Continuous Innovation (Premium)

When it comes to adding features to Windows 11, Microsoft is like Darth Vader and all we can do is pray it does not alter the deal any further. It's hard to not feel hoodwinked by this subterfuge. But given the state of Windows 11, maybe this is a necessary evil.

Yes, I'm rationalizing. But bear with me for a moment.

As a long-time Windows watcher, I was taken aback by how quickly Microsoft shipped Windows 11 after it announced this major upgrade in June 2021. And the next year did little to assuage my fears: Microsoft addressed just a few of the complaints that its user base raised about Windows 11, and it took an awful lot of time to make just a handful of small improvements.

But when Windows 11 version 22H2 arrived a year later, Microsoft's tune had changed. Now, the software giant was talking about "continuous innovation," noting that while it would stay true to its promise to release just one major Feature Update (version upgrade) each year, it also reserved the right to add new features to the product as often as it wanted. In other words, there would only be one Feature Update (capital F) but there would be many feature updates (small f).

This seemed like a bait and switch, the return of Windows as a Service under a new name, and it probably still does to many. But leaving aside the quality of the ensuing updates---which has admittedly been problematic---there's the germ of a good idea buried in there. Continuous innovation lets Microsoft keep Windows fresh by adding new features and making other improvements over time. And this only impacts individuals by default, the same individuals who likely think nothing of regular updates like this to their smartphones. But businesses with managed environments needn't worry about these feature updates (small f): they will simply get all those new features when they upgrade to the next Feature Update (capital F) on a slower schedule. So it’s the best of both worlds.

Or, it would be if Microsoft could get quality under control. Instead, the software giant has made some critical errors that undermine the process. It ignores the important role that the Windows Insider Program and its multiple channels of testing can bring to the table by introducing new features in what often feels like an arbitrary fashion instead of logically progressing them through the channels from Dev to Beta to Release Preview to stable. And in some cases, it has simply ignored the Insider Program and released new features to stable without any testing at all. The most infamous example of this was the introduction of the Search "pill" in November/December 2022: this new take on the Search icon on the Taskbar introduced a major functional regression that wasn't addressed until March 2023. This would have been uncovered by those in the Insider Program.

Internally, Microsoft refers to its continuous innovation deliverables---that is, the new features it ships almost every month between Feature Updates---as...