Insidering is the new norm across Microsoft as product and services teams work to improve their products by asking enthusiasts to join up to test and experience early pre-release builds.

The grand-daddy of them all is the Windows Insider Program which began in late 2014 as Microsoft started work on Windows 10 which would be their follow on to the Windows 7 operating system.

From there over the last five years, other products and services teams have started Insider programs to get the same type of early feedback to help shape their products and services.

Recently, all of the main Insider programs have been listed on one central hub page on the Microsoft Insider website to make accessing them easier for those looking to join other Insider programs.

Currently, there are seven main Insider programs listed on this new portal:

• Bing Insider
• Microsoft Edge Insider
• Office Insider
• Skype Insider
• Visual Studio Code Insider
• Windows Insider
• Xbox Insider

Of course, this list does not include the numerous apps and other services that offer early access to new features as they are being developed.

Your Phone, Photos, OneNote, Sticky Notes, Flight Simulator, and the Outlook.com web beta are a handful of examples.

We live in a perpetual world of beta’s and early access these days but the audience for these programs are not your everyday users but enthusiasts who go out in search of this type of access.