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Microsoft Confirms Windows Insider Program Will Continue Beyond Windows 10

Redmond will continue to work with users on next updates

May 5, 2015 09:14 GMT  ·  By
Windows 10 will get a big update later this year
   Windows 10 will get a big update later this year

Today Microsoft has confirmed that the Windows Insider program, which was started in October 2014 with the purpose of allowing users to try out Windows 10 and provide feedback to the company, will continue after the release of the full operating system later this year.

Gabe Aul, head of the Windows Insider program, has said on Twitter that “we will be continuing the Windows Insider Program beyond Windows 10,” explaining that more details on how exactly this is going to work will be offered when we get closer to the RTM version of the operating system.

Basically, the Windows Insider program will go on even after Windows 10 comes out because Microsoft wants to continue this collaboration with testers across the world for the next updates planned for late 2015 and 2016 and thus release the features that they want, the way they want.

New update planned for late 2016

Windows 10 is projected to launch in the summer, most likely in July or August, but word has it that Microsoft has already started work on the very first update scheduled to see daylight in late 2015.

Basically, this very first update would bring features initially designed for Windows 10 but that won’t be ready for the RTM version, so Microsoft uses this release to bring them on PCs and phones updated to the new operating system.

In addition to this update, Microsoft is also said to be planning a second major release for 2016, codenamed Redstone and supposed to come in two waves.

Redstone will bring major updates to the core platform and would be pretty much the first step towards a new strategy that would no longer use a numbering scheme for Windows names, but various codenames that would better emphasize the Windows as a Service concept.

Obviously, it’s too early to talk about Redstone right now, but Microsoft promised to share more info as we get closer to RTM, so expect more on this in the next couple of months.