows, the Dev Channel, for again long range feature testing, but not quite as cutting edge as Canary, the Beta Channel, and the Release Preview Channel.
WIndows “11” Insider Canary Channel
The Windows Insider program revised its channels program in 2023, creating a new Canary Channel. Although Microsoft refers to the Canary Channel as a new Windows 11 channel, it’s widely believed to be an early effort to test what will become Windows 12. In any event, it’s a “hot off the presses” release, so be careful if you decide to test it:
The builds that will be flighted to the Canary Channel will be “hot off the presses,” flighting very soon after they are built, which means very little validation and documentation will be done before they are offered to Insiders. These builds could include major issues that could result in not being able to use your PC correctly or even in some rare cases require you to reinstall Windows. We will offer limited documentation for the Canary Channel, but we will not publish a blog post for every flight – only when new features are available in a build. We will continue to provide blog posts for Dev, Beta, and Release Preview releases like we do normally.
Windows 11 Insider build 25921 released to Canary Channel with SMB changes
Microsoft has released a new pair of Windows 11 Insider updates today, for the Canary Channel (25921) and the Dev Channel (23545). For the Canary Channel, there are a couple of new features for Server Message Blocks (SMB), and the … Read more
Windows 11 Insiders in the Dev Channel get a new build with 23545
Along with a new Canary Channel build, Microsoft has released a new build for the Windows 11 Insider Dev Channel today with 23545. There aren’t any new features, but there are two changes and improvements: Search on the Taskbar is providing some alternate experiences for clicking on the search highlight gleam, which up until now…
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22621.2338 and Build 22631.2338 out to Beta channel
Microsoft has released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22621.2338 and Build 22631.2338 (KB5030305) to the Beta Channel. Two builds have been released, 22631.2338 with new features rolling out, and 22621.2338 with new features off by default. Focus Session As part of a Clock app update (version 11.2306.22.0 and higher) via the Microsoft Store, a new…
24 improvements included in Windows 11 Build 22621.2359 for 22H2 Release Preview Channel
Microsoft made Windows 11 Build 22621.2359 (KB5030310) available to Windows Insiders enrolled in the Release Preview Channel for Windows 11, version 22H2. This Release Preview Channel build comes alongside build 22000.2479 for Windows 11 (original release). It consists of 1 feature and 24 improvements. The only provided feature is personalized website recommendations in the Start…