https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20260217-00/?p=112067 Skip to main content [RE1Mu3b] Microsoft Dev Blogs Dev Blogs Dev Blogs * Home * Developer + Microsoft for Developers + Visual Studio + Visual Studio Code + Develop from the cloud + All things Azure + Xcode + DevOps + Windows Developer + ISE Developer + Azure SDK + Command Line + Aspire * Technology + DirectX + Semantic Kernel * Languages + C++ + C# + F# + TypeScript + PowerShell Team + Python + Java + Java Blog in Chinese + Go * .NET + All .NET posts + .NET Aspire + .NET MAUI + AI + ASP.NET Core + Blazor + Entity Framework + NuGet + Servicing + .NET Blog in Chinese * Platform Development + #ifdef Windows + Microsoft Foundry + Azure Government + Azure VM Runtime Team + Bing Dev Center + Microsoft Edge Dev + Microsoft Azure + Microsoft 365 Developer + Microsoft Entra Identity Developer + Old New Thing + Power Platform * Data Development + Azure Cosmos DB + Azure Data Studio + Azure SQL + OData + Revolutions R + Unified Data Model (IDEAs) + Microsoft Entra PowerShell * More [ ] Search Search * No results Cancel * Dev Blogs * The Old New Thing * Microspeak: Escrow February 17th, 2026 like2 reactions Microspeak: Escrow Raymond Chen Raymond Chen Show more As a product is nearing release, the release management selects a build and declares it to be the escrow build. The metaphor is that this build has been placed into the hands of an imaginary third party for eventual release to customers provided certain requirements are met. Those requirements are that the product survive a period of concerted testing and self-host usage to build confidence that it meets its quality and reliability targets. The Developer Division Release Team blog unhelpfully described escrow as "the phase before the completion of the RTM milestone where the product goes through a period of bake time." I say unhelpfully because it defines one Microspeak term ( escrow) in terms of another Microspeak term (bake time). Some time ago, I defined the Microspeak term bake as "(of a code change) to build confidence by observing its behavior over a period of time." Putting this all together, a more complete definition of escrow would be "the phase before the completion of the RTM milestone where the product accepts no changes while its behavior is closely observed to ensure that it meets release criteria." When a problem is found, the release team has to assess whether this problem is significant enough to require a product change. This assessment is a balance of many factors: How often does it occur? Does it affect one category of user more than another? How severe are the consequences? How easily can it be worked around? These criteria are typically1 formalized by a bug bar. If a severe enough bug is discovered, then an escrow reset is declared, and the bug fix is accepted,2 a new build is produced, the new build is declared the new escrow build, and the cycle repeats. Eventually, the product makes it through the escrow period without any escrow reset events, and the escrow build is released to manufacturing. 1 Though not always, apparently. 2 Plus any bug fixes that were granted "opportunistic" status by the release management team. 2 * * * * * * 8 0 * Facebook Share on Facebook * Share on X * LinkedIn Share on Linkedin Category Old New Thing Topics MicrospeakOther Share * * * Author Raymond Chen Raymond Chen Raymond has been involved in the evolution of Windows for more than 30 years. In 2003, he began a Web site known as The Old New Thing which has grown in popularity far beyond his wildest imagination, a development which still gives him the heebie-jeebies. The Web site spawned a book, coincidentally also titled The Old New Thing (Addison Wesley 2007). He occasionally appears on the Windows Dev Docs Twitter account to tell stories which convey no useful information. 8 comments Join the discussion. Leave a commentCancel reply Sign in [ ] [Reply] [Cancel] Code of Conduct Sort by : Newest Newest Popular Oldest * [png] gregm 1 day ago 0 Collapse this comment Copy link Wow, I had forgotten about the regular "Pre-emptive Igor Levicki comment", what a flashback! Log in to Vote or Reply * [png] alan robinson 2 days ago 0 Collapse this comment Copy link Whew, really? When you mix your metaphors that hard you often produce an overly tough cake. Log in to Vote or Reply * [png] Joshua Hudson 2 days ago 1 Collapse this comment Copy link I discovered that bug bar does not work; and you're essentially always better off merging all fixes that merge cleanly into the release branch into the release branch right up until mastering the release. But then again I don't know what ten thousand developers is like. Log in to Vote or Reply + [png] Uristqwerty 2 days ago 1 Collapse this comment Copy link Probably more a matter of having ten million soon-to-be-users than ten thousand devs. How confident are you that a fix won't accidentally introduce a new bug, hitting an edge case you didn't even realize was there much less write tests for? The bug bar would then be a combination of how severe a bug is fixed contrasted against the worst-case new bug it could plausibly introduce. Log in to Vote or Reply + [png] Antonio Rodriguez 2 days ago 1 Collapse this comment Copy link You do not need thousands of developers for this to make sense. Even if you work alone, you better set a bug bar when you are working on an RC, escrow build or whatever you call it. Every change, including bug fixes, comes with a risk of regressions. And this is specially critical in the last stages: even a minor bug fix risks introducing itself a bigger bug. The bug bar allows you to better evaluate the risks of applying the fix versus the effects of letting the bug go into production. Log in to Vote or Reply o [png] Igor Levicki 4 hours ago 0 Collapse this comment Copy link "Bug bar" is the ultimate corporate euphemism for "How many bugs can we get away with shipping?" * [png] Sigge Mannen February 18, 2026 2 Collapse this comment Copy link Preemptive Yuhong Bao/Igor comment: "Windows 11 escrow time is close to negative infinity" Log in to Vote or Reply + [png] Igor Levicki 5 hours ago * Edited 0 Collapse this comment Copy link Hey I have been summoned! No, Windows 11 doesn't even have an escrow build. Given the "quality" of the last year worth of KBs released the Windows source code has apparently turned into a collection of bugs which sometimes also function as an approximation of an operating system. Log in to Vote or Reply Read next January 20, 2026 Microspeak: On fire, putting out fires Raymond Chen Raymond Chen December 31, 2025 2025 year-end link clearance Raymond Chen Raymond Chen Stay informed Get notified when new posts are published. Email * [ ] Country/Region * [Select... ] I would like to receive the The Old New Thing Newsletter. Privacy Statement. Subscribe Follow this blog youtube Are you sure you wish to delete this comment? OK Cancel Sign in Theme Insert/edit link Close Enter the destination URL URL [ ] Link Text [ ] [ ] Open link in a new tab Or link to existing content Search [ ] No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item. 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