Microsoft is Reportedly Bringing Back the Windows 10 Insider Beta Channel
- Laurent Giret
- Jan 12, 2024
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After Microsoft released Windows 10 version 22H2 as the last version of the OS in fall 2022, the company made it pretty clear that only Windows 11 would be getting new features going forward. Well, Microsoft apparently had a change of mind over the past couple of months, and Windows Central’s Zac Bowden is now reporting that the company is about to bring back the Windows 10 Insider Beta Channel.
“My sources tell me that Microsoft is planning to reopen the Windows Insider Beta Channel for Windows 10 users soon, which will likely be used to test new Windows 10 features that are still in development,” Bowden wrote today. As of today, the Release Preview Channel is the only one that’s available for Windows 10 Insiders, and it’s currently where Microsoft tests some rare new features for the OS.
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Yesterday, the company released the Windows 10 Build 19045.3992 for Insiders on the Release Preview Channel. The most interesting change in this build is an expanded weather widget on the Lock Screen, something Microsoft introduced first in the Windows 11 Dev Channel build 23612 last week. This feature also made its way to the Windows 11 Beta Channel yesterday.
Even though Windows 10 will reach end of support in 2025, it’s still the most popular version of Windows today. That’s why Microsoft is now bringing its new Copilot assistant to Windows 10 users after failing to make Cortana on PC a thing. Whether Copilot manages to get more momentum remains to be seen, however.
Moreover, Microsoft also announced that Windows 10 will get its own Extended Security Updates program for both organizations and consumers ready to pay for security updates for up to 3 years. And that could be a lot of people, unless Microsoft changes its stance regarding the strict minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11.
Just like Windows 7 before it, it looks like Windows 10 will stick around for many years. And it’s probably in Microsoft’s best interest to keep improving the OS with new features that will still come first to Windows 11.