Build 10240 to Fast Ring?
Well, this is an interesting move.
Earlier in the week Microsoft reportedly took down their Insider builds from the update server in advance of RTM, and today released a new build to insiders; 10240.
Not quite sure what is going on here. This build seems to be coming from the RTM branch. Branches used to be out of fbl_impressive. But today's comes from TH1, which was supposed to be the branch RTM was coming out of. Furthermore, this branch drops the build # watermark and is a build number divisible by both 16 and 10 (MS typically increments build number to such a multiple for RTM builds). In fact, 10240 was listed as one of the potential build #'s Microsoft could have chosen for their RTM build by a number of sites.
So, is this an RTM build, an Insider build or both?
The blog post doesn't make any attempt to clarify matters, but I think we can draw some conclusions. Based on everything else, I think it is likely that this build was at some point intended to be the RTM build. My guess is a last minute bug or security flaw or process change rendered it in a state where it no longer met their RTM criteria. The reasons for believing this was intended as RTM are those already stated; The build #, the branch name change and the fact that other insider builds were taken down in preparation for RTM.
Obviously, for a build to have been a serious contender for RTM, it would likely have exceeded their criteria for both the fast and slow rings, and guess what? This build is going out to both rings... simultaneously! There is another advantage to pushing the build out to Insiders. As I mentioned before, one thing which hasn't been tested yet is the update process. For Insiders, every single update has meant downloading ~4GB and running through a full OS install. This won't be viable for regular system updates past RTM. So, even if the build wasn't good enough to be an RTM build, it could still serve as a vehicle for testing incremental upgrades. If this build was intended as an RTM build, it would be a build which they has also intended to receive future upgrades in such a fashion.
The other possible answer is that this both is AND isn't the RTM build. Incremental Windows updates (historically) don't increase the OS version number. Who knows going forwards, but in the past you could pick and choose which updates to apply, so changing the OS build# didn't really make sense. Windows 10 is a different beast, but one can assume that they probably still won't both with version # changes for every update.
So, it is possible that the RTM version will be an ISO/build with today's 10240 build + additional fixes. It could also be that a large scale, external test of the incremental update process is part of what is required for the build to get signed off on for RTM. So, maybe the reason people are reporting that RTM hasn't been signed off on yet is because they need some live tests from Insiders to give that green light.
Either way, based on the signs, I think that this build IS different, whether it is RTM or not, and I think even Insiders will start seeing incremental updates moving forward.
Earlier in the week Microsoft reportedly took down their Insider builds from the update server in advance of RTM, and today released a new build to insiders; 10240.
Not quite sure what is going on here. This build seems to be coming from the RTM branch. Branches used to be out of fbl_impressive. But today's comes from TH1, which was supposed to be the branch RTM was coming out of. Furthermore, this branch drops the build # watermark and is a build number divisible by both 16 and 10 (MS typically increments build number to such a multiple for RTM builds). In fact, 10240 was listed as one of the potential build #'s Microsoft could have chosen for their RTM build by a number of sites.
So, is this an RTM build, an Insider build or both?
The blog post doesn't make any attempt to clarify matters, but I think we can draw some conclusions. Based on everything else, I think it is likely that this build was at some point intended to be the RTM build. My guess is a last minute bug or security flaw or process change rendered it in a state where it no longer met their RTM criteria. The reasons for believing this was intended as RTM are those already stated; The build #, the branch name change and the fact that other insider builds were taken down in preparation for RTM.
Obviously, for a build to have been a serious contender for RTM, it would likely have exceeded their criteria for both the fast and slow rings, and guess what? This build is going out to both rings... simultaneously! There is another advantage to pushing the build out to Insiders. As I mentioned before, one thing which hasn't been tested yet is the update process. For Insiders, every single update has meant downloading ~4GB and running through a full OS install. This won't be viable for regular system updates past RTM. So, even if the build wasn't good enough to be an RTM build, it could still serve as a vehicle for testing incremental upgrades. If this build was intended as an RTM build, it would be a build which they has also intended to receive future upgrades in such a fashion.
The other possible answer is that this both is AND isn't the RTM build. Incremental Windows updates (historically) don't increase the OS version number. Who knows going forwards, but in the past you could pick and choose which updates to apply, so changing the OS build# didn't really make sense. Windows 10 is a different beast, but one can assume that they probably still won't both with version # changes for every update.
So, it is possible that the RTM version will be an ISO/build with today's 10240 build + additional fixes. It could also be that a large scale, external test of the incremental update process is part of what is required for the build to get signed off on for RTM. So, maybe the reason people are reporting that RTM hasn't been signed off on yet is because they need some live tests from Insiders to give that green light.
Either way, based on the signs, I think that this build IS different, whether it is RTM or not, and I think even Insiders will start seeing incremental updates moving forward.
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