Windows 10: Microsoft ends Skip Ahead Windows Insiders ring

Microsoft released a new Windows 10 Insider Preview build yesterday to the Fast Ring that brings the build number to 19018. Brandon LeBlanc, Senior Program Manager of the Windows Insider Program, revealed on the Windows Experience blog that Microsoft made the decision to discontinue the Skip Ahead Windows Insider Program ring.

Windows Insiders have had several options until now in regards to new builds called Release Preview, Slow, Fast and Skip Ahead. The main idea with these different rings was to provide organizations and technically interested users with options to test different development versions of the operating system.

• Release Preview is closest to Stable versions of Windows 10.
• Slow and Fast builds usually let users test the next feature update versions.
• Skip Ahead was designed to provide a glimpse at a future feature update version.

Things got complicated in 2019 when Microsoft mixed and matched rings and builds which at least partially was caused by the "not really a feature update" release that Microsoft plans to release in November 2019.



Starting with the release of the Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19018, Skip Ahead configurations will be migrated to the Fast Ring automatically. Skip Ahead will be removed from the Insider settings of the Windows 10 operating system and the ring won't be offered anymore to Insiders to sign-up for.

Starting today, Windows Insiders who have opted into Skip Ahead are being migrated back into the Fast ring. This means that Skip Ahead will no longer be reflected under Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program. Going forward, we will not be offering Skip Ahead as an option for Insiders to sign-up for. Our goal is to provide everyone in the Fast ring the freshest builds at the same time.
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Going forward, the newest builds will be released to the Fast Ring. It is unclear at this point whether that could mean that Fast Ring builds may skip ahead as well.

Microsoft provides no reason for making the change. Maybe it has been done to reduce the number of future feature leaks (and the disappointment that goes along when these don't make it into a new version of Windows 10), or to improve the manageability of public builds.

Now You: What is your take on the decision?

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Windows Insiders Lost Skip Ahead

Some insiders in Skip Ahead were merged to Fast Ring when build 18875 was released.

Quote from build 18875 announcement:

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are moving the Fast ring forward to 20H1 and merging the small group of Insiders who opted-in to Skip Ahead back into the Fast ring with the release of Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20H1 Build 18875.
That means Insiders in the Fast ring and those who opted-in to Skip Ahead will receive the same builds going forward.

I had Skip Ahead status on desktop and laptop, but when that build was installed desktop stay in Sikp Ahead, but laptop was changed to Fast Ring.

 

Windows 10 Insider Skip Ahead problem.

I already posted the issue to Windows Feedback Hub. I had this issue with a previous Windows build which I had installed from an ISO and had used the registry reset method to set the Insider settings back to Skip Ahead, which is where I had originally been
since that ring was instituted. But this time the registry settings won't stay set to the correct settings to make the Insider setting be Skip Ahead. In fact I can't get any setting in the Windows Insider section of Settings at all, only the announcement I
mentioned in my post above.

 

Windows 10 Insider Skip Ahead problem.

I'm on Insider build 17677 and am trying to get build 17682 but Windows Update isn't working. I was set to get Windows Insider Skip Ahead builds but now my Windows Insider Program settings says "Your organization manages Insider Preview builds through
a Telemetry Group policy setting." The "Fix Me" icon is visible but greyed out so I can't select it and when I run Windows Update it won't get the new update. I ran Update Troubleshooter but nothing changed. I checked the registry settings suggested in several
online fixes and they were reset to BuildBranch instead of SkipAhead as they should be for Skip Ahead/Fast settings. I reset the registry settings to the Skip settings but when I restarted my computer the settings reverted to the BuildBranch settings. In fact
the settings reverted even if I didn't restart my computer. So I am blocked completely from getting any Insider builds at all presently.