Another fresh new preview build has landed in the Dev channel, and this one focuses solely on input. Windows 10 build 20206 is the one you need if you want to test drive new keyboard features.
As Microsoft notes, there is nothing terribly exciting here apart from these minor additions that enhance the keyboard and input experience in the OS. Plenty of fixes here, however, as was the case in the build released last week.
For starters, the company is in the process of evolving the emoji picker in Windows to bring together a bunch of separate experiences, and introduce some new capabilities.
You know, like easy access to animated GIFs.
The design of the panel has also been updated to help you properly convey your message when communicating using text. There is an improved emoji search, as well as convergence of input experiences across emoji and clipboard history.
Oh, and the animated GIF search requires an internet connection and is powered by Tenor.
Moving on, this build also introduces voice typing. This improved version of Windows dictation enables you to type effortlessly with your voice whenever there is a text field on your PC — perfect for cases when using your voice is more comfortable and efficient than typing on a keyboard.
Separate user interfaces are provided when using the hardware or touch keyboard here.
Microsoft also has a list of supported voice commands that you can check out at the link above.
Redmond has also improved the touch keyboard design that includes a fresh aesthetic and a bunch of other small tweaks. Some keyboard layouts for certain languages are still in the process of being update, but overall, these are neat changes.
Likewise, Windows 10 now also lets you change the cursor position with the touch keyboard, so that you can quickly do this in any text field using gestures on the space bar.
So, there you go!
A big focus on input improvements, which is something that the teams over at Microsoft had been working on for quite some time. Take these for a test run by deploying this new preview build.
