14 DAY TRIAL // Tech giants are moving fast to ditch the pistol emoji in their products following the increase in gun violence in the United States, and Microsoft is the latest big name to announce a similar change in Windows 10.
The company confirmed in a very short tweet that it’s replacing the real firearm emoji in Windows 10 with a water pistol, explaining that the decision is based on the feedback it received lately.
“We are in the process of evolving our emojis to reflect our values and the feedback we’ve received,” the company explained.
Google and Facebook also announced recently that the pistol emoji would be gone in their products, moving instead to a water pistol. Apple, Samsung, and others made the same decision last year.
Possibly coming with Windows 10 Redstone 4 update
What Microsoft hasn’t revealed, however, is when the new water pistol emoji would make it to Windows 10. It’s believed this could happen with the release of the Windows 10 Redstone 4 update, which was projected to begin by the end of April, but which according to recent speculation could eventually take place in May.
Microsoft has made emoji a key part of Windows 10, and the latest OS feature updates brought many improvements in this regard, including keyboard shortcuts that make it easier to use emoji in conversations.
While the emoji panel is part of the touch keyboard, which is primarily aimed at systems with touchscreens, like tablets and 2-in-1 devices running Windows 10, PC users without such hardware can easily invoke the emoji UI by simply pressing the Win key + . (the period punctuation mark) or Win key + ; (the semi-colon key).
More improvements are expected to be made in the coming Windows 10 updates. After Redstone 4, the next major release for Windows 10 is planned for the fall of 2018 and it is currently codenamed Redstone 5.
We are in the process of evolving our emojis to reflect our values and the feedback we’ve received. Here’s a preview: pic.twitter.com/BlB3yYTSht — Microsoft (@Microsoft) April 25, 2018