Time is quickly running out for Windows 10 as Microsoft shuts down the beta testing channel
- Microsoft has deployed a final preview build to the beta testing channel
- The beta channel will be closed, leaving only a release preview
- This actually means that Windows 10 will no longer get any new features
Microsoft just dropped the guillotine on the beta channel for Windows 10, a testing platform that was only revived earlier this year.
The news was delivered as usual as part of a new beta preview blog post from Microsoft detailing the changes with build 19045.
In fact, this build is being released simultaneously to both the Release Preview and Beta channels for Windows 10 22H2, but it marks the end of the road for the latter.
Microsoft explains: “The Beta Channel and the Release Preview Channel are getting the same Windows 10 build today, just as we have since June. However, this will be the last time we release a Windows 10 build on the Beta Channel, as we will be closing the Windows 10 Beta Channel.”
The Windows 10 testers currently in the Beta channel will be transitioned to the Release Preview builds.
The work done in build 19045 consists of some bug fixes, with the only actual change in terms of functionality coming to the beta channel.
Don’t get excited, though, because Microsoft’s parting gift to Windows 10 is the Start menu that now shows ads (or “suggestions” as the software giant puts it) for apps from the Microsoft Store that come from a “small group of curated developers” evidently.
Angry, hissing, etc. – although you can disable ‘Show suggestions occasionally’ for the Start menu (go to Settings > > Start).
Analysis: Time is running out for Windows 10
The beta channel only came back to life in June 2024, as a platform for testing and continuing active development of Windows 10 – albeit to a limited extent – and was therefore only revived briefly, less than half a year before it came under fire again was taken.
This means that changes like the Start Menu tweak above will no longer be coming to Windows 10 (although in the case of this addition from Microsoft, you might be happy to see active development of the older operating system).
Essentially, this is Microsoft shelving Windows 10 without saying much – and it’s no surprise. After all, Windows 10 only has 11 months left before support runs out, so feature additions don’t make much sense at this point. Going forward, we will only have the Release Preview channel for testing, the final stage of Insider builds before the release version of Windows 10, where minor fixes and bug fixes will be performed.
In short, don’t expect anything new, although we suppose Microsoft could still surprise us – after all, this has happened in the past, when the software giant announced an effective feature freeze, only to thaw that move with a reasonably sized feature. drops.
In any case, the closure of the beta channel is another reminder that if you’re using Windows 10, you should start thinking about your End of Life options. Whether that means somehow upgrading to Windows 11, or a completely alternative approach like one of the more Windows deserter-friendly Linux distros perhaps.