Microsoft, please stop catching your tail.

Hi all.

I don't know if this topic has previously been discussed, but I think it should be brought to our and Microsoft's attention over and over again.

Microsoft is split up into to many channels: Canary channel, Development channel, Beta channel, Public preview channel and finally Public release channel. (The last one may not be a channel.) I don't know if I skipped a channel or two.

Therefore, to me this too many channel splits make Microsoft cumbersome and slow and prone to errors.

In my opinion, Microsoft should stop this futile split endeavors and concentrate on productive measures. Three splits should be enough. Development, Beta, and Public Release. Public release life cycle also should be longer.

When Microsoft released two versions per year several years ago, 22H1 and 22H2, I strongly objected as many other Windows Insiders did in Feedback Hub and finally that two-version-per-year project was fortunately abandoned.

Microsoft is yet to release Windows 11 Version 25H2 when we are coming close to the end of year 2025. Hence the version name 25H2 loses its meaning and strength. When users start to say to themselves Version 25H2 is feeling stable, this version will already be out of interest because users will be preparing for 26H2.

Effective immediately, Microsoft should stop giving the impression that they are trying to catch their tails. So for a starter, 25H2 should be replaced with 26H2.

Maybe I am becoming old and doing what most old people usually do "nag and whine and nitpick".

Have a nice weekend with my kind regards.

suatcini54 said:

Hi all.

I don't know if this topic has previously been discussed, but I think it should be brought to our and Microsoft's attention over and over again.

Microsoft is split up into to many channels: Canary channel, Development channel, Beta channel, Public preview channel and finally Public release channel. (The last one may not be a channel.) I don't know if I skipped a channel or two.

Therefore, to me this too many channel splits make Microsoft cumbersome and slow and prone to errors.

In my opinion, Microsoft should stop this futile split endeavors and concentrate on productive measures. Three splits should be enough. Development, Beta, and Public Release. Public release life cycle also should be longer.

When Microsoft released two versions per year several years ago, 22H1 and 22H2, I strongly objected as many other Windows Insiders did in Feedback Hub and finally that two-version-per-year project was fortunately abandoned.

Microsoft is yet to release Windows 11 Version 25H2 when we are coming close to the end of year 2025. Hence the version name 25H2 loses its meaning and strength. When users start to say to themselves Version 25H2 is feeling stable, this version will already be out of interest because users will be preparing for 26H2.

Effective immediately, Microsoft should stop giving the impression that they are trying to catch their tails. So for a starter, 25H2 should be replaced with 26H2.

Maybe I am becoming old and doing what most old people usually do "nag and whine and nitpick".

Have a nice weekend with my kind regards.

Click to expand...

This has been discussed many times, but all conclude it is a mess, especially when coupled with the A-B testing (and C for those who dare criticise the kiddiwinks in the Dev dept.

With Windows 10, there were originally two Rings, Fast Ring and Slow Ring. Fast Ring had the new features immediately, and after a bit of testing, items cascaded to the Slow Ring (once a build was seen to be pretty stable).


They then rebadged is as Dev, Beta, RP. Dev items (not all) cascaded to Beta (most but not all) to RP in sequence. By and large Beta looked pretty much like the next version - in general, once items were in Beta, they generally made the cut to the official release,

There was a channel called "Skip Ahead" which did not cascade particularly to any Insider version - the nearest analogue is the Canary Channel. Both of therse versions were/are sadly pointless as it was supposed to trail blaze new ideas, accepting they may never come to fruition. In the end, they have become largely widgets/emoji toys for <=13 year olds.

What makes Insider Programme so confusing now, is items can get introduced at Beta but not at Dev, and vice versa. There does not appear to be any logical progression between Beta and Dev anymore. Worse bugs can get fixed in one channel but not the other. Worse stiil, items sometimes get introduced at Beta but often do not make it to the release (or at least not until next release but one).

This is further complicated with the Release Preview channel where updates can also be issued as optional preview cumulative updates for official release version.

It can get very confusing on release version as a preview cumulative update can be removed in next round of updates if issues arise.

So yeah - Insider logic a complete mess, and despite extensive feedback to MS, they do not listen. It just shows how the individual Insider Teams operate within "Chinese Walls" and fail to communicate with other Insider Teams. I cannot see a single person sitting on top of all of them giving a clear overview of the development direction.

Thank you for your great contribution to the topic. You have explained the past and the present situation very well. I hope the message may somehow reach its destination without any loss in meaning.