Ask Paul: May 11 (Premium)

Happy Friday everyone. Many of this week's questions revolved around recent events with Windows 10 and Build, as you might expect.
Continue with Windows Insider?
johnlavey asks:
Since Microsoft has hit the pause button and only a few improvements or features will become part of Windows 1809, does it make sense for me to continue to be a Windows Insider? It seems like I will be downloading a lot of Windows Updates but rarely see anything worth the effort. Can you provide some input for my decision? Thanks.
I feel like I haven't described this properly. What Microsoft is slowing down on is the addition of superfluous new features, what I've called "nonsense." But they are still adding new features, mostly around improving productivity. And if you look at what they've added in the first several RS5 builds, I don't think it's disappointing.

What's really happening here is a formal reset of the notion that Windows is the center of anything. It's not. It's a tool we use to get work done, and it's not the device that most people use most of the time. So the improvements will play to Windows's core strengths and will often include cross-device integration, which makes both the PC and the phone more valuable when used together.

Whether anyone should be in the Insider program is sort of a personal decision.

I will say this. I have big worries that this program is misguided, because it gives far too big a voice to the minority enthusiast base, and they can upvote silly features (and have) that don't benefit mainstream users. The issue is that the mainstream majority is not represented in the Insider program. What this program should be is the Insider program for businesses. Which exists, but is likewise under-represented.

My hope is that the recent reorg will return a sense of normalcy to the entire thing. Not so much "less" but "better." More engineering driven. More emphasis on core business users and productivity. Less nonsense. We'll see.
A/B testing in Insider
Dan1986ist asks:
With the stuff about Sets eventually working with Timeline mentioned at Build, will all of who are in the Insider Program actually get to test out this fuctionality? In my case, one Insider machine has Sets, the other doesn't.
Yep. I've been very clear that A/B testing in the Insider program doesn't make sense and is unfair to those who specifically join the Fast ring. The ring system is how you do A/B testing: Slow ring members won't get the new features until the arbitrary schedule Microsoft invented in the first place. This is a sham (and a shame).
Build, Microsoft, and consumers
Daekar asks:
I was really pleased to see the direction they took at the Build keynote even though it confirmed that Microsoft is definitely focusing less on the consumer market in favor of prosumer and business sectors. Of the things announced at build, what do you think will have the largest effect, direct or indirect, on the consumer segment? Is their IoT strategy so ea...