Originally posted by Nokia_Lumia
The OS is an unfinished, buggy, unpolished product. A lot of things about 8.1 that were good are now gone. 950 is a beta test. And in the current state, the "slow" and "fast" ring "build" enthusiasts are just guinea pigs to test the OS. A lot of the loyal ones already got axed (Lumia x20 series). What is there to advertise?
That's the point of being an insider. We are the guinea pigs. The best way to find bugs is to release something into the real world and let people use it and report back. The latest RS fast is very stable, with few bugs.
As for the x20 series were deemed unreliable and under powered for the new OS. There are posts on these boards where people state that their x20 devices run it fine. Then they go on to say they only reboot 3 or 4 times a day. Would you release it to those devices and take the crap storm that will come your way? Those on insider send background data on bugs, crashes and restarts. Maybe, just maybe, those devices were reporting bad news to MS? Why develop a separate OS branch to satisfy devices that *should* be obsolete, or close to it.
What really gets my goat is that SAMSUNG and many other Android OEM's etc, abandon devices after a 1 year cycle! Some are still sold with 4.4.2 and cannot be updated. So why is it when MS strip back on support, they get slated?? Yet Android OEM's can keep on re-inventing the wheel year after year, and dropping support from a low end device, up to a flagship with their stupid curved screens, modular design ie: Nice one LG...most phones have the accessories already built in.
Personally, I think the older windows devices have had a good run. I love my 1320, yet on W10 insider you have to wipe her brow as she's working hard. On 8.1 she is a cracking device, so I've had experience from both ends of the spectrum, and I appreciate why the portfolio was stripped back.
With regards to advertising, the 950 series were a stop gap for the, I hate the term but, fans. Even MS aren't overly proud of them. IMHO, they were put out to develop continuum and W10. I do disagree with the aesthetics though. A decent cover would have been nice, but thankfully Mozo came to the rescue.