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What’s next for the Windows Insider program, from Dona Sarkar

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Published onJuly 29, 2016

published onJuly 29, 2016

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As with most anniversaries, people take the time to reflect and opine on a years’ worth of memories, developments, milestones, and setbacks. For the Windows team, its Windows 10 Anniversary Update release has marked a year gone by and 365 days of cathartic introspection.

However, asthe Windows team celebrates memorializes its year-long journey to its Windows 10 Anniversary Updaterelease, the team also has its eyes set on the future and what comes next after August 2, 2016.

The lead of the Windows Insider programDona Sarkar and the rest of the Windows team are looking particularly at revamping the Insider program. While the Insider program has served both the Windows team and eager Windows 10 users relatively well, Sarkar believes there is still room for improvement and as someone who’s adopted the notion of Windows-as-a-Service, it seems appropriate that Sarkar would like to see the Insider program evolve as Windows 10 does.

We want to evolve the program to engage even deeper with our Insiders. We want to gain a greater understanding of what people are trying to achieve whether it’s starting a business, creating art, learning a skill, or building a career and how Windows can help. We will use this information as an input into future release planning, so our Insiders are using our technology as a superpower as they achieve whatever they set out to do or learn. We want to show how Windows 10 can be leveraged so that Insiders can achieve their career and dream goals.

We’re going to continue to invest in opportunities to meet with Insiders in person and grow the program to include people of all interests and experiences to share their views of how they use Windows. This diverse perspective reaching new generations of Insiders and people of varying technical skill levels will be critical in the next phase of this program.

Something else we’re looking to do this year is a series of global “Create-A-Thons” called #WINsiders4Good to help Insiders within a city get to know each other and build something for local impact. We are starting in Seattle on August 2nd to celebrate the beginning of the global rollout of the Anniversary Update.

For those of you who love installing new builds – don’t worry, we’ll be pushing out new builds again in August!

It seems as though Sarkar and the Windows team plan to get more in touch with the men and women who help shape Windows 10 thus far by engaging in person to person meet ups and parsing her words, they may bring back personalized videos about the productivity of Windows 10.

A little before current CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella took over, the Windows team ran a series of ads in a campaign that highlighted the personal use of Windows, notably Windows 8 at the time. The series seems to have been put on pause as Microsoft refocused its marketing campaigns and budgets to target more succinct messaging. However, it sounds like Dona and the gang may be bringing it back, or at the very least hosting some blog post about Windows Insiders coming together to help shape Windows 10 through their personalized use-cases.

Whatever the Windows team has planned, it seems that the Windows 10 Anniversary Update release isn’t slowing them down and that Insiders should expect to be up and running with new builds to test later in the month. Let us know in the comments what you think about the Windows Insiders program so far, and what you expect to see in the future.

Kareem Anderson

Networking & Security Specialist

Kareem is a journalist from the bay area, now living in Florida. His passion for technology and content creation drives are unmatched, driving him to create well-researched articles and incredible YouTube videos.

He is always on the lookout for everything new about Microsoft, focusing on making easy-to-understand content and breaking down complex topics related to networking, Azure, cloud computing, and security.

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Kareem Anderson

Networking & Security Specialist

He is a journalist from the bay area, now living in Florida. He breaks down complex topics related to networking, Azure, cloud computing, and security

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low#

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app#

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities#

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount#

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier#

What’s next for the Windows Insider program, from Dona Sarkar#