W11 Windows builds --confused totally.

Hi folks
Totally confused with current Windows builds systems.
Could anyone give a definitive list of what is what.

Bog standard retail/ RTM , Insider preview, beta, Dev and canary (of which there seem to be 2 Streams ???!!!!).
I'm really only interested in W11 Pro and above but if your lists include HOME then I've no probs.

Cheers
jimbo

I asked Copilot to roust this information for me and it found the following:
HTH. You should be able to visit UUPDump.net to get the most current production build numbers, should you need them.
--Ed--

Copilot is missing 26H1 (28000.xxx), which is only GA on ARM platforms. All you naughty people running it on amd64...

Just remember the cardinal rule: You're only allowed to perform in-place upgrades to the same build or a higher. Never backwards.

Some builds are internally based on the same builds as a lower branch, because they've added an Enablement Package. The EP will push the reported build version higher, but underneath the WinSxS component folders are at the same version level.

25H2 is just an updated 24H2 with the 25H2 EP added.

Ed Tittel said:

I asked Copilot to roust this information for me and it found the following:

Channel	Version / Branch	Latest Build	Notes
Production (GA)	25H2	26200.xxx	Current shipping release
Production (GA)	24H2	26100.xxx	Still supported
Production (GA)	23H2	22631.xxx	Supported until Nov 2026
Release Preview	25H2	26200.7701	Previews updates for GA
Beta Channel	25H2	26220.8079	Feature-complete, more stable
Dev Channel	25H2 platform	26300.8085	New features not tied to a release
Canary Channel	26H1 platform	29553.1000	Latest high-risk platform work
Canary Channel	26H1 platform	28020.1743	Parallel development branch
LTSC 2024	24H2 LTSC	26100.xxx	Long-term servicing branch

HTH. You should be able to visit UUPDump.net to get the most current production build numbers, should you need them.
--Ed--

Click to expand...

Thanks

Great help.

Cheers
jimbo

1) Canary is a speculative Insider build and may trial features that may not finally get into RTM versions (or even Insider versions). The builds may be quite buggy.

This build is similar to the old skipahead..

2) Dev includes early features (but not all) that are mostly likely to get into RTM versions. However the features may not be fully mature and may be buggy. This is akin to the old Fast Ring.

3) Beta is similar to Dev but generally at a more mature stage i.e. less buggy. Most features are expected to reach RTM.
This is like the old Slow Ring.

4) Release Preview - This is essentially the same aa RTM but getting some feature/security updates a couple of days or even weeks earlier.

5) RTM - official release version whic gets minor updates aa party of the monthly rollouts.