Microsoft announces adjustments to Windows 10 RS_PRERELEASE
Microsoft has previously announced the cancellation of the Skip Ahead channel in the Windows 10 test plan, which was originally used to test new features in future versions. As for why the channel was canceled, we did not know the specific reason, but judging from Microsoft’s latest channel adjustment action, the company seems to have planned for a long time. In short, the new features of the Skip Ahead channel will be directly merged into the Fast ring channel.
Microsoft wrote:
“Internally, our engineers work in development cycles with various milestones. The active development branch (called “RS_PRERELEASE”) is where the teams check in all their latest code changes into the OS. Moving forward, the Fast ring will receive builds directly from this active development branch and new features will show up in these builds first. While features in the active development branch may be slated for a future Windows 10 release, they are no longer matched to a specific Windows 10 release. This means that builds from the active development branch simply reflect the latest work in progress code from our engineers. New features and OS improvements done in this branch during these development cycles will show up in future Windows 10 releases when they are ready. And we may deliver these new features and OS improvements as full OS build updates or servicing releases.”
In the future, new versions received by Fast Ring users will contain a variety of new features. Of course, these new features may also be deprecated in subsequent versions. For Insider Preview users, the benefit of this change is that new features will be significantly increased in the future, and you can experience new features planned or developed by Microsoft faster.
Of course, this is a bit awkward for users of the official version, because some new features may not be released in a short time, and it may take a year or more. Because these new features are no longer bundled in a specific branch version, it is unknown when the specific features will be merged into the official version or major updates.
