Are you a Windows fan? Do you like getting sneak peeks at features before they’re released to the public? Microsoft created its Windows Insider Program for you.
The program made its debut in October 2014 with the release of the Windows 10 technical preview. It provided a way for enthusiastic users, developers, and IT admins to test out — and, notably, give feedback on — the upcoming OS. After Windows 10 shipped, Microsoft kept the program going, and Insiders have had early access to new features being developed for all subsequent Windows 10 and Windows 11 versions, via releases known as Insider Preview Builds.
The Insider program has gone through numerous changes since those early days, with an increasingly complex array of options (“channels”) to designate what types of preview builds you want to get your hands on. But the purpose has remained the same: to give you a way to see upcoming features (or ones that Microsoft is experimenting with, anyway), and to report bugs, share your thoughts, and make suggestions for how to improve those features while they’re still being developed.
This story originally appeared on Computerworld
