Time is rapidly running out for Windows 10, as Microsoft shuts down Beta testing channel
- Microsoft has deployed one final preview build to the Beta test channel
- The Beta channel is being closed down, leaving only Release Preview now
- This effectively means Windows 10 won’t get any more new features
Microsoft has just dropped the guillotine on the Beta channel for Windows 10, a testing platform that was only recently resurrected earlier this year.
The news was delivered as part of a new Beta preview in the usual 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 Release Preview channel will receive the same Windows 10 build today just like we’ve been doing since June. However, this will be the last time we release a Windows 10 build to the Beta channel as we will be shutting down the Beta channel for Windows 10.”
Those Windows 10 testers who are currently in the Beta channel will be moved over to the Release Preview builds.
As for the work done in build 19045, it consists of some bug fixes, with the only actual change feature-wise coming to the Beta channel.
Don’t get excited, though, as Microsoft’s parting gift to Windows 10 is the Start menu now showing adverts (or ‘suggestions’ as the software giant puts it) for apps from the Microsoft Store which are from a “small set of curated developers” apparently.
Boo, hiss, etcetera – though you can turn off the ‘Show suggestions occasionally’ for the Start menu (head to Settings > Personalization > 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 in a limited fashion – so it was only briefly resurrected for not even half a year before getting the axe again.
This means that changes such as the above Start menu tweak won’t be coming to Windows 10 any longer (though in the case of this addition from Microsoft, you might be glad to see the back of active development for the older OS).
Effectively, this is Microsoft putting Windows 10 on ice, without saying as much – and that’s no surprise. After all, Windows 10 only has 11 months left on the clock before it runs out of support, so feature additions don’t make much sense at this point. Going forward, all we’ll have is the Release Preview channel for testing, the final stage of Insider builds before the release version of Windows 10, where minor fixes and bug squashing will be carried out.
Don’t expect anything new, in short, though we suppose Microsoft could still surprise us – this has happened in the past, after all, when the software giant announced an effective feature freeze, only to thaw that move with some reasonable-sized feature drops.
At any rate, the shuttering of the Beta channel is another reminder that if you are on Windows 10, you should be starting to consider your End of Life options. Whether that’s upgrading to Windows 11 somehow, or an entirely alternative approach like one of the more Windows deserter-friendly Linux distros, perhaps.
