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Microsoft Teams “Insider Program” Gets New Public Preview Channel

Microsoft has restructured its testing framework for Microsoft Teams, adding a new Public Preview channel alongside Beta and Private Preview.

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Like many service, the increasingly popular has a membership branch for testing new features in preview. While not called the Microsoft Teams Insider Program, it acts like the company's other Insider Programs for Windows, Azure, Office, etc. Microsoft has now said it is making to changes to Teams testing.

Specifically, Redmond is changing the names of the testing channels and creating a new one called the Public Preview channel.

There are now three test channels for Teams “Insiders” to choose from: Beta, Private Preview, and Public Preview. Yes, Microsoft is obviously taking inspiration from its Windows and Office Insider Programs, as well as Microsoft Edge testing channels.

Beta is for the earliest adopters, IT pros and admins who want to test bleeding edge features. Like all first release preview channels, these new features can be unstable and not fully formed. Next is Private Preview, which allow validating features through a more stable release.

Finally, Public Preview is a new channel for users who are ready for deployment but want to test features first.

Microsoft points out, “One key difference between Teams and rest of is that Teams delivers feature rollout against build rollouts. This means (1) a feature can be enabled without a new build update, and (2) different channels may have the same build version at any point in time.”

Update Frequency

One of the more interesting things about Microsoft Teams is the frequency it is getting new features. Microsoft has rolled out scores of new tools this year and usually double figures each month. How testers can keep up and have time to properly test new features before they go public remains to be seen.

Certainly, Microsoft has not addressed these concerns with the new channel.

Last Updated on December 12, 2020 1:50 pm CET by Markus Kasanmascheff

Luke Jones
Luke Jones
Luke has been writing about all things tech for more than five years. He is following Microsoft closely to bring you the latest news about Windows, Office, Azure, Skype, HoloLens and all the rest of their products.

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