What you need to know
- Microsoft Teams' public preview now has Fluent emoji, otherwise known as the snazzy 3D ones.
- If you have an IT admin controlling your Teams operations, you'll need their help to get the new designs.
- Windows 11 remains in the corner with its flat emoji.
Microsoft has delivered on its promise to bring new emoji to its ecosystem of products. Well, partially delivered on its promise. Even if the curious case of Windows 11 3D emoji remains in limbo, the Fluent designs have landed in Microsoft Teams.
You can see the breaking news' origins over at Microsoft's tech community blog post. There, it's proudly announced that over 1,800 emoji are getting a refresh in Teams so that they look bubblier and practically reach out at you with their bite-sized expressions of emotion. The introduction of these Fluent replacements will affect you in two ways, according to Microsoft:
- Emoji in chat and channels messaging will update to the new Fluent style, along with delightful animations for applicable emojis
- Reactions in chat, channels, and live meeting reactions will update to the new Fluent style
Anyone with public preview enabled will get the goods by default, though if you're beholden to IT admins and they have "show preview features" disabled, you're going to need to nudge them to make a few adjustments before the fun can begin.
In Microsoft's post, the company dares to reference the original blog post that started what is now known as emojigate. It's a saga rife with miscommunications direct from Microsoft, wherein the company refused to provide a clear stance on something as simple as whether 3D crabs will come to Windows 11.
Want Fluent emoji? Download Windows 11 — psych! Get Microsoft Teams.
