Microsoft is renaming the Xbox Preview Program to the Xbox Insider Program, will open it up to everyone

Microsoft today announced a major update for the Xbox Preview Program. In a blog post today, Microsoft’s Larry Hryb detailed the upcoming changes. Firstly, Microsoft is changing the name of the Xbox Preview Program to the Xbox Insider Program to align it with the other Insider programs from Microsoft, including things such as the Windows Insider Program and Office Insider. Similarly, Microsoft is renaming the Xbox Preview Dashboard to the Xbox Insider Hub (to align with the Windows Insider program’s Feedback Hub).

Most importantly, Microsoft will soon open up the Xbox Insider Program to everyone just like Windows Insider and Office Insider — this means that you’ll no longer need an invite to be able to join the preview program.

Microsoft is also introducing a new user interface for the Xbox Insider Hub which will now provide a similar experience to the new Xbox One Experience. If you have been part of the Xbox Preview Program, you’re probably aware that the UI of the Xbox Preview Dashboard is quite old — but thankfully, Microsoft is giving it a facelift which should be pretty sweet.

[shunno-quote align=”left”]Xbox Insider Hub has a new UI and new features[/shunno-quote]

Additionally, the new Xbox Insider Hub is also much more personalized, giving you “relevant” announcements, quests, as well as early access to some apps and games. There’s also a new Xbox Insider profile card, similar to the account profile on the Windows Insider program that will essentially show your stats (things like how many quests you have completed, etc.). And lastly, Microsoft announced that multiple users will now be able to submit feedback via the Xbox Insider Program on the same console which is also quite neat.

The latest changes aren’t live for all users part of the Xbox Preview Program just yet. Microsoft says the firm has started rolling out these changes to a “small number” of preview members who provided the most feedback since the launch of the Preview Program — so if you didn’t contribute much in the Preview Program, you may have to wait a few days or even weeks to get the new changes.

[shunno-quote align=”right”]It’s only a matter of time before Microsoft introduces a unified Insider program[/shunno-quote]

Of course, none of these changes are surprising to see: Microsoft is unifying everything that’s related to Windows 10, and that of course includes the Insider programmes. Microsoft’s Windows Insider program has been a major success for the software giant, and it’s recent Office Insider program is also doing pretty great. It’s only a matter of time before the company introduces a unified Insider program — the ‘Microsoft Insider Program’, maybe?