Microsoft releases Windows 10 Build 20206 with an evolved Emoji Picker and other new features

Dev Channel releases are where new Windows 10 features arrive first, and Build 20206 comes with a collection of input extras which Microsoft says will help users better communicate using text and voice on their devices.

This new build sees improvements to the Emoji Picker, unifying features and introducing new capabilities.

The updated Emoji Picker comes with an improved design that Microsoft says better aligns with the company's Fluent Design principals, and this includes a new acrylic background. There’s an inline search box and animated GIF support with search too, and combined input and clipboard history.

Elsewhere, Windows voice typing, which replaces Windows dictation, comes with some improvements, including a more modern design with touch keyboards in mind, auto-punctuation, and an updated back end.

Both of these updated features are being made available to a sub-set of Insiders, not all.

This is also true of the new touch keyboard which is rolling out to some users and comes with a new design, new key press animations and sounds, and emoji search. You can also now change the cursor position using gestures on the space bar.

Other changes and improvements include:

• When annotated content and linked control Narrator commands are invoked on context which doesn’t have any linked controls available, Narrator will now say "No linked item".
• When setting focus to Windows Explorer in the Processes tab of Task Manager, Microsoft is updating the keyboard shortcut for the Restart option to now be Alt + R.

Fixes in this build include:

• Fixed an issue where the new option to enable DNS encryption wasn’t persisting after update.
• Fixed an issue leading to certain apps not launching due to nlsdl.dll being missing.
• Fixed a race condition in the last few builds that could result in some Insiders experiencing scaling issues after waking their PC from sleep when using multiple monitors.
• Fixed an issue that could result in the Narrator Home crashing when using the back button.
• Fixed an issue where after adding a VPN connection, Narrator focus would move to the Settings home button rather than read that the VPN connection had been successfully added.
• Fixed an issue from the last two flights resulting in Office documents opening blank when opened from File Explorer rather than from within the app.
• Fixed an issue in the Mail app preventing syncing with certain mail services.
• Fixed an issue causing some devices to receive bugchecks with error code KERNEL_MODE_HEAP_CORRUPTION.
• Fixed an issue that could result in Task Manager erroneously indicating that a non-UWP app had been suspended.
• Mitigated an issue with the previous build causing some devices to download larger than normal amounts of data during the update process. This may have resulted in slower downloads and disk space warnings. If you continue to experience the issue with this build, please file a new feedback.
• Made improvements to address issues where the new taskbar experience for pinned websites wasn’t working for some websites. If you continue encountering issues, please ensure you’re running the latest version of Microsoft Edge Dev or Canary, and report the issue using the Feedback button in Microsoft Edge if you are.

Known issues are:

• Microsoft is looking into reports of the update process hanging for extended periods of time when attempting to install a new build.
• Microsoft is working on a fix to enable live preview for pinned site tabs.
• Microsoft is working on enabling the new taskbar experience for existing pinned sites. In the meantime, you can unpin the site from the taskbar, remove it from the edge://apps page, and then re-pin the site.
• Microsoft is investigating reports of some Office applications crashing or missing after updating to a new build.
• Microsoft is investigating reports of the Settings app crashing when opening Manage Disks and Volumes.
• Microsoft is working on a fix for the Linux kernel not being installed when using the wsl -install command in the Windows Subsystem for Linux. For an immediate workaround run wsl -update to get the latest kernel version.