Well i know (now) it wont be 10200, but it wont be 10400 or 10800 either lmao, i can see Redstone being 10800.
The likely final RTM build is 10400. This build # meets the numerology requirements and is not high enough to be a "Threshold 2" aka "Redstone" build. That being said, Microsoft will likely recompile one of the existing or near future builds with no changes into 10400 once RTM has been chosen. How can we be certain of this? From the Lab section of the build string. Microsoft compiles many copies of Windows on a daily basis. These builds are distributed as esd's, an encrypted image format that helps ensure the validity of the data in the image. Listings of these builds can be found on hxxp://buildfeed.net and hxxp://ms-vnext.net. Let's take a look at a build 10240: 10240.16384.th1_150709-1700_CLIENTPRO_RET_x64fre_en-us.esd 10240: Build number. Every time Microsoft compiles Windows, the build number increases. For RTM candidates, the build number increases so that the build # is divisible by 16. The first build to jump to this numbering scheme is 10176. 16384: Delta. This number is used to compare changes between versions for incremental OS updates. If a recompile to fix bugs is needed this will be incremented by one. All recent Windows RTM candidates start with a delta number of 16384 though final RTM releases have had deltas of 16385 or 16386. th1: Lab. The division of Microsoft creating the build. The lab may pertain to a specific focus such as Cortana, xbox, consumer previews, or it could refer to a release milestone. In this example, the lab "th1" refers to "Threshold" which is the internal codename for Windows 10. hxxp://ms-vnext.net/Win10labs 150709-1700: The year, month, day, hour and minute the build was compiled. CLIENTPRO: Version. In this example, Windows 10 Professional. Other valid versions are Core and Enterprise. RET: Activation type. This will be either "RET" for activation through a retail key or "VOL" for volume activation eg. KMS server. x64: Processor architecture. Indicates the build is for 32bit (x86) or 64bit (x64) CPU's. en-us: Language and country code. Whittling it down. Why your favorite build won't be chosen. 10166: There are reports that it has been signed off on so it could be RTM. It is an unlikely candidate as the build number does not meet the numerology requirements, it has a watermark and has no "th1" lab build. 10192: It matches the numerology so it has to be a candidate right? No. Again, this build is missing a th1 lab build which means it didn't make the cut as a RTM candidate. The most likely explanation is that one of the teams identified bugs that prevented it from being a RTM candidate. 105XX,10800: Windows Vista, 7 and 8 all incremented by 1600. Win 8 was build 9200. 9200+1600=10800. Out of the question. Microsoft is already working on the next update to Windows 10, "Threshold 2" aka "Redstone" which has the lab identifier "th2". Builds 10500-10502 all have the "th2" lab identifier which means that builds higher than 10500 will be future Windows 10 updates. The initial release of Windows 10 must have a build number lower than 10500. Signing off. We know builds 10176, 10208, 10224, and 10240 are all RTM candidates because they have been given the "th1" lab identifier, menaing they have been built to hit the "Threshold" 1 release milestone. Each of these builds is feature complete (an "escrow" build) and has no major bugs that would disqualify it for release. Some of these builds have or will be signed off on, meaning executive management have approved them for release. At that point the favorite by popular vote will be chosen as the RTM build. Reaching 10400. Microsoft has a lot of manufacturing partners commited to having Windows 10 installed on their computers and on store shelves by July 29. In order to reach that goal, they must test the final RTM build of Windows 10 to ensure it works without issue on their hardware and no last minute incompatibilites were introduced. They then have to image that hardware and ship it out to retail distributors. Microsoft has an internal product deadline that RTM must be released by so that partners have time to prepare for the 29th. At the current pace, they will likely not meet that deadline by the time they reach build 10400. Instead, the RTM build will likely be promoted to 10400. Why 10400? Because everyone likes a nice big round number.
and what exactly does that say? Highly unlikely it will be above 499 as the redstone builds have already started at 500.
Fairly sure 10240 will get signed off/picked and then compiled to become 10400 very soon. Also likely to be given/sent out on 15th. It won't go above 10499 due to that getting into redstone territory. If i was a betting man i would bet good money on this as it seams to be a safe bet this close to the 29th.
search my posts for the past month, you will see 10800 popup a lot. Not because I have magic powers or can see inside MS. Rather, its a pretty number and I choose to say that will be RTM. Pretty isn't it?
Yeah, pretty but not RTM I'm afraid. Builds 10500 and above is TH2 "Redstone" only. Either they take 10.0.10240.16384 as is and sign off or recompile to 10.0.10400.16384. Wait and see.
of course we could see a 256 tomorrow morning as well...i won't believe anything until they announce it is finished.
They are...maybe MS got it wrong but that IS what they are calling it. Latest known Windows “Redstone” build (“Redstone” branch is th2): 10.0.10501.0
Yes, but it cannot have a smaller build number than RTM, can it? That's the point. If RTM (whatever branch that is) is 10800, th2 branches have a smaller build number than that. I thought that everything that follows RTM need to have a higher build number... EDIT: Thanks for the addition (see quote), now my post is useless