Windows 11 testing is going back to the future with new Insider plans

One of Windows 10’s strengths was that it felt like a collaboration between users and Microsoft developers, especially in its early going. Now, Microsoft is bringing Windows 11 users back into the fold, mostly.

Windows 11 has had a problem: Testing Windows beta builds via the Windows Insider channels has become increasingly difficult, given the complexity of the format. Microsoft is trying to solve that by “simplifying” the Insider program, while also bringing back one of the most enjoyable aspects of Windows 10: in-person meetups. There’s definitely a vibe factor — Microsoft wants you feeling good about Windows, again — but also a very practical advantage to sampling a new Windows beta feature before returning to a stable environment.

In March, Microsoft pledged to fix Windows with a “reset” that included scaling back AI integration and finally responding to user demands to fix features like the Taskbar. (It’s worth noting that in Windows 10, Cortana was the only source of AI, and users were able to configure the taskbar and Start menu virtually any way they liked.) Now, the Windows Insider program is also being overhauled in ways that should help users more quickly become accustomed to new features and provide feedback on them before they roll out.

Here, two things are happening: First, Microsoft is trying to lasso its Windows Insider builds into two main channels: Beta, and a new Experimental channel that will debut new code. Secondly, Microsoft is standardizing the rollout of new features. Previously, even if Microsoft announced a new feature in a new build, your PC wasn’t guaranteed to receive it; Microsoft would “A/B” test it, delivering it to some members of the build, and then others over time. What Microsoft called its “Controlled Feature Rollout” led to confusion and frustration in those users who actually wanted experimental code and features, and forced them to use tools like ViveTool to unearth them.

That sounds like a major change, and it is, mostly. Currently, Microsoft has four Insider channels (Release Preview, Beta, Dev, and Canary) with code becoming more and more experimental the further out you go. But the four channels aren’t going away, either. Here’s what you should know: If you want to test near-term code, select “Beta;” if you want more experimental features, choose “Experimental” instead.

You’ll also have the chance to enable “Advanced Options” on the Windows Update > Windows Insider Program Windows Settings page. In general, Microsoft is simplifying the beta process…but it also can’t help itself. Here’s where it gets complicated once again.

Advanced Options allows you to pick what version of Windows you’d prefer: Windows 11 25H2, the “mainstream” track; or Windows 11 26H1. Microsoft had said previously that Windows 11 26H1 was specifically for the the new Windows on Arm processor, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite, so it’s not quite clear whether users not running that platform will have this choice.

There’s also another wrinkle: a chance to enable and choose a “Release Preview” option.

Previously, “Release Preview” was basically an early look at a new build in its final, finished form, just a few days before release. Microsoft has tried to migrate Release Preview to its commercial customers, and conceivably it’s this group that it’s still targeting.

But there’s also another choice as well: “Future Platforms,” which is “aimed at users who are looking to be at the forefront of platform development,” Microsoft said in a blog post. This is essentially where the “Dev” or “Canary” code will be stored, and where you can test code that may never actually ship.

Want to test Windows features? Here’s how: The easy way

It’s in the Experimental “Future Platforms” section that Microsoft is making its most substantive improvement. When Microsoft ships an Insider release, code that enables new features may be present, but hidden; apps like ViveTool can surface those features and allow them to be turned “on.” But even if those features are available and accessible to users, they sometimes may not be. This is part of Microsoft’s Controlled Feature Rollout, and makes being able to test and learn new features a roll of the dice.

It’s not clear whether some of the web’s data-mining accounts will still be able to detect new features before Microsoft officially announces them. But if a feature is there and accessible, you’ll be able to manually enable it via a new Windows Insider “Feature Flags” setting.

PCWorld

Today, Windows 11 Pro offers something similar: the “turn Windows features on and off” control, which first became useful several years ago with the ability to enable Windows Sandbox. With the new Windows Insider formatting, enabling these new Windows features will take place within the Settings menu, but the principle will be the same: Turn on what you want, and leave the others alone. Some of the features won’t be called out, such as minor changes to the UI, for example.

If you enable the Future Platforms code, you’re essentially stuck there without rebooting into a clean installation. That’s normal. What’s changed is that all of the other code tracks (Beta and even the Experimental channel) won’t require a clean install to move your PC out of Insider testing. They may need what Microsoft is calling an “in place upgrade (IPU)” but that upgrade will allow your PC to hop up and down between versions “in most cases,” Microsoft says. Usually, Insiders on the Beta channel, for example, have been forced to wait for the stable channel to “catch up.” (Put another way, a PC on version 25121 wouldn’t be allowed to “downgrade” to a version 25001.) This appears to have changed.

IPUs will preserve apps, settings, and data, too. That’s good news for someone who wants to bounce into a new build, try it out, and then migrate back into stable code. It’s also helpful to allow more users to provide feedback to Microsoft via the improved Windows Feedback tool.

Meet up and chat about Windows

Honestly, one of the best aspects of Windows 10 was how collegial it all felt. Sure, it was one-sided; Microsoft developed the features, and users provided feedback. But Microsoft also encouraged that feedback online, via Windows Feedback, as well as via in-person meetups around the country and abroad. And now, that’s back, thanks to Marcus Ash, who leads design and research for Microsoft’s Windows + Devices team.

Microsoft said it will host a few meetups over the next few months (including one just after Microsoft Build, in San Francisco) to allow users to chat with developers. You will need to sign up; I already have.) Here’s the list:

• April 21 – New York City (USA)
• May 7 – Hyderabad (India)
• May 13 – Taipei (Taiwan)
• June 4 – San Francisco (USA)
• June 23 – London (UK)

During the Windows 10 era, it was enormously helpful to sit down and chat with individual product managers. I actually received as much or more insight from the managers of the Windows apps as the overall Windows experience itself. Just trying to get a sense of what the product manager in charge of the Photos app, for example, hoped to accomplish was incredibly helpful. One of the strengths of Silicon Valley’s heyday was an open conversation between developer and customer, unafraid of criticism. That’s tailed off dramatically in recent years, and the industry is worse for it.

A return to a simpler, more transparent development process won’t necessarily solve Windows 11’s problems. But building a bridge back to customers and users is long overdue, and it needs to be integrated into Microsoft’s culture as a keystone for future product generations, too.