Microsoft merges Fast Ring and Skip Ahead Insider rings

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Published onApril 9, 2019

published onApril 9, 2019

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Microsoft is planning for some major changes in itsWindows Insider Program. These changes are related to the Insider Rings as the company will soon merge the Fast Ring and Skip Ahead rings.

The announcement was made just before Microsoft shippedWindows 10 May 2019 Updateto the Release Preview ring.

As you all know, before the May 2019 Update is available to the general public, it will stay in theRelease Preview Ring for about a month for testing purposes.

The companyannouncedthatWindows 1019H1 builds would no longer be available to Fast Ring Insiders. Moreover, Microsoft plans to move Fast Ring Insiders directly toWindows 10 20H1 builds.

With theWindows 10May 2019 Update being shared to the Release Preview ring soon (see this blog post for details), we’re planning to moveWindows Insidersin the Fast ring forward to 20H1. We will also be merging the small group ofInsiderswho opted-in to Skip Ahead back into the Fast ring. We are looking to make this change in the coming weeks.

As a quick reminder,Windows 1020H1 will be available to allWindows 10users next year.

Microsoft has not shared any information about the exact release date of 20H1 update to Fast ring Insiders. However, the tech giant confirmed the change is expected to arrive in the next few weeks.

It should be noted that Microsoft has not shared the reason behind this decision. Rumors suggest that Microsoft has some master plan that forced the company to pushInsidersto the next year’s builds. We will have to wait for an official statement from Microsoft in this regard.

The trend was initially broken by the tech giant when Skip Ahead Ring Insidersspotted Windows 10 20H1in mid-February. The latest changes suggest that Microsoft is essentially moving towards merging the Skip Ahead and Fast rings.

Microsoft already started warningInsidersabout its 20H1 builds by stating that the builds may come with some bugs.

20H1 builds are from our development branch (RS_PRERELEASE) and as is normal with builds early in the development cycle, these builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some. If you are in the Fast ring and yourPCgets updated to 20H1, you won’t be able to switch your ring to the Slow or Release Preview rings without doing a clean-install on yourPCand starting over.

What do you think about Microsoft’s decision to merge the two Insider rings? Let us know in the comments section below.

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