No new Windows 10 Insider builds are coming until 2017

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Surface Insider Rings
Surface Insider Rings (Image credit: Windows Central)

It looks like Microsoft is calling it a wrap for new Windows 10 Insider builds in 2016. Windows Insider chief Dona Sarkar took to Twitter to announce that no new builds will be released in 2016 as the year comes to a close.

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The latest build to hit the Fast ring was 14986, which brought an absolute truckload of new features to PC earlier in December. The same build subsequently made its way to the Slow ring just yesterday, bringing new features to test to even more users. And while no new builds are coming through the rest of December, an ISO file for build 14986 will be released next week, Darkar says.

It's already been a pretty busy year for Insiders, particularly after the Creators Update was announced and new features started trickling out to preview builds. We should see things ramp up even more as we head into 2017 and Microsoft continues to test out all of the new features and tweaks coming along in the Creators Update before their full release.

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the Editor in Chief for Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. Got a hot tip? Send it to daniel.thorp-lancaster@futurenet.com.
91 Comments
  • ☹
  • Windows Insider Program -> 😰
    Dona Sarker ->😴
    Joe Belfiore ->🤒
    Terry Myerson ->😈
    Gabriel Aul ->🐱👤
    .
    .
    .
    and I'm like 🛌🏽
  • Well, I guest no more Windows central for me until January because looking towards new build is what I mainly come here for.
  • No WinMo news coming to XBOX Central until next year... 😂😂😂😂😂
  • as u promised us ( MS ) as usual , we waiting the best from u and smooth builds. No rush . Have a nice holiday. merry Christmas 🎄.
  • Voted you up on MSPU for this comment and will do so again ☺ .
  • 100 % ur right . Cuz im real and not fake . Plus im using MS products before ya born . So there is a trust and faithful. Second . I advise you to relax and take a nap 😊 and leave peoples alone, finally , merry Christmas 🎄 for u and all users .
  • Not like us geeks all get together at times like Christmas... you know free advertising/word-of-mouth etc. to show new features etc. to wider circles. Ah well.
  • Or loose lips to complain about how buggy Microsoft left everything before running off on holiday.
  • Like that isn't already a case
  • If someone came to my house at Christmas and started talking about a Windows 10 insider build I'd ask them to leave. And I work for Windows Central. Holidays are for holidaying with family and friends.
  • I could use one. I keep dropping calls on AT&T.
  • No! You're not getting any "free" Xbox or Windows phones here
  • time to roll back the phone then because this latest fast ring release on the phone sucks donkey
  • How so? I like it other than YouTube access is spotty on a good day, non-existent usually. But that's one site.
  • Different people different experience, I guess. In my 950, I can no longer open my email from the notification centre. I can just dismiss them from there, and that's it. Tapping on my email notifications will only open the Outlook splashscreen for less than a second and closes, bringing me back to whatever I was doing before tapping the notification.
  • Well, I still haven't even been able to install the last one on my surface pro 3 so oh well.
  • Right, I wonder whats up with that...keeps saying my device is up to date...
  • Christmas and New-years coming up, they deserve the break :D I think I and others can wait a few weeks for the next build :p
  • Wait, seriously?  Not even for mobile?  This latest version is more horrible than usual.  I would have at least hoped they could button up the build to bring it on parity with the desktop.  Sheesh, Microsoft fail once again.
  • How can you rate this as a fail Yes this version seems more buggy than most but obviously they have some things t tackle before the next rollout. When I see someone call "fail", makes me question why they are in the insider program.
  • If Scuba isn't complaining, he isn't happy. Makes me wonder though...
  • That's not accurate. I don't complain about what I believe is good. I don't complain about the Lumia 1020 or Windows 8/Windows Phone 8 or the Surface Pro 3 or 4.  I DO complain about Xbox One, Windows 10/W10Mobile and the Lumia 950.  Yes, I get the who preview process.  I've been part of that since the very earliest days of Windows 8.  What I don't get is, at this particular time, why they chose to just stop any effort to bring the mobile version up to parity with the PC version. 
  • Yeah, we know how you feel....you make it very clear quite often.
  • Oh look, another whiny post from ScubaDog who demands that everyone center their lives around him. Screw people spending time with their friends and families for Christmas and the holidays. He was told this was going to happen, but no, put your lives on hold, ScubaDog has spoken so you better get to his demands right now.
  • You clearly didn't pay attention.  I find it impossible to believe they hadn't made SOME progression the last mobile version.
  • They have! They have a few builds! They won't release them as there are issues larger than the current ones! New stuff being added and has had a negative effect on the builds. As Dona said, they aren't comfortable releasing them as, due to holidays, support etc wouldn't be there! I go with her judgement!
  • Who said they haven't made progression. It is highly likely that the progression is way too unstable right now for insider access. If they released one now, you'd complain it is even buggier than the current one. Please answer, what do you really expect them to do? Continue working right into Christmas so you are happy, or go home and enjoy Christmas and new years with their family while you wait a few weeks (The horror!) If its that unbearable you can always rollback. You're the one who decided to run insider builds and then complain. Production updates sounds like the updates for you, not insider
  • If you are on the "bleeding edge", you should expect to bleed.
  • The current Windows 10 Mobile build brings it up to par with Android 4.1 (released in 2013).
    Hopefully by the time the Creators Update comes, we will be on par with Android 5.0
  • How is this a direct comparison?
  • How dare they have Christmas and new years holiday. The monsters (sarcasm)
  • I mean...you could always just use production software and not complain about bugs?
  • Hmmmm...I've had some crashing and phone rebooting. I think it's Groove's issue. Hopefully we'll get a bug-fix, Groove update.
  • Yeah, I've been having issues with Groove as well.
  • don't use Groove, go back to Zune music and listen that way. And if you don't have a Zune, then get out your Walkman or Discman :)
  • Did you read about them on the internet?? You're very clever
  • Twitter and WC crashing for me. Everything else is OK. I did roll back but missed the new ringtones! D'oh
  •   Well done. Concise and clear message.    
  • Shame. It would have been nice to see mobile brought up to 14986, but oh, well. 2017 is only 2 weeks away.
  • don't worry, in 2017 they will likely delay the builds just like last year and then we all be complaining again.
  • If you have nothing positive or remotely interesting to say.......
  • You finished yet?
    Lot of snarky comments from you recently lol
  • Well I am sad there will be nothing for mobile. I am getting the black screen that won't wake up without several presses of the power button or alerts. Bad battery life as well as crashes. Being an insider I know this is part of the program but was hoping for a bug fix release before the holidays. Ah well. I will roll back if it gets bad. And yes I too am getting Groove crashes on mobile.
  • reset your device using Windows Device Recovery Tool and then update to latest version.
  • Do you have a 950 or a 950XL? It is probably the battery.
  • My 950 and XL have been amazing on battery. My charger is filing for divorce!
  • So. No new builds for 650 owners in over a month. That is a god damn cop out. They could not find their ass with 2 hands and a spotlight. Par for the course. How about the Sarkar lady just STFU, and stop teasing testers. Release builds when they are ready. Spend less time on Twitter, and more doing your god damn job.
  • Not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, are ya?
  • Only an arrogant fool would assume I celebrate Xmas. Off we go now.
  • You don't have to celebrate Christmas.... You still know what a Christmas tree is, right?
  • Only an ignorant **** would assume that going on twitter is not part of Sarkars job, and that these "beta" builds are released before they are ready.
    Bad troll, bad.
  • You don't celebrate Christmas so neither should the people making all the coding for Win10m updates. Haha that's great. Hey, since you don't celebrate Christmas maybe you should code for Win10m in their place. Oh. You can't? Stop complaining then.
    Lighten up, its nearly Christmas.
  • Not the brightest bulb? That, sir, I was brilliant.
  • True! Now, if Dona just red buttoned any old build, I guess the same poster would be complaining again! She has made it clear that if internal doesn't go well, it won't get flighted. As for this 'Sarka' lady, she has recently returned from trips to Africa and many other countries, promoting insiders. We have NO right to builds. Dona, herself, commented that the insider base is 'huge', which I read as everybody wants shiny new stuff and we have so much data to go through, its no wonder why new builds take a while. As for criticism, well...
  • Someone grab this guy a violin!
  • A Stradivarius please.
  • Ha!
  • Her job is to tweet, idiot. She is not a developer.
  • Wow. Name calling. Really? By the way. Didn't she take over for Gabe Aul, And what is her official title? It's a rhetorical question. We know the answer.
  • So srs.
  • I wonder what happened to Redstone 2 being mobile mainly.
  • That was Redstone 3 actually.
  • They originally said rs2
  • MSFT keep delaying it as usual. Their focus is on PCs since they have more success on that even though little-to no advertising has been done for Windows phones since 2014
  • A well earned break for the windows team, they have pumped out some impressive stuff this year. I for one can live with the slight issues in the last mob build, yes I get the seldom random reboot and yes the Store is bugging out with regards to updates/purchase history and the check updates button broken and finally some apps like Appraisin lockup when scrolling but these aren't deal breakers. So I say have a wonderful break MS, me and my 950 XL will see you in 2017 to start this b**** all over again.
  • These are the well described precautions' of running fast ring builds
  • Yes they are and man do I love living on the bleeding edge 😀.
  • Same :) I just prefer to run them on my secondary device haha. Slow ring for my Primary :D
  • last mobile build 2 weeks ago, and no one for at least 3-4 more weeks. Not that these mobile builds have had alot of "creative" things. Lets have full windows on the mobile then instead.
  • BUmmer, because the last build kind of sucks.. or maybe its just the apps. - Photos either crashes, or the pictures disappear into the upper left. - When I answer the phone and put it on speaker, it takes 3 seconds or so to respond. - Calendar often shows up empty, and takes a little while to populate - Store: I can't download pandora or Network services... they stop at 143.5kb, no matter how many times I stop and restart or reboot, etc... and more. One of the worst builds i've had in a while.
  • I agree. 14986 has been a very frustrating build for me. I've been tempering my frustration thinking its all part of the development process and that's its so bad MS will soon release an update. Guess I'll switch to another machine until the new year.
  • I've not had any of those issues. I had the calendar bug, but that was it. Twitter and WC crashes, but that's not a deal breaker
  • The "fast" ring has been the slowest ring since RS2
  • Hopefully the ISO next week will fix the problems with the latest build not downloading
  • While some of these people think that Twitter is part of Sarkar's "Microsoft" job. That's fine. I understand that. But use a different name for her interactions with Microsoft. I don't want to have to scroll thru superfluous crap to get to the issues regarding Windows 10 Insider information. Why do I care about her wardrobe? I don't give a ****., whether she is a costume designer or whatever. What I do give a **** about is that she stays on topic, and stops teasing the insiders. And to you people who are quick to insult me when having never met you? Then that truly tells what kind of a person(s) you really are. Happy RamaHanaKwanzmas everyone.
  • I get where you're coming from and I agree that it's hard to follow people's social media posts when they intermix personal and work stuff. Anyway, here's my take... If you don't want to read the "superfluous crap" she posts to her own personal Twitter handle, then maybe simply avoid reading the "superfluous crap" on Twitter and rather just stick to just the blog entries, etc. that flow through the Feedback Hub. I personally have opted to do just that and allow the nice folk at Windows Central et al sort through all the "superfluous crap" and give me the highlights while I get on with more important things in my own life instead of focusing on Dona's life. When I see something I want to dive into in more detail, then I will research it more.
  • Right on, sister!
  • I usually look if build on the way, then go to the blog with the details. I've actually had some good interaction with her regarding builds, and always found her very accommodating and honest with her replies. I don't think that the snide comments are called for. She is head of the insider team, and wether its because she is a "she' or whatever, people seem to be quite vitriolic towards her. Trust me, she knows her onions as well as any chap.
  • if you don't like the way she tweets, oh well. twitter is social media. she's being social. if you want non-social, go to something a little less informal like the feedback hub for updates.
  • Us 650 owners are feeling really let down right about now. It's been 2 weeks with no fix, and now no new builds for a while.
  • Agreed. And it isn't like it's one of the newest phones. Oh wait. Yes it is! It is an actual Windows 10 phone. Damn, my 1020 is running this build, but my 650 can't get it? WTF?
  • They deserve their holidays, too bad I cannot install the latest Fast Ring build on a laptop I have.
  • It's ok its only a few weeks away lol. It would be worse if they weren't coming until 2018 lol
  • Haha
  • So, no GATT server for Insiders this year? Ah well, I'm on Release Preview anyway.
  • Everyone needs some time off.
    Happy holidays 🎄 everyone.
  • That's a Santa's gift
  • That would be a problem for me except I can't get any insider builds right now. I reset my Surface Pro 1, set it to insider fast ring about a week ago. still can't get anything other than normal general release updates. its as if i'm not showing up as an insider or something.
  • I'm gonna stay with terrible bugs till 2017.. They seem permanent anyway >Low brightness no matter the the settings
    >No notifications nor Tone alert for Messaging
    >Facebook app for phone download size 292mb haha
    >WhatsApp just loading and never opens
    >Battery level drops like it is being pulled by gravity
    >SOFT RESETTING is useless for this builds, HARD RESETTING solves nothing nowadays > 8.1 so stone age can't roll back
  • Did 14986 PC break Windows Hello for anyone?