14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has released Windows 10 build 14376 today, and although it’s one of the best builds so far, it also comes with a change that’s very likely to make many users sad.
Messaging everywhere, an essential Windows 10 feature that allowed users to send and receive phone messages from and on their PCs, won’t be part of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, as Microsoft wants to make such functionality part of the Skype app, and not of Messaging.
Right now, the Messaging app is the one responsible for bringing phones and PCs together, but Microsoft says that the Skype team is now working on similar features, so a future version of the universal app is likely to offer them. But they won’t be ready for the Anniversary Update, though, Dona Sarkar, head of the Windows Insider program, explains.
Cortana will still do the job
“We decided not to release this feature as part of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update this summer. Starting with Build 14376 and going forward, Insiders will no longer have the ability to reply to text messages from their phone via the Messaging app on their PCs. The ability to reply to text messages on your PC using Cortana is unaffected,” Dona has said earlier today.
“Going forward, we will be working with the Skype Team on delivering a great ‘messaging everywhere’ experience on your Windows 10 devices through the Skype app.”
Right now, there is no information as to when Microsoft could release such a feature on Windows 10 devices, but if it’s not Redstone 1 coming in July, there are chances that it could be part of the second wave of the update expected to land in spring 2017.
For the moment, however, Cortana remains the only way to reply to text messages on your PC, and given the fact that many more Windows 10 adopters are using the personal assistant these days, only a few are likely to be affected by this decision to hold back the Messaging everywhere feature.