Microsoft are back delivering preview builds to Windows Insiders with a new build of Windows 10 to test. This build 11082 doesn’t have any major changes but it is the first Redstone release and prepares the ground for faster releases to Windows Insiders next year.

With this build, you won’t see big noticeable changes or new features just yet. Right now, the team is focused on product improvements based on the feedback we’re hearing on the November update to Windows 10. This includes the changes that have also been going out as cumulative updates through Windows Update on your PCs running the Windows 10 November Update as well as on phones running Windows 10 too. We’re also working on some structural improvements to OneCore, which is the shared core of Windows across devices. Essentially, OneCore is the heart of Windows, and these improvements to OneCore make building Windows across PC, tablet, phone, IoT, Hololens and Xbox more efficient. We’re doing some code refactoring and other engineering work to make sure OneCore is optimally structured for teams to start checking in new features and improvements in the new year.

In the post on the Windows Blog Gabe Aul says that we can expect more preview builds next year as Microsoft are going to push out more frequent releases closer to the schedule they test internaly, it will probably mean more bugs but it is exactly what we Insiders want to see.

One of the things that I have heard many times from Insiders in the Fast ring is that they want to see a faster pace of build availability. We’ve been considering how we want to respond to this feedback, and in January we expect to pick up the pace. To do this, we are re-evaluating the ring promotion criteria to allow more builds to reach Windows Insiders. The new criteria will be much closer to our criteria for flighting to our internal rings, which means more builds will pass it and be released externally to the Fast ring. This also means however that the builds we release to the Fast ring may include more bugs and other issues that could be slightly more painful for some people to live with. It’s a tradeoff – as the thing that throttles the rate of builds is the promotion criteria.

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