123599 Windows Insider Podcast EP46 Langowski Leblanc

Windows Insider podcast EP46 – Bringing Windows 11 to Insiders Transcript

Windows Insider podcast -- Episode 46 – Bringing Windows 11 to Insiders Jason Howard (host) Amanda Langowski, Principal PM Lead (guest) Brandon LeBlanc, Senior PM (guest)

[Music]

JASON HOWARD: Welcome to the Windows Insider Podcast, where leaders from Microsoft and Windows Insiders discuss tech trends, careers, and innovation. I'm your host, Jason Howard.

This is Episode 46, Bringing Windows 11 to Insiders

But first, if you're not yet a Windows Insider, head over to our website, insider.windows.com and register for free. Insiders get access to upcoming Windows features before they're released to the public, plus exclusive opportunities to experience all Microsoft has to offer.

As we kick off this month’s podcast, we're thankful to share that preview builds of Windows 11 are available in both the Dev and Beta channels for users in the Windows Insider Program. We hope you’re enjoying the preview builds, and we’re excited to review the feedback you're sharing!

With the variety and importance of conversations surrounding Windows 11, what does this new version of Windows mean for the Windows Insider program? How are we delivering this release to Insiders? How will this new version of Windows affect the Insider Program? And what are some of the early insights we’re hearing from users running preview builds?

We’ve received a wide variety of questions during the first month of preview builds and we aim to answer some of them in this month’s discussion. If you’ve tuned into past podcasts or webcasts, you’ll quickly recognize this month’s guests. Joining us are Amanda Langowski, Program Lead for the Windows Insider Program, and Brandon LeBlanc, Senior Program Manager, also on the Windows Insider Team.

Let’s get this show on the road!

[Music]

JASON HOWARD: Amanda and Brandon, welcome back to the podcast. Always good to have you come spend time with us and share information about the Windows Insider Program.

AMANDA LANGOWSKI: Thanks, Jason.

BRANDON LEBLANC: Happy to be here.

JASON HOWARD: So, a lot has changed recently. There are lots of new folks in the Insider Program and I’m betting at least a few of them are tuning into the podcast for the first time. So, to make sure we catch them up to speed, could I get each of you to take a moment to share a little bit about your role and what you do here at Microsoft? Amanda, would you mind going first?

AMANDA LANGOWSKI: Sure. Hi, folks. I’m Amanda Langowski. I lead the customer and community programs for Windows Engineering. Most notably outside of Microsoft, that’s the Windows Insider Program.

Windows Insider podcast EP46 – Bringing Windows 11 to Insiders Transcript

BRANDON LEBLANC: And I’m Brandon LeBlanc. I am a senior program manager on the Windows Insider Program team. I get to write a lot of the blog posts and content to highlight features and things that are included in the builds that we give the Windows Insiders.

JASON HOWARD: Yes, indeed. For any Insiders out there who are new to the program and don’t have any history with me I’m Jason Howard. I’m a senior program manager here on the Windows Insider team. Brandon and I are peers. We both have the, I guess, pleasure of calling Amanda our boss. (Laughter.)

(Crosstalk.)

JASON HOWARD: She’s good peeps. We love her, she’s awesome. She’s fun to work for. Of course, the Insiders make it fun, too. You know, don’t let me forget that part.

Without further ado, there’s a lot going on in the world of Windows currently.

AMANDA LANGOWSKI: Is there?

JASON HOWARD: Yeah just a (inaudible) no big deal, you know? So, I don’t want to – I don’t want to revisit the entire history of the Insider Program, because that would take way more time than we have for this podcast, but I do want to take a quick moment and kind of touch on what the overall goals of the program are and kind of how it’s important to the development of Windows. This started way back with the original development of Windows 10 before it launched. Amanda, do you want to chime in and throw out a little bit of the history? Anything in particular you want to say about the legacy of the program?

AMANDA LANGOWSKI: No. Just been super awesome to see – you know, really, how everything’s been evolving and some of the familiar faces as we’ve been previewing builds for the last several years, especially just being in roles in the front of it, behind it, on the side of it, so – so, sounds great.

JASON HOWARD: Yeah, you’ve had your hand in a bunch of different cookie jars, so to speak. You know, you’ve seen many different facets of the program. Then Brandon, I’ll give you a second here Brandon and I, we were both part of the original team when it got put together way back in the day. I know it’s been a fun ride. Anything you want to reminisce about historically, Brandon?

BRANDON LEBLANC: The only thing I can say is I’m having the time of my life working on this team and being part of helping put builds out to Windows Insiders. Continuing to do that makes coming to work just – it’s a dream job for me. I’m super excited to be – to have been there at the beginning of the Windows Insider Program with Windows 10 and then to be ushering in the new era of Windows 11 currently, it’s just super exciting. So, I’m having the time of my life. I love hearing what our Insiders are saying about the new Windows, Windows 11.

JASON HOWARD: And I’ll just throw out one thing super quick before we dive deeper – of course, into Windows 11, because I know that’s what’s on everybody’s mind at this point. Really I have to echo the same sentiment as Brandon, having been part of this team even with the changes in the ecosystem, within Windows within people that we partner with internally and externally, the total landscape of Microsoft and Windows and everything that’s happened across the years since this program came into existence. It’s been an exciting journey. I’m glad we’re still working on this together. We’ve got some great teammates. Got a good boss, you know? That’s not me earning brownie points, I just happen to actually enjoy working with my boss.

Windows Insider podcast EP46 – Bringing Windows 11 to Insiders Transcript this team makes things super fun and it’s a super fun team to work on, even if it is a lot of work – all the work is worth it. So, let’s kind of jump out of the history and back into the present. I don’t know, let’s just dive right into the topic that’s on everybody’s mind, which of course is Windows 11. For people that have been around Windows for a while, especially those who were using or potentially still using Windows 10, there’s definitely an air of familiarity with Windows 11.

And then, of course, there was a great deal of intentional effort put into simplifying the user interface.

You take those things and combine them and it’s really done a remarkable job of bringing forth really an exciting new OS for Insiders to preview and it’s given folks kind of what we’ll just call the retail space folks that aren’t part of the program that will use this, gives them a lot to be excited about. Brandon, knowing all of the things that you’ve seen throughout the development so far what general thoughts do you have about Windows 11? How is that excitement? Do you find it to be infectious in a good way? Is it driving some excitement for you? I’d like to pick your brain a little bit here.

BRANDON LEBLANC: So, for me, for Windows 11, I am a big user experience person. I love the user experience. I love the design elements, things like that. I get really excited about that. And so, for Windows 11, I am just really just enjoying the new design, the centering on the taskbar, the new start menu. A lot of the new design elements that we’ve incorporated into Windows 11 is just – it’s making me feel happy using my PC.

In addition I’m really excited about getting to the things that I use on my PC quicker and more efficiently on Windows 11. It’s exciting to see some of that echoed from our Windows Insiders.

I get – I just – it’s just so – I keep using the term “exciting,” but it just – it makes me smile every day when I look at Twitter and look at some of the feedback and then use the product myself. it’s just so amazing. And it’s amazing to see a lot of the features that I’ve worked very closely with our PMs – our program managers - on the team on promoting to Insiders. It’s so exciting to see that come to life as well. And so, when I use the product, I just – I smile every day because I’m so close to it with the people who are building it and also with our Insiders and promoting it, it’s just – an interesting and happy feeling.

JASON HOWARD: Yeah, I’ll say this, having, obviously, installed some of the preview builds internally before we announced it to the world, watching this thing come to life was awesome. Honestly, it’s hard for me to put into words because it’s a beautiful set of changes. And to watch the number of teams that put so much hard work into this and to watch it evolve along the way and knowing how much feedback had come in from Insiders from Windows 10 and to see some of that end up in Windows 11, it’s just great to see that evolution.

BRANDON LEBLANC: Absolutely.

JASON HOWARD: Amanda, let me turn the mic back over to you. I’ll just ask you what was it that – what was it you were most excited about during the development of Windows 11, especially before we turned it over to Insiders, before they got that first build or even before we did that announce?

AMANDA LANGOWSKI: You know, I think for me, it was so hard to keep the secret from Insiders. So, by far, the design is beautiful. I love using it, all of those things, but honestly, it was just – it was just the excitement of sharing it with the Insiders for the first time as we saw it come together that was really kind of driving me.

You know, the great thing about the Windows Insider Program is that Insiders often see the code just days after it’s checked and then compiled.

Windows Insider podcast EP46 – Bringing Windows 11 to Insiders Transcript

So, it was really cool, but also kind of daunting to be really intentional about how we shared that first Windows 11 preview so we can show that big picture to Insiders, while making sure that they were the first people to get their hands on this and tell us what they thought. And as we started to develop this that just came over me. Like, okay, I can’t wait to give it to them. I can’t wait to give it to them. They’re going to see this all come together. It’s going to be great. And just to have that first initial experience is a big part of what drove me over the last few months. and, Jason, to some extent for this release, the Insider team, as you know, did a little bit of double duty in a way. While we were continuing to probably builds in the dev channel over the last few few weeks and few months, we were kind of also running kind of like a mini internal-facing Windows Insider program as we prepared for announce.

And so, we kind of got to see both sides of the coin as we were preparing for this one, which was cool to see.

JASON HOWARD: I mean, I can speak to some of this firsthand. There was definitely a lot of work in that space. And, I mean I got to give Brandon a quick shout-out here, the amount of work that he did partnering with feature teams to kind of keep track on when features were showing up what bugs were where not only for the things that went out in the first announcement when we released the initial preview build of Windows 11 out to Insiders, but you know, as you just mentioned, Amanda, with the internal self-host efforts we were doing, we pretty much replicated, to a large extent, our normal flighting process internally. there were folks inside, doing self-hosting and previewing and all that. So we had our regular meetings. We were checking build quality and doing assessments and do we have any blocking bugs and all that kind of fun stuff. And then on top of that, we were doing the regular job of, hey, we’ve got to get builds out externally. We’ve got to track features. We’ve got to track bugs. You know? So, it was almost like running two Insider programs at the same time one of them that we were normally talking externally about, and this other one that we were all we can’t talk about it, just felt like Fight Club where it’s first rule of Fight Club is you don’t talk about it.

Anyway, but yes, yes, I’ll just reemphasize, it was absolutely exciting. It was a whole lot of fun. You know, there’s – the number of people that need to be given kudos, a pat on the back, for the amount of work that was done to bring this to light, but then at the same time to take us through all of the internal efforts, I couldn’t sit here and list all the folks. I just want to say that it takes an entire – entire – it’s not even a team. It takes so many teams of so many people to make all this happen. I hope Insiders, I hope they’re enjoying the preview builds. I know the feedback is already pouring in.

So, one of the things that Insiders are seeing currently is we released the initial build of Windows 11. And now, they’re receiving – much like we’ve done in other development cycles, LCU updates – so, latest cumulative updates, which are the smaller patch updates that we’re sharing on a weekly basis.

Brandon, a question for you. this process, how similar is this to previous development iterations or is this one actually different somehow? Are we still using the same type of servicing technology? what’s kind of happening behind the scenes?

BRANDON LEBLANC: Yeah, I mean, the – we’re using the servicing technology that we’ve been testing on top of the builds that we’ve been giving Insiders in the dev channel. We’re using that to release these updates to Windows 11 currently. But the approach is the same. We treat each of those updates like they’re a build, themselves. So, Insiders are getting for us, our communications, our messaging is – we treat them as a build

Windows Insider podcast EP46 – Bringing Windows 11 to Insiders Transcript where here’s the list of changes of things that are different. Here are the things we’ve fixed. Here are the things that are known issues.

And so, we’re treating them like they’re builds that we normally would release, even though they’re being delivered as updates – cumulative updates.

So, it’s sort of different in terms of mechanics, but not that different in terms of mechanics because we’ve done it before. And then, the comms and the messaging that we were doing with our blog posts, it’s almost like business as usual. So, in that sense, it’s more of just sustaining and keeping our Insiders informed of the updates that we give them and the stuff that’s included. There’s just lots more included in them, which is awesome.

JASON HOWARD: Yeah, each one of these updates so far – we’ll just say they’ve been action packed, jam packed, there’s been a lot coming in, between entire new features being lit up, as well as the usual things you expect security updates coming through as we make those changes, lots of bug fixes, lots of just minor tweaks, and even with some of the most recent builds already taking feedback that’s come in from Insiders getting some of that initial customer voice and weaving it back into the product. Like, we’re already doing that. We haven’t even released the first one to the world so to speak, broadly – obviously, Insiders have it. But we’ve already started listening to that feedback and taking it to heart.

And I won’t sit here and try to make a list of all that kind of stuff but we do listen. And that’s one of the things – you’ve heard me talk about this on the podcast and the webcast and Twitter and everywhere else. Windows Insiders they are part of the Windows customer base and their voice is important and that’s the reason this program exists is we love hearing what folks have to say and it really does mean a lot to get that insight to know whether we’re going in the right direction. Do we need to course correct? And with a giant release such as this, it’s a big change and we love to hear people’s initial reactions be hey, are we on the right track here? And I think so far, I think we’re doing the right thing.

BRANDON LEBLANC: The one thing I would like to add is that we did get some questions from Windows Insiders early on as we were testing the update process, where we were doing updates to test the servicing pipeline that didn’t have anything included. We did this multiple times, and we’d get questions about well, why is this important? Well, it’s important because of what we’re doing now.

The testing of those cumulative updates over the course of the prior months before we released Windows 11 helped us get to where we’re at today. So, seeing the effects of that come to life by us releasing the updates the way that we are. And that was exciting because our Insiders really helped pave the way to releasing updates in this fashion. And so, I just wanted to add that tidbit in.

JASON HOWARD: Yeah, it’s always interesting to try and keep the update stack, so the portion of the OS that’s actually responsible for doing updates, you have to be able to change it and make updates to it so that you can deliver the rest of the updates that actually affect the things that people are more likely to directly see and interact with it all works together and you have to find ways to make it all just kind of move forward in a cohesive way and keep things rolling.

So, we did touch a little bit kind of on some of the history of the program, kind of where it came from. We did that very briefly. But I touched on feedback a minute ago and actually want to dig in just a little bit more there if we can. So, going all the way back to fall of 2014 back when the Windows Insider Program was announced, we announced the concept of the intake of feedback and the new systems that we use. we released the first preview build of Windows 10 way back then.

Windows Insider podcast EP46 – Bringing Windows 11 to Insiders Transcript

All up, Windows Insiders have provided an important voice to the customer engagement process, especially as Windows has evolved along the way. Just the same as Windows has evolved, the program’s also evolved.

JASON HOWARD: So, Amanda, let me ask you. Are you already seeing any differences in the – we’ll just say the influence or the type of feedback that we’re getting from Insiders now that we’ve announced Windows 11 across the broader community and –

(Laughter.)

AMANDA LANGOWSKI: We’re seeing a lot of feedback. I think that’s the greatest thing about it is that, new or old, Insiders, we’re seeing feedback. That’s exactly what we want to get. We want to move beyond the walls of who’s been developing and designing it and really understand how the customers and the Insiders will take it. So, we’ve been getting a lot of feedback. So, certainly, not surprising there.

You know, I think also unsurprisingly is that our top trends are around the changes that we’ve made to Windows 11, right? So, we have a lot of feedback coming in on taskbar, start, File Explorer. And we’re learning a lot about how people like the changes and what changes they look to see going forward. And so, teams are definitely doing we’re always planning and executing at the same time, right? There’s always the V-next, as we say. And so, listening to what customers are saying and how they’re taking it just helps really inform the future plans. Also, there are some experiences that just aren’t working right. We don’t want to wait to the next one. What are the things that we should be fixing? So, definitely doing a lot of triaging, I would say, is a big part of what the team’s roles are right now as we’re looking at all these things coming in. And just seeing what are the things that we’re seeing strong signals on, like duplicates of votes? What are those big issues that we are seeing or are those big changes that people would like to see?

But in addition, what are some of the really kind of impactful maybe problems that people are having that aren’t having on a massive scale but are really impactful to teams. We do look at both of those kind of focuses, that really intense deep focus in one or two specific areas, but what are the broader issues as well? So, we look at both of those different focuses.

JASON HOWARD: we go through our internal self-host, and one of the things that we’ve long known is kind of once you go from the internal self-hosted preview, you go to the global scale of what is represented by the Insider Program, there’s a lot of different hardware and software that gets used around the world that we don’t necessarily use in our daily work within Microsoft.

I won’t get into the technology details of it, but there was an audio book that we just didn’t hit internally during the development. Once we released it externally into preview, it showed up within the first 24 hours. All of a sudden the audio team was “Hey, we hadn’t seen this. “ And it immediately shows the impact that Insiders can have and how their voice gets represented back in the product.

And I bring this one up in particular because it was fixed within two days. Like, by the time the second preview build went out for Insiders, it was already fixed. it’s not going to be a problem, it’s not going to show up for retail users broadly. It’s not even affecting Insiders any longer, but it’s that type of immediate impact that has always been one of the hallmarks of the program that users’ voice does mean something. The differences between the way people externally use their devices and the variety of things that people do around the world, it goes a long way in helping us make a better product.

Windows Insider podcast EP46 – Bringing Windows 11 to Insiders Transcript

As we design for the billion-plus users of Windows, which you know, those numbers still boggle my mind. I can’t recall offhand what the latest count is, but even to say that we’re over a billion devices out there, it’s just – it’s always a little mind boggling. It’s hard to wrap your head around some of those numbers.

JASON HOWARD: As we have more people kind of join into the program, right, the announcement of Windows 11, anytime we do a big announcement around Windows, there’s always new enthusiasm and people get excited and they’re like, “Hey, what’s this Insider Program thing?” So, we’ve seen new, fresh faces pop in, people who didn’t know that there was an Insider program, things like that. You know, what influence do you see that having? Brandon, I know you’ve looked at a bunch of feedback. Of course, you’re all over social. How has this new influx of participants kind of changed what you’ve seen across the landscape of some of the feedback, especially in the social space?

BRANDON LEBLANC: It’s refreshing to get a variety of perspectives from different types of people. And we’re seeing a broader set of feedback from a broader set of people. And that’s what’s exciting. It’s exciting to understand their feedback and how they are using Windows, because not even uses Windows the same way. And so, I’ve learned a lot because we’ve gotten some accessibility feedback, for example, so I’ve been diving into, say the importance of the new high-contrast themes in Windows 11.

I’ve learned a ton. I got to witness and experience some of the feedback that we’ve gotten from people with issues with their eyesight and the accessibility behind that. That’s been enlightening. It helps me be better at understanding our customer base because our customer base is broad. There are so many people that use Windows.

And so, me being a nerd, it’s super easy to get locked into this whole power user nerd path. And I’m appreciating the levels of feedback, the different varieties of feedback that we’re getting to open my eyes up to the broader set of how people are using Windows. I think that’s the biggest thing that I could say about having so much feedback coming in on Windows 11 today, which also makes things really, really fun.

And then it’s also made me appreciate the changes we do make in the product and being more mindful of those changes. Because something that maybe one group wants may be disruptive to another. It’s just fascinating how we learn about our customers through the feedback that they give us. I love that. I love that about the Windows Insider program now more than ever.

JASON HOWARD: I’ll throw in a note here, and Amanda, I want to give you a chance to answer this question as well, of course. One of the things that I wanted to call out was the trend that I’ve seen of people exploring – what’s the right way of saying this? I think they’re exploring more of the OS than maybe they had previously. You know, you pop onto your computer, you have certain tasks that you’d like to accomplish, you know the way that you accomplish those tasks, you build your routines, you use the OS in a certain way, and you develop habits. Then, all the sudden, you get this different looking OS with this functionality and there’s been some changes in things, and it inspires people – at least it seems like it’s inspiring people to go and explore more, to figure out, hey, well, this – there were some very obvious visual changes. Amanda, you called taskbar and start and some of the very kind of direct, obviously, visual things.

So, especially the new design of settings. It’s way – at least in my opinion, it’s way easier to navigate. The search functionality is amazing. It’s easier to find and adjust things like privacy settings and themes and the way that I want the OS to look, I have more customization options.

Windows Insider podcast EP46 – Bringing Windows 11 to Insiders Transcript

Insiders out there, of course they find their routines and they bring back their habits or adjust their habits if they need to, but I hope folks out there will take a moment to go and explore because there’s so much that is so different in such a good way. And I want people to see and take advantage of it and build it into their workflows and I want it to make their lives easier. And it’s not just me. I’m saying this because I’m speaking, but that was a lot of the reason behind what drove Windows 11 was to give users this awesome new tool, right? I don’t know, maybe I’m understanding what Windows actually is by calling it a tool – this gateway to accomplishing the things that are important to them. it’s a work of art, in my opinion, and I love it. I love using it day in and day out and it’s been exciting working on it.

And I just – I’m sitting here gushing, but it’s totally worth it because it’s just – it’s the representation of so much hard work. I’ve learned a lot. You know, I’ve been doing the Insider Program stuff for years at this point and along comes Windows 11 and it feels like I have this whole new learning path in front of me, and I am excited to go down this path and take this new adventure.

So, I’m going to stop babbling on. Amanda, do you have anything to add in here? (Laughter.)

AMANDA LANGOWSKI: What was the question?

JASON HOWARD: I know, right? I feel like I kind of went off so far in left field. Just about the influences you’re seeing across the Windows Insider community from the release of Windows 11 within preview.

AMANDA LANGOWSKI: No, I think – we focus a lot on the new look and feel to Windows, but to your point, we’ve been using Windows 11 to build Windows 11 in a lot of ways, right? We’ve been working from home. We have Teams running – feels like 24/7. And so, to your point, I love seeing that next layer of people exploring. For me, it means I use a lot of the productivity features, right? So, I love my snap layouts. Actually, I like the sounds as well, because after hearing the dings all day of essentially, Amanda, you’re late for this meeting or you forgot about this e-mail. Having a much kind of softer tone on the sounds has been actually one of the funner parts of it.

But as we look at the excitement from Insiders I’m Twitter, too, but I’m just a lot more quiet than you guys. I’m an observer versus a talker in terms of social media.

And it’s been so cool just to see how everyone is exploring the things that are really important to them. And that’s been kind of really – really kind of eye-opening – to echo what Brandon said as well. You know, I love that we have this kind of accessibility promise just to make sure that everyone can use Windows in the ways they need to and to make sure that those promises work for everybody.

And we see this across the board with all the different customer types. And even my kids, right? I have a – all of my kids are on laptops this year with working at home from school. And they use it in a completely different way than I use it. If they could be on YouTube 24/7 or playing games, they certainly would be. And there’s something I don’t do too often unless I’m fixing theirs, you know what I mean? Or like making sure they’re not getting into some interesting content.

But it’s been great to see the excitement from Insiders. I love seeing their desktops and how they express themselves, too. Everyone’s custom keyboards. You know, it’s just been great to see. I’ve been, honestly, grabbing screencaps from social media, the feedback hub, and sharing that with the team and we can take those snippets that we see, and we share them in our all-hands meetings with everybody, right, so everyone can see that excitement.

Windows Insider podcast EP46 – Bringing Windows 11 to Insiders Transcript

And so, that’s been really cool to see.

JASON HOWARD: So, that leads me to an interesting question. And, Amanda, I’m going to throw this one back at you first, which is seeing the changes that are out there, right, kind of how the community has evolved a little bit, the changes in feedback, seeing new participants within the program and some of the insights that we’re gaining from them, what would you ask of the Insider community if you were going to ask something from them? what would that be?

AMANDA LANGOWSKI: You know, I think, one, I’m super excited about the new registrations, the new people who are interested in the program. It’s something that I refresh and look at data a couple times a day just to see the people who are going and enjoying your program and wanting to participate. But to that point we have a lot of newbies to the program. And so for the folks who have been in the Insider program for a while, for the people who do the right thing and read Brandon’s blog posts please look out for folks who are needing help within the community, those who are in the Insider Program or those who are going to experience Windows 11 on their retail devices later this year.

And so, look at for them. You know, as – you know, where they need, please direct them to things that could help them. We would love to be able to see customer issues right away or feedback and respond. And so reach out for – reach out within the community or kind of help direct them to us, that would be great.

AMANDA LANGOWSKI: My other ask is that ask you’re previewing Windows 11 we’re about a month in. Really give it some time. We love those initial impressions of how the change from 10 to 11 is, but as you’ve lived with 11 for a while what are your experiences a month in? Two months in? Are you able to do all the things you want to do and more? And what is actually working better for you? That helps inform us of where we’re going to go invest and modify and change and develop it for you in the next version of Windows.

So, love to have some of that soak time, you know? Really get a feel for it. You know, kick the tires a little bit more and let us know how you’re feeling a couple miles down the road.

JASON HOWARD: That’s an excellent point because sometimes those initial kind of knee-jerk reactions, because something could potentially be so different. You’re wait a minute, I’m not sure if I like this.

And then you get into the habit of using something and it’s hey, I found that this is easier or faster or smoother than the previous experience. So, where you may have had an interesting reaction to it at first, they’re like, I’m not sure if I’m going to like this, you kind of get the hang of it and you adapt and all the sudden, it’s like, hey, yeah, this is actually really cool, I really like this. This is way better than I thought it was going to be from that initial reaction.

Brandon, if I can, I’ll pose the same thing to you question-wise. If there was anything you were going to ask of the Insider community, what would it be?

BRANDON LEBLANC: It would be, please, please, please read our blog posts. I don’t say that because I write them and I put a lot of time in them, but I say it because they include a lot of really good information and they can really help our teams out, especially in submitting feedback.

As you’re looking at submitting feedback or if you’re hitting an issue, double-check the known issues. If you don’t see it on the known issues, file feedback. I’m not suggesting you don’t file feedback on anything that you hit, but

Windows Insider podcast EP46 – Bringing Windows 11 to Insiders Transcript we put a lot of hard work into curating things that we are aware of and know that are going to be fixed. And so, focusing on the things that aren’t there will help us catch things that we aren’t aware of, in addition to just in general, these blog posts have lots and lots of information in them. I know that sometimes they can be long, but we spend a lot of time trying to make sure that we are communicating to the best way possible to our Insiders through these avenues on the bits that we’re giving them.

They’re worth the read and they have a lot of really good information. And so, that would be the only thing I would ask. And use that to do what Amanda suggests to help the community. The community may have questions. Someone may not be aware of our blog posts. Point them to our blog posts, recommend that they check it out. Do those types of things because they’re just full of all kinds of really good information to help direct your experience appropriately as you’re trying out the builds that we release.

JASON HOWARD: Yeah, and let me actually put an underline or an underscore on what you just mentioned there because the blog posts contain a ton of information about the builds that get released. I won’t repeat everything that you said, Brandon, but they’re also immensely important for announcements relating to the program, itself, when we make changes or we have new initiatives and things like that. These get called out in those same blog posts. It’s super important to stay on top of those things. if I were to ask myself the same question of what would I ask the Insider community both from what Amanda said and what Brandon said, all of the above. Then, on top of that, I would underline – take a moment, make sure you’re exploring the OS. Make sure you’re sharing that feedback with us. Make sure you’re keeping up with the changes to the program, itself. Then, I’m going to – I’m going to kind of steal one of the things Amanda said earlier in this conversation, but I really want to underscore it, and that’s about the community aspect of the Insider Program. That’s one of the things that has really blossomed along the development cycles of Windows over the years is how the Windows Insider community works within itself and how good the insiders are to one another.

There’s a lot to learn. There’s a lot of people out there with a lot of knowledge and people in the Insider Program are really willing to share that knowledge and take the time to help educate and teach and troubleshoot and all that kind of fun stuff.

So, take the time to go – even if it’s just virtually over the internet, go meet some of your fellow Insiders. Go spend some time having those conversations. Go and chat on the Answers forum. Pop on social, follow the Insider handle @windowsinsider on Twitter. There’s a lot of really, really good people who are really excited about this program, and hopefully if you’re listening to this podcast, hopefully you’re excited about the program, too. There’s a lot more to it than what can just be very roughly summed up as installing preview builds and checking them out. There’s really a really solid community out there and it’s a good one to be a part of.

So, now, I’m going to shift gears one last time here. You know, we’re winding down on this particular episode. And I’m going to ask one of my favorite questions, which – I’m going to be interested to see what these answers are. So, I’m going to throw the mic back over to you one last time, Amanda, and say, what’s next for the Insider Program? What is it that Windows Insiders should be keeping their eyes open for?

AMANDA LANGOWSKI: You know, what Insiders should look out for coming up in the future is more builds, right? We’re going to keep providing Windows preview builds, and not just for Windows 11, but we – it’s really important to kind of recognize, we have multiple different things we’re previewing with the Windows Insider community. If you’re a part of the release preview channel in particular – we’re flighting 21H2 for Windows 10.

Windows Insider podcast EP46 – Bringing Windows 11 to Insiders Transcript

We have some new features coming in there particularly targeted at things within our enterprise and our commercial audiences and there’s a lot of kind of goodness still happening within there.

So, even if you’re not previewing Windows 11, there’s still a lot of opportunities for you to participate and preview with our Windows 10 updates. And so, Windows 11 is a cool thing. I get that, it’s the new, hot thing right now, but honestly, we’re running both sets even internally here. I have Windows – I have 21H2 on my machines, I have Windows 11. So, keep looking at both of those things.

And then, just keep in mind for those who are joining, if you are part of our dev channel, we will at one point move those – move the preview builds in that channel to kind of what’s new, what’s beyond what they’re previewing today. So, just kind of keep in mind, I do want to make sure folks are looking at what channel selection they have in the queue, make sure it’s the right place for them and it’s what they want to preview. And I think we’ll have a lot more fun stuff coming up in terms of just the Insiders can kind of engage with us on the – on the engineering and design teams.

I don’t know about you, Jason and Brandon, but I have loved watching the videos on the inside Windows 11 page within our program channel and just seeing the makers that we get to see every day, but seeing kind of a lot more of the behind-the-scenes to kind of why we made some of these decisions and how Windows Insiders directly really had a material impact on what we’re doing.

So, I love seeing the videos and sharing that with the Insider audience. So, please take a look at that as well.

JASON HOWARD: That’s a pretty good wrap, Amanda. I don’t know if I have anything to append to that. I mean, that’s why –

AMANDA LANGOWSKI: Thank you!

JASON HOWARD: - that’s why you’re the Windows Insider Program lead, and that’s why it’s so much fun working with you. You’re always on top of things.

Yeah, I just say keep looking for information. I’m glad that the Insiders are tuning into this podcast. We have a ton of awesome content coming in the coming months. Brandon, any parting words from you?

BRANDON LEBLANC: No, just keep giving us the feedback. Keep reading the stuff that our blog posts. Keep engaging with us on social media, which is also fun. And you know, keep – keep being excited, because we’re excited to see you being excited. (Laughter.)

JASON HOWARD: It sounds funny, but it’s absolutely true. (Laughter.) Well, I will say this, I really appreciate both of you making time to come join the podcast today. I hope Insiders out there that are listening, whether they are old hats that have been in the program since potentially day one or if it’s somebody new who’s just now found the podcast for the first time and they’re just now starting to explore Windows 11, welcome. We’re glad to have you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being part of the program. Thanks for tuning into the podcast. There’s a lot that’s yet to come. You know, on behalf of the entire Windows Insider team, we’re all excited to see what the future holds for Windows and for the Windows Insider Program alike. So thanks for continuing this adventure with us. We’re glad to have you.

[Music]

Windows Insider podcast EP46 – Bringing Windows 11 to Insiders Transcript

JASON HOWARD: And there you have it! Pivotal moments such as the release of Windows 11 preview builds have a huge impact, not only for the Windows OS, but for the Windows Insider Program as well. Whether you’re previewing Windows 11 builds in the Dev or Beta Channels, or if you’re running Windows 10 preview builds in the Release Preview Channel, the Windows Insider Program remains the place to be for the curious and seekers alike!

I try my best to not repeat myself, but in closing I’d like to reiterate one important message from our previous podcast: we’re just getting started on this journey that is Windows 11. There’s so much more to come, so stay tuned!

Until next time!

NARRATION: The Windows Insider Podcast is hosted by Jason Howard and produced by Microsoft Production Studios and the Windows Insider team. Listen to our previous podcasts and visit us on the Web at insider.windows.com. Follow us at @WindowsInsider on Instagram and Twitter. Support for the Windows Insider podcast comes from Microsoft, empowering every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Join us next month for another fascinating inside look into Microsoft, tech, innovations, careers, and the evolution of Windows.

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