Microsoft releases first 20H1 build for Skip Ahead Insiders, 19H2 builds to come later this Spring

That’s quite a surprise, but Microsoft is releasing today the first 20H1 build for Insiders who opted into Skip Ahead. You read that right, it’s not 19H2, the next major Windows 10 update coming in the second half of 2019, but the one coming after in the first half of 2020.

We have released 20H1 Build 18836 to #WindowsInsiders who opted in to Skip Ahead! https://t.co/bNEyTHyRxY pic.twitter.com/scqNoF78cj

— Windows Insider (@windowsinsider) February 14, 2019

“Some things we are working on in 20H1 require a longer lead time,” the Windows Insider team explained today, adding that “we will begin releasing 19H2 bits to Insiders later this spring after we get 19H1 nearly finished and ready.” Now that Skip Ahead Insiders are getting builds from the 20H1 development branch, it seems that 19H2 builds will only ship to Fast Ring Insiders in the near future.

In some way, Microsoft is changing today the purpose of the Skip Ahead ring, as those Insiders will skip the next major update coming after 19H1. On a different note, the team said today that it will use the Release Preview ring for extensive testing ahead of the release of the 19H1 update, something that hadn’t been done for Windows 10 version 1809. “once 19H1 is “nearly finished and ready” we’ll also use the Release Preview ring for previews of drivers and quality updates on 19H1,” the team explained.

Microsoft isn’t completely done with the 19H1 update for now, but these new 20H1 builds could soon get more interesting. The build 18836 which has just been released only brings some bug fixes, but no new features.