Microsoft’s new Windows 10 Insider build 16273 is mostly designed to improve stability and fix bugs ahead of the Fall Creators Update, but it does have a few new features too. One of them is the introduction of emoji notifications in My People, letting you use Skype emojis in your chats with friends and family through the Windows communication tool.
Although Microsoft’s Windows Insider program has for some time now maintained a couple of different “rings” — fast and slow — this preview build begins the new branch in the “Skip Ahead” program, giving those part of it their own release cycle. However, all Insiders will be getting builds more frequently as we edge closer to the launch of the Fall Creators Update.
Build 16273 itself adds the new emoji notifications for the My People chat tool — you can use the Windows Insider Emoji Bot to grab emojis from Skype — and a new font called Bahnschrift. A common road-sign font in Germany, it is not only a new style choice for Windows Insiders in its own right, but also leverages Microsoft’s new OpenType variable font system to offer an expanded spectrum of weighting. That means you can pick much more nuanced weights than just light, regular, or bold.
One feature that is being reserved for Skip Ahead members is a new mixed reality feature in the View 3D application. Using this update you can add 3D creations to the application and then interact with them in mixed reality. Working a little like the Disney Magic Bench that was recently unveiled, users will be able to take downloaded creations or ones they made themselves in apps like Paint 3D and have them come to life.
View 3D handles the tracking of the augmented reality characters, and also provides the ability to take high-resolution snapshots of them in action, making it easier than ever to share your augmented creations with the wider world.
Microsoft has also made a multitude of smaller changes in this Insider release, including fixes and improvements to Windows Shell, Microsoft Edge, and Windows inputs. For a look at all of the hundred plus fixes and changes, have a read of the full changelog on Microsoft’s blog.
