The Windows Insider Program has experienced a notable shift today, marking a significant turning point in its 2026 trajectory. Following a rather subdued start to the year, the release of several new builds across the Dev, Beta, and Release Preview channels has injected fresh energy into the program. The most prominent development is the advancement of the Dev channel to a new series of builds, a move that had been anticipated in recent discussions.
Dev channel
The Dev and Beta channels are officially diverging, with the Dev channel progressing to the 26300 series builds, moving away from the 26200 series associated with the Beta channel. While Microsoft has not explicitly categorized this as the 26H1 builds, it is widely inferred that this marks a transition beyond the current 25H2 designation. For users on the Dev channel, installing today’s build, KB5074170, will close the option to switch to the Beta channel, upgrading their systems to Windows 11 version 25H2 build 26300.7674. It is important to note that the 26300 builds will primarily feature fixes, with no new functionalities introduced in this release.
Beta channel
Meanwhile, those enrolled in the Beta channel will receive cumulative update KB5074169, which upgrades Windows 11 version 25H2 to build 26220.7670. Similar to the Dev channel update, this release focuses on fixes rather than new features.
Release Preview
In addition to the updates for the Dev and Beta channels, Microsoft has also rolled out a Release Preview build that applies to both 25H2 and 24H2 versions, delivering a suite of new features and enhancements. The update, KB5074105, will elevate Windows 11 version 24H2 to build 26100.7701 and Windows 11 version 25H2 to build 26200.7701. Key improvements include:
- Agent in Settings improvements (Copilot+ PC only): The Agent in Settings now supports multiple languages, including German, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Hindi, Italian, and Chinese (Simplified).
- Cross-device resume improvements: This feature allows users to seamlessly transition activities—such as resuming Spotify playback or working on Microsoft 365 files—from their Android phones to their PCs. Notably, Vivo phone users can continue browsing from Vivo Browser on their PC, while users with select brands can resume work on Microsoft 365 files opened in the Microsoft Copilot app on their phones.
- Windows MIDI improvements: Enhanced support for MIDI 0 and MIDI 2.0 has been introduced, including full WinMM and WinRT MIDI 1.0 support, shared MIDI ports across apps, and various performance enhancements.
- Narrator improvements: Users can now customize which details Narrator speaks and adjust the order of spoken information to better align with their navigation preferences.
- Settings improvements: A new Devices card on the Settings page provides key specifications and usage details of the PC, requiring a Microsoft account for access.
- Smart App Control improvements: Users can now toggle Smart App Control on and off with ease.
- Voice Access improvements: A redesigned experience aids users in downloading a speech model for their preferred language and selecting the input microphone.
- Voice Typing improvements: A new setting allows users to adjust the wait time before a voice command is executed, enhancing accuracy.
- Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-In Security (ESS) improvements: Support for external fingerprint readers has been expanded, maintaining compatibility and security with Windows Hello ESS.
