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As such, the fast ring will become the Dev Channel, the slow ring will become the Beta Channel and release preview will be called the Release Preview Channel. The new Dev Channel isn’t all that different from the fast ring — users will get access to new features as early as possible — however it won’t be tied to a specific release. Features will become available as soon as they’re ready. This obviously means things are liable to be a bit more unstable, so Microsoft says this channel is best suited to more advanced users.

The Beta Channel, meanwhile, gives access to the true beta version of a release and is meant for early adopters, while the Release Preview Channel remains essentially the same as the release preview ring — users can test reasonably stable builds before they get shipped. The changes are set to launch later this month, and will happen automatically if you’re already part of the Windows Insider program. You can change your channel, or start flighting, by going to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program, and choosing the channel that best fits your needs.

You’ll have to be ready for potential glitches when this is pre-release software. Microsoft has warned that older versions of some anti-cheat game software can produce crashes on this Windows build, for example. Don’t try this if you absolutely depend on a reliable PC. If that’s no obstacle, though, you no longer need third-party tools (or an all-Apple setup) to juggle phone calls while you work.

As part of the Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18945, Insiders in the Fast ring can preview a handful of new features. The updated assistant supports light and dark themes in Windows. It has a less intrusive “Hey Cortana” screen that’s meant to minimize disruptions. Microsoft also updated the speech and language models, an attempt to make the chat-based UI better at processes speech and text queries. Not all of the previous Cortana features have made their way to the beta, but Microsoft says it plans to add them over time.

These updates come just days after Microsoft announced it’s changing the look of the Xbox One’s Home screen and how you control the console via Cortana. Those changes should roll out to everyone this fall. As for the standalone Cortana app, The Verge says we’ll have to wait until the first half of 2020 to see that deploy across Windows 10.

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The redesigned Start menu also has a search bar at the top that lets you search both apps and the web. It has an area of “suggested apps,” which might recommend apps based on other programs you’re running or frequently used apps, and it supports dark mode. You can take a peek at the changes in Windows Central‘s hands-on video, below. But beware that the menu design is still clearly unfinished, as it was not meant for public viewing.

The build is meant for internal use, and there’s no guarantee these features will ever be shared with the public. But it is believed that this is the new Start menu design for Windows Lite, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that Microsoft will bring it to Windows 10 desktop, too.

It’s already possible to find existing complaints with the search bar, but this update should streamline the process. You can see a preview of what the updated Feedback Hub looks like below.

Grouping complaints won’t just save users time, it might help Microsoft avert chaos before it spreads. A Windows 10 update last October wiped many user profiles with no warning. By testing an improved suggestion box in a pre-release build — where problems crop up more often than not — the company likely wants to give its most technically savvy users a way to report red flags.

The feature is gradually rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Fast Ring as version 1.1904.1584.0.

The suddenly-cozy relationship between Linux and Windows is taking another step forward, as Microsoft announced in a blog post that it’s going to ship a full Linux kernel in Windows 10. It will arrive first with Insider preview builds by the end of Jun, underpinning the new Windows Subsystem for Linux 2. The first release will be based on version 4.19, the latest stable Linux release, and will keep up with each stable release going forward. According to Microsoft this isn’t its first release of a Linux kernel — that came last year on Azure Sphere — but it is the first time on Windows.

By making this switch as a “drop-in replacement” for the current emulator, it should speed up performance significantly, with faster bootup and more efficient use of memory. Users can interface with it either by installing a distribution from the Microsoft Store or sideloading.

Also, the kernel itself will be open source, with instructions available to create your own, and Microsoft has pledged to contribute changes it makes open for others to use. All of this news also came after Microsoft earlier announced a new version of its Windows Terminal command line app.

The feature is gradually rolling out to Windows Insiders using at least the 1803 (RS4) build. You’ll also need a phone running Android 7.0 Nougat or newer and a minimum of 1GB of RAM. You can’t respond to notifications (at least not yet), but this could be particularly vital for Snapchat and other apps that don’t really have a presence on the desktop.