If you’re the form of energy person that merely should dwell on the bleeding fringe of software program, then Microsoft wish to reward you. Well, form of: It needs to ship you a free USB drive for attempting out the latest “Canary” build of Windows 11, anyway. It’s allotted some 8GB USB drives to members of the Windows Insider program who don’t at the moment have one, to allow them to set up the working system recent as a bootable drive.

If you’re completely determined for $5 value of PC accent, you would possibly simply need to dig round in your sofa cushions as an alternative. Microsoft says that its provides are restricted — and positive to expire rapidly, as this stuff typically do — and that transport would possibly take six to eight weeks. And there’s no approach to merely ask for one: You’ll want an e mail invitation and a verification code, as noted by Beta News.

Perhaps extra fascinating than the attract of some free {hardware} is what it signifies for the brand new Canary channel. “Canary” is developer converse for “the newest features that are likely to break everything,” as in “canary in the coal mine.” If Microsoft is prepared to ship out a bunch of freebies to customers simply to get them to check out the most recent builds of Windows 11, it is likely to be proof that there are some very massive options within the works. Big sufficient that Microsoft is prepared to spend appreciable cash to increase its pool of testers.

It’s attainable, although definitely not confirmed, that the options and adjustments within the Canary channel would possibly present up within the subsequent main launch of Windows. Windows 12 — or no matter it is likely to be known as — could show up as soon as next year, if rumors are to be believed.