In layman’s terms, any build above 25000 is for Windows vNext, and anything below is for Windows 11. But generally, Canary Channel will be testing platform work for Windows vNext, and everything else is testing ongoing Windows 11 feature updates. With all that in mind, it's important to remember that this isn't 100% clear-cut, as the Windows development tree is messy and complicated. For builds in the 25000 range, Microsoft uses a process called “forward integration” to bring in-development Windows 11 features into Windows vNext builds.
With the Dev Channel now moving to the 23000 range, features should once again naturally make their way downstream from Dev to Beta to Release Preview. This is why you sometimes saw new features arrive in the Beta Channel first, as the Dev Channel was previously testing 25000 range builds and was ahead of features being built in the 23000 range.
Internally, Microsoft has been using the 23000 range of builds to develop new features for Windows 11, which were then being “reverse integrated” into the 22000 range of builds for the Beta Channel. Speaking with people familiar with Microsoft’s plans, this new engineering cycle means there are essentially two tracks of Windows development happening concurrently: one for Windows 11 updates and the other for Windows vNext, which currently targets a 2024 release window. The changes being announced for the Insider Program today seemingly reflect this new way of developing Windows. We’ve now seen this in action, as the company has already shipped two Moment updates for Windows 11 that introduced significant features, such as tabs in File Explorer and a new touch-optimized Taskbar. Last year, I reported that Microsoft was moving to a new engineering schedule for Windows development, which would see the company return to a more traditional three-year release cycle for major versions of the Windows platform while also increasing the output of new features shipping on top of the in-market version of Windows via a new thing called “Moment” updates. Windows Insider channels (Image credit: Microsoft)
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