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Windows Insider

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Windows Insider
Original author(s)Microsoft Corporation
Initial releaseOctober 1, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-10-01)
Operating systemWindows 10, Windows Phone 8.1, Windows 10 Mobile
Size0.8 MB (Mobile devices)
Available inArabic, Catalan, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Czech, Dutch, English (United Kingdom), English (United States), Finnish, French, French (Canada), German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish (Mexico), Spanish (Spain), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese
LicenseProprietary software
Websiteinsider.windows.com
Part of a series of articles on
Windows 10
Siblings
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The Windows Insider program by Microsoft allows users to sign up for early builds of the Windows operating system previously only accessible to developers.[1] It was announced on September 30, 2014 along with Windows 10.[2] By the end of 2014 over 1.5 million people have already installed the Windows 10 technical preview.[3] On February 12, 2015, Microsoft used the program to deliver a preview for the mobile phone version of Windows 10.[4] Microsoft announced that the Windows Insider program would continue beyond the official release of Windows 10 for future updates.

History

Microsoft originally launched the Windows Insider program for enterprise testers and the "technically able" to test out new developer features and to gather feedback to improve the features built into Windows 10,[5] and by the time of the official launch of the Windows 10 operating system for PCs a total of 5 million Windows Insiders were registered on both Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile and these Insiders were also among the first people to receive the official update to Windows 10.[6]

Rings

Windows 10 Insider preview updates are delivered to testers in different rings,[7] Windows Insiders in the fast ring receive updates prior to Windows Insiders in the slow ring but might experience more bugs and other issues.[8][9] In February 2016 Microsoft introduced new rings for the Windows Insider preview.[10]

Ring Availability Meaning
Canary Ring Not Public Canary gets daily updates and are only accessible by Windows developers.
Windows and Devices Group Ring After the Canary Ring approves a build this one shall be spread across the WDG Ring.
Microsoft Ring This is the last non-public phase and will be distributed over Microsoft itself as soon as the OSG Ring approves of a build.
Windows Insider Ring - Fast Public Windows Insiders in the Fast Ring get builds after they've been approved by the Microsoft Ring. These ones are immediately installed, allowing users to receive new features as soon as possible at the expense of possible bugs. This ring was added on October 21, 2014, with the launch of build 9860.
Windows Insider Ring - Slow If there are no issues with builds delivered to the Fast Ring, they will subsequently or concurrently be shipped to the Slow Ring. This is the default option for consumer versions of Windows Insider Preview and was the only ring option available at launch until the Fast ring was added.
Windows Insider Ring - Release Preview This ring, introduced with build 10586 on February 10, 2016, allows Windows Insiders to get early access to patches and fixes for their current builds. It does not deliver builds with new features as early as the Slow Ring, making it safer and less prone to bugs than the other rings.[11]

List of supported mobile phone devices

Microsoft initially launched the Windows 10 Insider Preview (formally known as Windows 10 Technical Preview) for specific Lumia phones and subsequently released it to more devices throughout the testing phase. After many Windows Insiders hacked their phones by altering what model was displayed and then downloaded the Windows 10 technical preview on unsupported devices, Microsoft has responded by blocking all unsupported models.[12] To roll back the installed technical preview back to Windows Phone 8.1 Microsoft launched the Windows Device Recovery Tool that will remove Windows 10 and recover the latest officially released software and firmware.[13]

The HTC One M8 is the first non-Lumia smartphone to get the Windows 10 preview, as of build 10080. Later, on June 1, 2015, Xiaomi released a ROM port of Windows 10 to its flagship Mi 4 handset, which was limited to certain registered users in China.[14][15] Build 10080 also added support for several additional Lumia devices, making nearly all Lumia phones running Windows Phone 8 or newer officially supported, except for some recently announced products such as the Lumia 540, which was added to Microsoft's support list beginning with build 10166.

While Microsoft has confirmed that all Windows Phone devices, including those from Microsoft's new hardware partners announced in 2014, will receive the final version of Windows 10 Mobile, not all will receive preview builds through the Insider program. However, the company has not provided any information on whether new devices will be added to the preview program since the release of build 10149, a sign that Windows 10 Mobile was more or less in its completed state. Microsoft instead focused on promoting new devices that come with Windows 10 Mobile, including their Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL flagships, and the low-cost Lumia 550 and Lumia 650. Since their release, these and other new Windows 10 devices are also eligible to receive future updates in advance via the Insider program, and on February 19, 2016, Microsoft released the first Windows 10 Mobile "Redstone" preview, build 14267, exclusively for these newest devices, along with the Mi4 ROM version.[16]

Supported smartphones
Manufacturer Device As of 9941[17] As of 10051[18][19] As of 10080[20] As of 10136[21] As of 10586[22] As of 14267[23]
Windows Phone devices
Alcatel OneTouch Fierce XL No No No No No Yes
HTC One M8 No No Yes Yes Yes No
LG Lancet No No No No Yes No
Microsoft Lumia 430-series
Includes 430 and 435 		No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 520-series
Includes 520, 521, 525 and 526 		No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 530 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 532 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 535 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 540 No No Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 550 No No No No Yes Yes
Lumia 620 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 625 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 630-series
Includes 630, 635, 636 and 638 		Yes
Except Dual-Sim 		Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 640 No Yes
Dual-Sim only 		Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 640 XL No No Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 650 No No No No Yes Yes
Lumia 720 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 730 Yes
Except Dual-Sim 		Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 735 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 810 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 820 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 822 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 830 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 920 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 925 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 928 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia Icon No No Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 930 No No Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 950 No No No No Yes Yes
Lumia 950 XL No No No No Yes Yes
Lumia 1020 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 1320 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Lumia 1520 No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
ROMs for MIUI devices
Xiaomi Mi4 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes

Operating systems supported

See also

References

  1. ^ Warren, Tom (30 September 2014). "Windows 10 is the official name for Microsoft's next version of Windows, The new Windows is coming in late 2015". The Verge.
  2. ^ Myerson, Terry (September 30, 2014). "Annoucing Windows 10". Blogging Windows. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  3. ^ Popa, Bogdan (18 December 2014). "Windows 10 Preview Was Installed by 1.5 Million Users". Softpedia.
  4. ^ Aul, Gabe (12 February 2015). "Announcing the first build of Windows 10 Technical Preview for Phones". the official Windows Blogs.
  5. ^ Bright, Peter (1 October 2014). "Microsoft launches Windows Insider Program to get Windows betas. Desktop and laptop beta available tomorrow". Ars Technica.
  6. ^ Callaham, John (2 July 2015). "Windows Insider Program's 5 million members will get Windows 10 first on July 29". Windows Central.
  7. ^ Aul, Gabe (21 October 2014). "We're rolling out our first new build to the Windows Insider Program". Windows Blog.
  8. ^ Hassan, Mehedi (19 February 2015). "[WP10] Microsoft releases Slow Ring for Windows 10 for Phones Technical Preview". Windows Mobile PowerUser.
  9. ^ Hassan, Mehedi (19 February 2015). "Video Recorder on Windows 10 for Phones Preview introduces couple of new features". Windows Mobile PowerUser.
  10. ^ Hay, Richard (10 February 2016). "Microsoft Adds a Release Preview Ring to Windows Insider Program". Paul Thurrot's SuperSite for Windows.
  11. ^ Hassan, Mehedi (10 February 2016). "Windows Insider program gets a new Release Preview Ring". Windows Mobile PowerUser.
  12. ^ Hay, Richard (20 February 2015). "Microsoft updates Windows Insider App on Windows Phone to stop unauthorized installs of technical preview". Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows.
  13. ^ Rivera, Jaime (10 February 2015). "Yes, Windows 10 Preview will include a phone recovery tool". PocketNow.
  14. ^ Russell, Jon (March 17, 2015). "Microsoft Is Developing Software That Converts Android Phones To Windows 10". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  15. ^ Bright, Peter (March 18, 2015). "Xiaomi and Microsoft to offer Windows 10 conversion for Android phones". Ars Technica. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  16. ^ Hassan, Mehedi (February 19, 2016). "PSA: Windows 10 Mobile Build 14267 is only available to Lumia 950 XL, 950, 650, 550 and Xiaomi Mi4". MSPoweruser. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  17. ^ Aul, Gabe. "Announcing the first build of Windows 10 Technical Preview for Phones". Windows Blog. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  18. ^ Aul, Gabe (27 March 2015). "A quick update on Windows 10 builds for phones for Windows Insiders". Windows Blogs.
  19. ^ Martin, Julia (28 March 2015). "Microsoft touts Windows 10 Technical Preview coming to more Lumia devices". Inferse.
  20. ^ "New Windows 10 Mobile preview build likely coming later today". Neowin.net. 14 May 2015.
  21. ^ "Microsoft to roll out Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview build 10136; build 10145 in testing". Neowin.net. 15 June 2015.
  22. ^ "Announcing Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 10586.29". Windows Blog. 4 December 2015.
  23. ^ "Announcing Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 14267". Windows Blog. 19 February 2016.
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