Key Takeaways
- Windows Insiders have often been frustrated by Microsoft’s A/B testing, where promised features are only delivered to a select few.
- Microsoft has leaked its own tool called StagingTool, similar to Mach2 and ViVeTool, that enables hidden features in Windows 11.
- Microsoft discourages users from using tools like StagingTool, as it interferes with the team’s telemetry, but this issue could be resolved by providing users with the features they are sacrificing stability to test.
If you’re a Windows Insider, you’ve probably been frustrated by Microsoft’s A/B testing at one point or another. That’s where the company asks you to sign up for previews by enticing you with the latest and greatest features to test, and then only delivers those features to a select few people.
Most of us have found ways around that by now, whether it was by using the now-discontinued Mach2 tool, or the newer ViVeTool. But now, Microsoft has leaked its own tool that’s used for enabling hidden features in Windows 11. It’s called StagingTool, and frankly, it sounds just like Mach2 and ViVeTool.
StagingTool was spotted in a Bug Bash quest, which included a link to download the app. If you’re unfamiliar with the Bug Bash concept, it’s a weekish-long event where Microsoft publishes a bunch of quests and surveys to try out new features in preview builds. This quest has been pulled, and it’s actually not the first time that the company has pulled a Bug Bash quest on account of accidentally talking about internal features.
StagingTool is a command line tool, and as mentioned above, it works a lot like ViVeTool. You need to find the feature ID for what you want to enable, and you just call the app with the enable command and the feature ID. Some features, like Windows Copilot, actually required several feature IDs to be enabled.
Microsoft prefers that users don’t enable hidden features themselves with tools like ViVeTool or StagingTool, which is already pretty easy to find despite the Bug Bash being pulled. The reason is that it messes with the team’s telemetry. Of course, that could all be resolved if the Redmond firm just gave users the features that they’re sacrificing the stability of their PC for in order to test.