Windows Insider reboot begins: Here's what's new in the first-ever Experimental Preview build

Realistic Windows‑style UI panels labeled Experimental, Beta, and Release Preview floating above a blurred Windows 11 desktop background. — Windows Insiders will be transitioned into three channels with clear definitions.

Starting today, Windows Insiders are being shifted to the newly formed Experimental Channel and the revamped Beta Channel. Most Insiders in the Dev Channel will be placed in the Experimental Channel, while those in the Beta Channel will be in the updated Beta Channel.

Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel will be transitioned to either the Experimental (26H1) Channel or the Experimental (Future Platforms) depending on the Canary build their PC is on, but that transition will happen over the coming weeks.

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"To ensure quality and reliability of the program changes, we will be rolling out the changes in a phased approach. Starting today, we will begin moving users in the Dev Channel to Experimental. Delivering on our promise to allow Insiders in Experimental to enable new experiences before they roll out to your device, if you are in the Dev Channel and do not see the new Experimental channel UI, you can enable it yourself by going to Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program > Feature flags and toggling on the new experience."

Beta (Including Beta Channel): Build 26220.8283
Experimental (Including Dev Channel): Build 26300.8289
Experimental (26H1) – Including Canary 28000 series: Build 28020.1873
Experimental (Future Platforms) – Including Canary 29500 series: Build 29576.1000

View the full changelog ↴

Windows 11 Insider Experimental Preview Build 26300.8289

Windows Insider Program channel movement

As announced in the Windows Insider Blog, we will begin moving users in the Dev Channel to the new Experimental channel. This will be a phased rollout and Insiders who do not see the new experience on their device but want to, can enable the experience under Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program > Feature flags.

Windows Update

We’re introducing new capabilities to enhance security and improve user control over the Windows update experience. This includes:

Ability to skip updates immediately during the out of box experience (OOBE)
Extend update pauses as many times as you need
Always available options to shutdown and restart with updating
More insight on available updates to make more informed installation decisions

Print Drivers

The Internet Protocol Print driver (prnms012) has new hardware IDs (HWIDs) in preparation for upcoming changes in printer driver ranking order. See our third-party driver deprecation timeline: End of Servicing Plan for Third-Party Printer Drivers on Windows - Windows drivers | Microsoft Learn..

Improved detection of clicks at the leftmost edge of the taskbar to invoke start menu when the taskbar icons are set to left aligned.

Other

Removed unexpected error that was showing when opening Group Policy Editor in the last couple Insider flights.
We’re updated Times New Roman to improve support for combining diacritical marks across the Greek and Cyrillic Unicode ranges. If you notice any positioning issues with these diacritical marks, please let us know by filing feedback under Desktop Environment > Font Installation and Preview in the Feedback Hub – preferably with details about the specific Unicode character, and a screenshot highlighting the expected position.

The biggest change is the ability to skip updates during the out of box experience. We knew this was on the way, and it's nice to see it hit the next phase of testing.

Before this change, users setting up a PC for the first time needed to sit through an entire update process, which could take up to half an hour. While it's important to keep systems up to date, having the option to skip those updates while setting up a PC is lovely.

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Sean Endicott is a news writer and apps editor for Windows Central with 11+ years of experience. A Nottingham Trent journalism graduate, Sean has covered the industry’s arc from the Lumia era to the launch of Windows 11 and generative AI. Having started at Thrifter, he uses his expertise in price tracking to help readers find genuine hardware value.

Beyond tech news, Sean is a UK sports media pioneer. In 2017, he became one of the first to stream via smartphone and is an expert in AP Capture systems. A tech-forward coach, he was named 2024 BAFA Youth Coach of the Year. He is focused on using technology—from AI to Clipchamp—to gain a practical edge.

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