Windows Insider Program

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The Windows Insider program from Microsoft allows users to have a valid Windows 10 have license to sign up for pre-release versions to register the operating system. Previously, this type of access was only available to developers. The program was announced on September 30, 2014 along with Windows 10. In September 2015, over 7 million people took part in the Windows Insider Program. On February 12, 2015, Microsoft began testing the Windows 10 Mobile preview. Microsoft announced that the versions of the Windows Insider Program would go beyond the official versions of Windows 10 for future updates. Dona Sarkar is the current head of the Windows Insider Program. Her predecessor Gabe Aul suddenly switched to Facebook in June 2016 . Separate teams have set up their own insider program for Microsoft Office , Bing and Xbox . Those who have joined the program have 10 days to switch to the "normal" Windows version. If this time is up, the computer must be reset or rebooted in order to switch to the normal version of Windows, since Windows does not change the version of the system if you exit. Alternatively, you can end your participation and receive it when the next stable version is released.

history

Microsoft originally started the program for enterprise testers and “technically skilled” people to try out new developer features and to collect feedback in order to improve the features built into Windows 10 until the official launch of the operating system. The Insider Program for PCs was registered a total of 5 million times on Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile , and the Insiders were also among the first people to receive the official update to Windows 10.

With the release of Windows 10, the Windows Insider app was merged with the Settings app, making it an integrated feature. Thus the program could be used without having to install a separate app.

groups

Windows 10 Insider Updates are delivered to testers in different groups ( rings ). Insiders in the “fast ring ” receive updates before the insiders in the “ slow ring ”. In February 2016, Microsoft introduced additional groups for the Windows Insider Preview.

Group ( ring ) Availability description
Canary group (Canary ring) Intern This group receives daily updates and is only accessible to Windows developers in the Windows and Devices group.
Windows and devices group ring After the Canary group approves a build, let that group review the updates.
Microsoft Group (Microsoft ring) This is the final non-public phase and will be distributed to internal Microsoft employees once the previous group approves the build.
Windows Insider Preview group (Windows Insider Preview ring) Skip

(Skip Ahead)

Public Windows Insiders in Skip Ahead will receive pre-release versions of the next major release. These are installed instantly, so users can get new features as quickly as possible at the expense of potential bugs. The current participation ends with the release of the major version and the user is automatically switched to the Fast-Ring. This group will be reopened with each upcoming major release.
Fast

(Nearly)

Windows Insiders in the Fast Ring receive builds after they're approved by the Microsoft group. These are installed instantly, so users can get new features as quickly as possible at the expense of potential bugs. This group was added on October 21, 2014 with the launch of build 9860.
Slowly

(Slow)

If there are no issues with builds reported by the Fast Ring , the build will be sent to the Slow Ring later (or at the same time) . This is the default option for consumer versions of Windows Insider Preview and was the only group available at startup until the Fast Ring was added.
preview

(Release Preview)

This ring, which was introduced with build 10586 on February 10, 2016, enables Windows Insiders to have early access to patches and fixes for their current builds. It doesn't deliver any builds with new features, so it's more secure and less prone to bugs than the other rings.

Supported Cell Phones

Microsoft originally started the Windows 10 Insider Preview (officially as Windows 10 Technical Preview) for certain third-generation phones (x30 series) of its Lumia series and then released it in the test phase for second-generation devices (x20 series). After many Windows Insiders hacked their non-Lumia phones (which were not supported at the time) to download the preview builds, Microsoft responded by blocking all unsupported models. To reset the installed Technical Preview on Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft launched the Windows Device Recovery Tool, which removed Windows 10 and restored the latest officially released software and firmware.

Preview Build 10080, released May 14, 2015, was the first to support a non-Lumia device, the HTC One M8 for Windows. This was followed by Xiaomi, who in partnership with Microsoft released a Windows 10 ROM port on its flagship Mi 4 on June 1, 2015. At the time, it was restricted to certain registered users in China. Build 10080 and Build 10166 also brought support for the fourth generation of Lumia (x40) devices. As a result, all Lumia phones with Windows Phone 8 (or higher) are now supported.

On February 19, 2016, Microsoft released the first Windows 10 Mobile Redstone Preview, Build 14267. Starting with this build, future preview versions were only delivered for devices that were already running a non-insider preview of the operating system, with the exception of the Mi4 ROM version. This was followed by Build 14291, which was released on March 17, 2016 in conjunction with the official RTM version of Windows 10 Mobile on the third and fourth generation of Lumias for existing Windows 10 devices.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gabe Aul: Announcing the first build of Windows 10 Technical Preview for Phones . Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  2. ↑ Gabe Aul: A quick update on Windows 10 builds for phones for Windows Insiders . In: Windows Blogs , March 27, 2015. 
  3. ↑ Julia Martin: Microsoft touts Windows 10 Technical Preview coming to more Lumia devices. . In: Inferse , March 28, 2015. 
  4. ↑ New Windows 10 Mobile preview build likely coming later today . In: Neowin.net , May 14, 2015. 
  5. ↑ Microsoft to roll out Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview build 10136; build 10145 in testing . In: Neowin.net , June 15, 2015. 
  6. ↑ Announcing Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 10586.29 . In: Windows Blog , December 4, 2015. 
  7. ↑ Announcing Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 14267 . In: Windows Blog , February 19, 2016. 
  8. ↑ Microsoft launches Windows Insider Program to get Windows betas . In: Ars Technica . ( arstechnica.com [accessed March 23, 2017]).
  9. ↑ How to Install the Insider Hub App in Windows 10 . In: Petri . July 6, 2015 ( petri.com [accessed March 23, 2017]).
  10. ↑ a b Windows 10 Mobile Redstone will get native Windows Insider program integration soon - MSPoweruser . In: MSPoweruser . April 14, 2016 ( mspoweruser.com [accessed March 23, 2017]).
  11. ^ Microsoft Adds a Release Preview Ring to Windows Insider Program. Accessed March 23, 2017 .
  12. ↑ PSA: Windows 10 Mobile Build 14267 is only available to Lumia 950 XL, 950, 650, 550 and Xiaomi Mi4 - MSPoweruser . In: MSPoweuser . February 19, 2016 ( mspoweruser.com [accessed March 23, 2017]).
  13. ↑ Bogdan Popa: Windows 10 Mobile Redstone Build 14291 Released to Older Windows Phones . In: softpedia . ( softpedia.com [accessed March 23, 2017]).