14 DAY TRIAL // With Windows 10 Redstone 4 nearly finalized, Microsoft is now preparing to begin work on the very next Windows 10 release, which will be internally codenamed Redstone 5.
As a result, the very first build has already been spotted online, with Microsoft saying that the Redstone 5 preview program will kick off very soon, just not this week.
Windows 10 Redstone 4, which doesn’t yet have an official name but which could be called by Microsoft “Windows 10 Spring Creators Update,” is expected to be finalized in March, ahead of the public launch in April.
On the other hand, Redstone 5 is due in the fall, with an October target date for the production ring, while insiders should get the final build one month earlier.
Skip Ahead insiders to get RS5 builds
The first builds will be shipped to insiders that are enrolled in the Skip Ahead ring and won’t come with any breaking changes. Skip Ahead was a special ring released by Microsoft before the launch of Windows 10 Redstone 4 and when the company was giving the finishing touches to Redstone 3, and the software giant used it as a way to let insiders try out the next-next update early.
At the time of its launch, Skip Ahead came with limited seats, and whoever isn’t already part of it won’t be able to register in the coming days and weeks. This means that the first Windows 10 Redstone 5 builds will only be shipped to a limited audience, though it goes without saying that it shouldn’t take long after the release of Redstone 4 in the spring until everyone else gets it.
Also, it’s worth noting that the first Windows 10 Redstone 5 build won’t bring too many changes and new features are very unlikely, which means that you’re not going to miss anything if you’re not enrolled in Skip Ahead.
According to BuildFeed, the first Windows 10 Redstone 5 build compiled by Microsoft is 17600, so work on this has started internally and more such builds should be spotted online from now on.
Thanks for the tip, Steve Truman!