Is Microsoft making preps for public release of Windows 10 Mobile?

Late last week Microsoft released Windows 10 Mobile build 10586.29 to Windows Insiders which was the first cumulative update for the mobile operating system.

It was made available to all currently eligible Lumia handsets and the company also announced that the Insider program would add four new phones this week to the Insider program. These handsets included the LG Lancet, Lumia 550, 950 and 950 XL.

The 950 and 950 XL handsets were released running Windows 10 Mobile build 10586.0 so they were even behind what was then the current Insider mobile release. By adding these devices to the program it will quickly allow them to catch up to the latest available testing build of Windows 10 Mobile.

Along with the handset additions the Windows Device Recovery Tool (WDRT) has been updated to version 3.1.5 and now has the ability to restore those devices to their original public release build.

As you can see below my Lumia 950 is now recognized by the WDRT.

This is step one in getting the phones into the Insider program because users need the ability to restore their phones to the retail release if something unexpected occurs. These phones are expected to be added to the Insider program any day now.

However, this could also be considered one of the first steps in preparing for the public release of Windows 10 Mobile.

Another step that is part of getting ready to publicly release the new Windows 10 Mobile operating system is tracking that update for devices that are already on the market.

This is something that Microsoft has done in the past with public updates for their mobile operating system.

It appears updates to these pages started to go public over the weekend beginning with the Software update for Lumia with Windows 10 page which has now become a hub for updates for all of the following devices:

Some of the region status pages even listed info about the Windows 10 Update as shown in this screenshot from a Twitter follower ( H/T @rodrigoconsta16):

Shortly after this image was sent to me the info was removed and none of the regional pages list any info about Windows 10 at the moment. It is very possible they were pulled because the company is not ready to release the public build yet.

Now, Microsoft did tell us last week that they were adding these phones to the Insider program and that they were updating the WDRT to accommodate them as well so those steps are not unexpected.

However, the Windows 10 Mobile Insider program has been happening since earlier this year yet Microsoft only recently started preparing public facing pages about the mobile operating system updates status so that, in my opinion, points towards a public release being very close.

The bigger question is whether we will see that public release before or after the new year.

But, wait...there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.