The Office Insider program is dead; long live the Microsoft 365 Insider program
Microsoft has killed off the Office Insider program, used to gain feedback from testers about new features and changes. The death is not one to be mourned, however -- it is followed by an immediate resurrection as the Microsoft 365 Insider program.
The rebranding is in line with Microsoft's announcement last year that Office 365 would become Microsoft 365. In addition to the change in name, the company says that it will be providing information and publishing blog posts about a wider range of products and services that fall under the Microsoft 365 banner.
Future Windows 10 builds to be served up based on quality, not frequency
Windows Insiders currently have a choice of three test rings -- Fast, Slow, and Release Preview. The Fast ring sees the most releases -- typically one new build a week -- and these tend to be the least stable. Slow ring flights come out much less often, and are more reliable and less buggy. Release Preview is for those who want early access to servicing updates on released versions of Windows 10.
That’s how it’s been for years, but now Microsoft is gearing up to make a big change that focuses on the quality angle of builds and better supports parallel coding efforts.
Today you can speak with Microsoft about the future of Windows and Office
It's not very often you get to communicate directly with large technology companies to gives feedback about their products, but later today you will be able to speak with Microsoft engineers to share your thoughts about Windows and Office.
For 90 minutes today, Microsoft is conducting an online research event providing one-on-one sessions, giving people the chance to help guide future development. It is an expansion of the Windows Insider and Office Insider programs, and Microsoft says it's keen to hear users' thoughts.