Microsoft kills Windows 10 Beta Channel five months after its revival

On June 4, 2024, Microsoft announced the return of the Beta Channel for Windows 10 insiders. The idea was to revive the program for the outgoing operating system and allow insiders to test new features before their public release. With 16 months of support left, back then, the announcement was faced with healthy skepticism regarding new features for the soon-to-be-dead OS. Now, fast forward five months, the Beta Channel is going six feet under. Again.

In the changelog for the just-released Windows 10 build 19045.5194, Microsoft announced the end of the road for the Beta Channel. 19045.5194 (KB5046714) is the last Beta build for Windows 10.

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.

What does that mean for Windows 10 insiders in the Beta Channel? Microsoft will automatically migrate you to the Release Preview Channel. However, you can also manually move your system from Beta to Release Preview. Microsoft says the Release Preview Channel will continue receiving new updates, and there is yet no information on when the company plans to end the Insider program for Windows 10 altogether.

Windows 10 is now in its final year of mainstream support. With the end of life scheduled for October 2025, Microsoft is getting ready for hundreds of millions of PCs to run out of updates. If updating your system to Windows 11 is not an option (you can do that manually if your hardware is not officially supported), you can opt for the Extended Security Update program. For the first time in its existence, ESU will let regular consumers pay Microsoft for 12 extra months of security updates (enterprises get up to three years). That will set you back $30.

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