While there is still no word on when the official Windows 10 Mobile OS will be released to older Windows Phone 8.X devices, the Windows team has been hunkering down and tweaking the OS, attempting to ready it for primetime. While most Insiders have become accustomed to the odd quirks that accompany the access to early versions of the OS, non-Insiders and, more important, the rest of Windows Phone users aren’t.
With that being said, most Insiders may have noticed a slowing on feature packed previews and phone-bricking releases, while alternatively seeing an increase in ‘cumulative’ updates hit their devices. The increase in cumulative updates is all part of an apparent plan that the Windows team is building toward.
According to a tweet from vice president of WDG engineering systems Gabe Aul, a version of the most recent Windows 10 Mobile Insider preview for both the Fast and Slow Rings released this week is being prepped and polished for release to non-Insiders. The team is currently fine ‘tuning’ build 10586 for release, hopefully, soon.
@oggy1995 we're tuning 10586 to release to non-Insiders. Cumulative Updates are key improvements to allow smooth upgrades.
— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) February 12, 2016
Apparently, the feature-less cumulative updates Windows 10 Mobile Insiders have been receiving for the past few weeks is all part of a migration path laid out by the Windows team. Unlike the days of early upgrades for Insiders, non-Insiders should experience a relatively painless experience when upgrading and updating Windows 10 Mobile thanks to significant underlying work by the Windows team. The collection of cumulative updates are presumably the reason for the delay of an updated version of Windows 10 Mobile reaching non-Insiders until now.
Even though the build is currently being prepped by the Windows team, a timetable for the release has yet to be mentioned. The Windows team hasn’t made it clear if this new non-Insider build will be the final build released to older Windows Phone devices or not, but if it’s becoming stable enough to issue to non-Insiders, it might be good enough for everyone else.
With Microsoft’s new understanding amongst phone carriers, releasing Windows 10 Mobile to older devices should, in theory, go relatively quicker than other upgrades have historically gone. The new update going out to non-Insiders should make the build an excellent candidate for final release to owners who have been waiting since mid-December for an upgrade. As Microsoft’s developer conference nears, issuing Windows 10 Mobile to more devices helps the company pad their Windows 10 numbers just a bit further, even if it is only by a handful of millions.
