Today Microsoft is releasing a new optional cumulative update for Windows 11. However, unlike most cumulative updates, this update comes with a new feature. It has the new emojis which were announced in July. Good kind of.
When the new emoji characters were announced, the design team showed off these gorgeous 3D characters that looked just like what you would find on iOS. But when they first started showing up, they were actually flat and a lot less visually appealing than users had been led to believe. Turns out cute emojis are exclusive to things like Teams and Flipgrid, while Windows 11 gets 2D emojis (insert joke about inconsistency here).
Microsoft has said the goal is for new emojis to be “personal and familiar,” which are key design principles in Windows 11. There are other emojis as well, including the Emoji 13.1 set.
But of course, that’s not all that’s new in this update. This is a C Week update after all, making it an optional cumulative update with tons of fixes.
If you are using Windows 11, you will see KB5007262, which brings the build number to 22000.348. You can download it manually here, and here are the highlights:
- Updates an issue that prevents Internet Explorer from working when you copy and paste text while using the Input Method Editor (IME).
- Updates an issue that displays an incorrect background for the iFLY Simplified Chinese IME icon in the notification area.
- Updates an issue that prevents the display of File Explorer and Desktop context menus. This problem often occurs when you choose to use a single click to open an item.
- Improves animation performance of taskbar icons.
- Updates volume control issues that affect Bluetooth audio devices.
- Updates an issue that prevents File Explorer from working after closing a File Explorer window.
- Updates an issue that displays incorrect subtitle shadows for some videos.
- Updates an issue that automatically removes the Windows Serbian (Latin) display language from a device.
- Updates an issue that causes flickering when hovering over taskbar icons; this problem occurs if you applied a high contrast theme.
- Updates an issue that under certain conditions prevents the keyboard focus rectangle from being visible when using Task View, Alt-Tab, or Snap Assist.
- Updates an issue that may cause Windows Mixed Reality to start when you put on a headset. This problem occurs even when you have disabled the option “Start the mixed reality portal when the presence sensor on my headset detects that I am wearing it”.
- Updates an issue that could cause your device to report that it does not detect a printer after plugging it in.
- Updates an issue that may cause temporary loss of audio on your device.
- Updates an issue that causes some variable fonts to display incorrectly.
- Updates an issue that displays letters or characters at the wrong angle when using the Meiryo UI font and other vertical fonts. These fonts are frequently used in Japan, China, or other Asian countries.
- Updates an issue that prevents some apps from responding to input. This issue occurs on devices that have a touchpad.
- Adds an option that lets you choose whether or not to automatically enable Focus Assist for the first hour after a Windows feature update.
- Updates an audio distortion issue that affects Xbox One and Xbox Series Audio devices and occurs when you use them with spatial sound.
- Updates several aspects of Windows emoji. As part of iterative and ongoing work, we’ve made the following improvements for this release:
- Updates all Segoe UI Emoji font emoji to Fluent 2D emoji style
- Includes support for Emoji 13.1, which:
- Updates the emoji dictionary
- Adds the ability to search for Emoji 13.1 in all supported languages
- Update the Emoji and more panel for you to enter emoji in your applications
These are just the highlights too. The list of fixes is even longer.
Windows 11 version 22000.348 fixes
There are several ways to install this update. First of all, you can install it manually by downloading the update from the link above. You can also get it through Windows Update by checking for updates and then choosing to install it. It is optional, however, which means it will not install automatically. If you don’t take it, these fixes and changes will be incorporated into next month’s Patch Tuesday update, which is mandatory.
