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Microsoft: You'll get the next Windows 10 build when we're GOOD AND READY

Public release dates only slow the process down, say devs

Champing at the bit for the next build of Windows 10 Technical Preview? Microsoft says that although it has been silent for several weeks, a new release is coming ... soonish ... but you probably shouldn't hold your breath.

"Today is 3/9 and we've not set a date for the next build," Redmond's Gabe Aul said on Monday in a lengthy blog post explaining Microsoft's Windows 10 preview release process.

The last time Microsoft pushed a new build of its forthcoming OS to members of its Windows Insider program was in late January. That release was flakey, however, and its UI was clearly a work in progress. Little wonder that testers are eager to see how Redmond plans to address its issues.

At the time, Aul promised that future releases would "improve the experiences as well as quality and stability." And in October, Microsoft even added a "Fast" release ring for "adventurous" Windows 10 testers, presumably so that they could get new builds sooner and more often.

Microsoft's "release rings" for the Windows 10 Technical Preview

Lord of the rings: Microsoft releases Windows 10 builds in stages (click to enlarge)

Nonetheless, February was a quiet month for Windows Insiders, with only the release of the raw and buggy Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones to tide them over.

"The short answer on this is really that we've probably been too conservative about pushing builds to the Fast ring for Windows Insiders," Aul admitted, but he added that the discussion at Microsoft on how to tune the process is still ongoing.

New builds are being generated all the time, Aul said. But they tend to be full of bugs that get caught early, meaning they never make it beyond the bleeding-edge Canary release ring. They don't even get widely distributed within Microsoft, other than to the Windows developers themselves.

And while some Windows Insiders would be happy merely to know the date that the next build will arrive, Aul said even that is problematic, because announcing shipping dates publicly creates artificial pressures within the development group that can actually slow down the release process even further.

"Not having the constraint of a fixed public date for each build helps us get there faster," Aul explained – and by "faster," he said that Microsoft might even be able to push more multiple releases in March alone.

"I have a build in hand that we produced on Friday," he said. "It was validated by our test automation, and will go out through our internal rings and get installed and used by thousands of people at Microsoft. It is the freshest code with all newest features and fixes. If it passes all of our evaluation criteria it could be in your hands late this week or early next week."

Or maybe not. ®

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