Windows 10 - Welcome to the danger zone!
On October 1st, 2014, Microsoft revealed Windows 10 to the world. With it started the Windows Insider Program, the world’s first attempt to develop an operating system with constant feedback from users. I have been there since the day 1, with the Desktop Build 9841. It’s been a great ride since then. Insiders were constantly introduced to the most cutting-edge features of Windows 10, with a few surprises along the way with multiple events. The program is still going on, and I am currently using Build 10532 on my Surface 3, and 10536 on my Lumia 1520. And this month, my Xbox One is highly likely to join the pack with the start of Xbox Preview Program for Windows 10.
However, as exciting as Insider Program has been, it has not been a smooth ride. The same is going to apply to Xbox One and its rendition of Windows 10. It is supposed to be very bumpy, and there will be quite a few problems until the official release. In this write-up, I will tell you what you should be careful of when you join the preview program for Windows 10.
You are in the Fast Ring.
While not an official name, if you opted for Windows 10 preview, basically you are in the Fast Ring. Insider Program has two rings: Fast Ring, and Slow Ring. Just like what it says, Fast Ring gets the newest build, though they are more unstable. Slow Ring gets the build later on when the Fast Ring build is deemed stable enough to be distributed to wider range of users. With Xbox One, if you did not opt for Windows 10, you are in the Slow Ring, getting all the new stuffs after those who opted in enjoyed them for a while. If you did opt in, you are in the Fast Ring. That means you understand that this build is unstable, lots of things can go wrong, and you should be able to deal with some critical errors by yourself. If you are scared, you need to go back now.
Be prepared to see something like this a lot.
It will be really buggy.
I used early Windows 10 preview on an 8-inch tablet called Dell Venue 8 Pro. Some of the insider builds really didn’t go along well with it. Back when Build 9926 was first distributed to fast ring, my device BSOD’d every time I boot it up. That error was fixed only when a patch was released two weeks later, and since I couldn’t even turn it on, I had to reinstall Windows again. Later when I bought Surface 3, Build 10130 couldn’t even be installed on it. These are just a fraction of the anecdotes on how unstable Windows 10 preview was before the release. Expect the same for Xbox One. The first build is going to be very buggy, and the actual bug list is likely to go way longer than what was announced, so be prepared.
You might have to wait a while until the next build.
Sometimes certain build may not work with you very well, and you would want a new build. But this is not as easy as it sounds. Preview builds are not like official builds. Microsoft issues patches for official builds to fix certain issue and make sure the fix does not affect anything else, but this is way too time-consuming for products that are still WIP. When they fix one thing, new bugs might appear, and that bug might be too critical and render the build impossible to distribute to preview users. Only a few builds that are relatively problem-free will be chosen and distributed, and how long that is going to take differs widely. For example, Build 10159 was released a day after Build 10158 came out, while Mobile Build 10536.1004 was released about 40 days after Mobile Build 10152. While I don’t expect 40 days between Xbox One builds, there can be huge inconsistency in terms of how often builds would come out.
Sometimes it takes really, really long.
Stability is the last thing they work on.
Build 10158 was a turning point for many Insiders. Until Build 10130, the general consensus was that Windows 10 is still too unstable for official release, and it was the newest build until a month before the July 29th launch. But then Build 10158 came out in June 30th, exactly a month before the launch, and then it changed everything. Suddenly it became extremely stable, and people started to believe Windows 10 can be ready for launch in a month. In the coming weeks we had 4 more builds which really ramped up the stability even more, and the last build, 10240, is the one you are using right now if your PC is on Windows 10. Stability is the last thing Microsoft’s OS group works on after they are done with all the other stuffs. The same could apply to Xbox One as well, so expect the bugginess to persist until late October.
Report bugs.
Now here’s one most important thing. Buried under the huge list of user feedbacks it is hard to believe that Microsoft would listen to your bug report, but they are listening. They have a whole team reading and sorting out all the feedbacks to send them to the development team, and the leader of all of them, Gabriel Aul, is answering some of the questions himself through his twitter account. When you report something, whatever that is, there is a high chance it will be fixed. So report bugs through Xbox Preview Dashboard thread or Xbox Uservoice, have them fixed, make your Xbox One more perfect than ever.
Insider program has been a fun ride on desktop and mobile, and now I am happy to see my Xbox One waiting to join the others. If you are still interested – I’m sure many of you will – come over, brace yourself, and enjoy the ride. It will be worth it. And if you are not, well, we are here to perfect your new Xbox experience coming in November.
Lastly, use this thread for all news and discussions on Windows 10 Preview for Xbox One, which will start in mid-late September.
On October 1st, 2014, Microsoft revealed Windows 10 to the world. With it started the Windows Insider Program, the world’s first attempt to develop an operating system with constant feedback from users. I have been there since the day 1, with the Desktop Build 9841. It’s been a great ride since then. Insiders were constantly introduced to the most cutting-edge features of Windows 10, with a few surprises along the way with multiple events. The program is still going on, and I am currently using Build 10532 on my Surface 3, and 10536 on my Lumia 1520. And this month, my Xbox One is highly likely to join the pack with the start of Xbox Preview Program for Windows 10.
However, as exciting as Insider Program has been, it has not been a smooth ride. The same is going to apply to Xbox One and its rendition of Windows 10. It is supposed to be very bumpy, and there will be quite a few problems until the official release. In this write-up, I will tell you what you should be careful of when you join the preview program for Windows 10.
You are in the Fast Ring.
While not an official name, if you opted for Windows 10 preview, basically you are in the Fast Ring. Insider Program has two rings: Fast Ring, and Slow Ring. Just like what it says, Fast Ring gets the newest build, though they are more unstable. Slow Ring gets the build later on when the Fast Ring build is deemed stable enough to be distributed to wider range of users. With Xbox One, if you did not opt for Windows 10, you are in the Slow Ring, getting all the new stuffs after those who opted in enjoyed them for a while. If you did opt in, you are in the Fast Ring. That means you understand that this build is unstable, lots of things can go wrong, and you should be able to deal with some critical errors by yourself. If you are scared, you need to go back now.
Be prepared to see something like this a lot.
It will be really buggy.
I used early Windows 10 preview on an 8-inch tablet called Dell Venue 8 Pro. Some of the insider builds really didn’t go along well with it. Back when Build 9926 was first distributed to fast ring, my device BSOD’d every time I boot it up. That error was fixed only when a patch was released two weeks later, and since I couldn’t even turn it on, I had to reinstall Windows again. Later when I bought Surface 3, Build 10130 couldn’t even be installed on it. These are just a fraction of the anecdotes on how unstable Windows 10 preview was before the release. Expect the same for Xbox One. The first build is going to be very buggy, and the actual bug list is likely to go way longer than what was announced, so be prepared.
You might have to wait a while until the next build.
Sometimes certain build may not work with you very well, and you would want a new build. But this is not as easy as it sounds. Preview builds are not like official builds. Microsoft issues patches for official builds to fix certain issue and make sure the fix does not affect anything else, but this is way too time-consuming for products that are still WIP. When they fix one thing, new bugs might appear, and that bug might be too critical and render the build impossible to distribute to preview users. Only a few builds that are relatively problem-free will be chosen and distributed, and how long that is going to take differs widely. For example, Build 10159 was released a day after Build 10158 came out, while Mobile Build 10536.1004 was released about 40 days after Mobile Build 10152. While I don’t expect 40 days between Xbox One builds, there can be huge inconsistency in terms of how often builds would come out.
Sometimes it takes really, really long.
Stability is the last thing they work on.
Build 10158 was a turning point for many Insiders. Until Build 10130, the general consensus was that Windows 10 is still too unstable for official release, and it was the newest build until a month before the July 29th launch. But then Build 10158 came out in June 30th, exactly a month before the launch, and then it changed everything. Suddenly it became extremely stable, and people started to believe Windows 10 can be ready for launch in a month. In the coming weeks we had 4 more builds which really ramped up the stability even more, and the last build, 10240, is the one you are using right now if your PC is on Windows 10. Stability is the last thing Microsoft’s OS group works on after they are done with all the other stuffs. The same could apply to Xbox One as well, so expect the bugginess to persist until late October.
Report bugs.
Now here’s one most important thing. Buried under the huge list of user feedbacks it is hard to believe that Microsoft would listen to your bug report, but they are listening. They have a whole team reading and sorting out all the feedbacks to send them to the development team, and the leader of all of them, Gabriel Aul, is answering some of the questions himself through his twitter account. When you report something, whatever that is, there is a high chance it will be fixed. So report bugs through Xbox Preview Dashboard thread or Xbox Uservoice, have them fixed, make your Xbox One more perfect than ever.
Insider program has been a fun ride on desktop and mobile, and now I am happy to see my Xbox One waiting to join the others. If you are still interested – I’m sure many of you will – come over, brace yourself, and enjoy the ride. It will be worth it. And if you are not, well, we are here to perfect your new Xbox experience coming in November.
Lastly, use this thread for all news and discussions on Windows 10 Preview for Xbox One, which will start in mid-late September.
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