- Microsoft has just divided the Canary Islands test channel into two paths
- One of them will see the beginning of underlying changes to the platform
- This will likely become the 27H2 update next year, which will unify Arm PCs and AMD/Intel devices, and it’s a release Microsoft needs to get right.
Microsoft just split the first preview builds of Windows 11 into two different paths, one of which will apparently lead to the big update for next year.
Windows Central noted Microsoft’s announcement and noted that one of the two paths the Canary channel has branched into will likely become the 27H2 update next year.
Microsoft says splitting the channel this way is done for the following reason: “This will help us validate platform changes at different stages while we continue to deliver new features and experiences to Insiders.” [testers] in the Canary Islands channel.”
In other words, the current Canary releases will still be 28000 series builds, and the new channel will have 29500 series build numbers (starting with 29531 at the moment).
The mentioned “platform changes” mean switching to a new underlying platform for Windows 11 from the current ‘Germainium’ base (introduced with the 24H2 update).
Of course, Arm PCs will already get a new platform codenamed ‘Bromine’ and it will arrive imminently with Windows 11 version 26H1. This is because the soon-to-debut Snapdragon X2 silicon requires some tweaking under the hood. Other non-Arm PCs won’t get this at all, and either don’t need it, or risk it potentially causing issues with these devices, so they’ll get a separate 26H2 update (which will still be in Germanium).
So effectively, Arm PCs and AMD/Intel (x86) PCs will be on two different versions of Windows 11 for their underlying platform this year, but will still have the same features on top.
However, next year, both platforms will merge in the 27H2 update, which is what has probably just started testing. Windows Central assumes this may be codenamed ‘Strontium’.
Analysis: strontium canaries
In short, what will happen is that Canary testers who opt for the new series of (later) versions will test the foundations for Windows 11 27H2. That means they won’t get any new features as they will be handed over to the other (older) versions of Canary.
It’s hard enough for Microsoft to rework the foundations of the operating system, without adding new features to that activity that cause more potential bugs and confusion. So the smartest move is to separate these builds as we see here (and has been done before).
In fact, it’s not just that they won’t get new capabilities, but testers of the 29500 series will see some improved features. cut Initially, as Microsoft explains: “Please note that due to the focus on platform development for this path, you may notice a temporary loss in some features you have today. These features will return to this new version of active development.”
More generally, if this is version 27H2, which seems very likely, this is the incarnation of Windows 11 that Microsoft intends to make with fewer bugs and generally more performance, as the software giant recently promised. This will involve a lot of work under the hood, and I imagine this tweaking of the innards of Windows 11 is what’s starting right now. We’re also seeing evidence of more tweaks on the surface, so to speak, to smooth out existing features in terms of debugging and making everything more responsive.
All of this suggests that Microsoft’s campaign to ‘fix Windows 11’ and the fundamentals of the operating system is really underway, and it’s great to see action being taken, but we need to see the results before we get too excited.
Beyond the actual coding and task of perfecting Windows 11, we also need Microsoft to improve its quality assurance processes to better catch bugs early on, so that fewer of these bugs end up being inflicted on the computing public. Too many bugs are plaguing Windows 11 release candidates, and it has been this way for some time now, since 24H2.
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