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Windows Insider Program glossary

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Badges

Badges, which you’ll see in the Achievements section of the Feedback Hub, are achievements Windows Insiders earn from participating in the program, through things like flighting, giving feedback, bug bashes, and Quests.

Beta Channel

The Beta Channel is one of our channel options for receiving Windows 10 Insider Preview Builds. It's perfect for early adopters who want to see what's next or validate the latest Windows updates and features, but still need reliable updates that are validated by Microsoft.

As a part of the Beta Channel, you'll be seeing builds tied to a specific upcoming release, like 20H1 or 20H2. Your feedback will be especially important here, since it will help our engineers make sure that key issues are fixed before major releases.

Bug Bashes

Bug Bashes are special events where we ask Windows Insiders to join us in completing Quests to help us solve as many bugs as possible before a major release.

Channels

Channels are how we release Insider Preview builds to you, and each is designed to bring you a different experience based on the quality of Windows you need for your life and your device. Our current options are the Dev Channel, Beta Channel, and Release Preview Channel.

When choosing a channel, you should keep in mind how stable you need your device to be, what level of issues you can handle on your device, how early in development you'd like to see features and changes, and whether or not you need Microsoft support.

Dev Channel

The Dev Channel is one of our channel options for receiving Insider Preview builds. It's perfect for highly technical users who love to be the first to see the latest features and updates for all things Windows. These aren't always stable builds, and sometimes you will see issues that block key activities or require workarounds while flighting in this channel. Your feedback will help our engineers with major fixes and changes to the latest code.

You'll be seeing builds directly from the active development branch in the Dev Channel, so they aren't matched to a specific release. This means that these builds may simply be the latest work-in-progress code from our engineers. New features and OS improvements in this channel will show up in future Windows 10 releases when they're ready, and we may deliver these new features and OS improvements as full OS build updates or servicing releases.

Feedback Hub

The Feedback Hub is the app on Windows you should use to give us feedback about what you like, dislike, and want to see next in the latest Insider Preview builds. Your feedback goes directly to our engineers and helps us shape the future of Windows for all our users.

Categories

When adding new feedback, the Feedback Hub will choose a category and subcategory based on what you’ve entered up to that point. Categories make sure your device pulls the right information and that your feedback is sent to the right teams, so it’s important to check these. Make sure what it’s chosen matches or feedback or use the dropdowns to change them.

Collections

Collections group together similar feedback in the Feedback Hub, making it easier to find for users and our engineers.

Problem

Choose problem when adding new feedback if you’re reporting an issue, bug, or error. If you are experiencing a problem someone else is reporting, add similar feedback to give us the details of your experience.

Suggestion

Choose suggestion when adding new feedback if you’re suggesting something new you'd like to see. If you agree with a suggestion from someone else in the Feedback Hub, you can also upvote it to add your support.

Flighting

Flighting is the process of running Windows 10 Insider Preview Builds on your device. When you run these early versions of Windows and give us feedback, you can help us shape the future of Windows.

Quests

Quests are step-by-step instructions to try out Windows features we're currently working on improving with your feedback. You can find Quests in the Feedback Hub, and for each Quest you finish, you'll earn points towards badges, which you'll see in the Achievements section.

Release Preview Channel

The Release Preview Channel is one of our channel options for receiving Insider Preview builds. In it, you'll get the upcoming version of Windows before it's released to the world, with advanced quality updates and certain key features. These builds are also supported by Microsoft if you're in the Windows Insider Program for Business.

Rings

Before channels, our Insider Preview builds were released in rings, based on frequency. Channels are our current standard for releasing Insider Preview builds.

Our old rings included the Fast, Slow, and Release Preview rings. With the move to channels, the Fast ring became the Dev Channel, the Slow ring became the Beta Channel, and the Release Preview became the Release Preview Channel.

Windows 10 Insider Preview Builds

Windows 10 Insider Preview Builds, or Insider Preview builds, are early versions of Windows, which are released through channels, that our Windows Insiders run on their devices.

Major builds

Major builds can include new features, updates, bug fixes, application changes, and more. You'll know you received a major build when the build number increased by one or more from your previous build. You will see major builds in the Dev Channel, Beta Channel, and Release Preview Channel.

Minor builds

Also known as servicing or cumulative updates, minor builds give you small bug fixes, updates, or changes that work with a major build that's already been released. You'll know you received a minor build when the build number increases by decimal points. While there's no set rules about when you'll see minor builds, usually they'll be rare in the Dev Channel, attached to major builds in the Beta Channel, and released between select major builds in the Release Preview Channel.

Windows Insiders

Windows Insiders are members of the Windows Insider Program and our community of millions around the world helping shape the future of Windows.

Windows Insider MVPs

Windows Insider MVPs (WIMVPS) are experts in their fields and leaders in our community with a passion for using Windows to bring their ideas to life. They partner with us for exclusive access, opportunities to join us at special events and chat directly with Microsoft teams, and more.

Windows Insider Program

The Windows Insider Program is a community of millions of Windows' biggest fans who get to be the first to see what's next. Windows Insiders run previews of the platform, called Windows 10 Insider Preview Builds, then give feedback and engage directly with our engineers to help shape the future of Windows.

Windows Insider Program for Business

The Windows Insider Program for Business is a set of features within the Windows Insider Program that help you run Insider Preview builds within your organization, validate your apps and infrastructure, and deploy faster.

Windows Insider Program for Developers

The Windows Insider Program for Developers is a set of tools within the Windows Insider Program that let you use Windows 10 Software Development Kit (SDK) Insider Preview Builds with the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview Builds to bring better applications to your customers faster.

Windows Insider Program for Windows Server

The Windows Insider Program for Windows Server is a set of features within the Windows Insider Program that gives you exclusive access to Windows Server Insider Previews and Remote Server Administration tools to help shape the future of Windows Server.