14 DAY TRIAL // The most recent Windows 11 preview build – 22616 – is available for both the Dev and the Beta channels of the Windows Insider program.
This means users in these two channels to switch from one ring to another freely without losing anything. But once the Dev channel gets an exclusive new build, moving to Beta wouldn’t be possible without a clean install.
Microsoft issued a new reminder to tell users to choose their channel while the Dev and Beta rings are provided with the same builds. Needless to say, the company hasn’t provided an ETA as to when the window could change, but it explains that the Dev channel is very likely to receive a newer build rather sooner than later.
New build this week?
“We are evolving the way we develop and release to Insiders with the Dev and Beta Channels now representing parallel development paths from our engineers. The Dev Channel will be a place where we will try out different concepts, incubate new ideas, and work on long lead items that may not get released to general customers. The Beta Channel will be the place we preview experiences that are closer to what we will ship to our general customers. However, this does not mean every feature we try out in the Beta Channel will ship,” Microsoft previously explained.
At this point, however, it’s not yet clear if this week is going to bring us a new build that will be exclusive to the Dev channel.
“This window will close once we release builds with higher build numbers to the Dev Channel. If your device stays on the Dev Channel and receives a build that is a higher build number than what is in the Beta Channel, you will have to do a clean installation of the released version of Windows 11 on your device to switch to the Beta Channel. No action is required if you want to continue receiving the Windows 11 Insider Preview Builds in the Dev Channel,” Microsoft warned.