This article was published on April 27, 2018

Microsoft joins the water pistol brigade with new emoji


Microsoft joins the water pistol brigade with new emoji

One day after Google announced it was changing its revolver emoji into a water pistol — which left Microsoft as the last one carrying an actual gun — Microsoft decided to join the rest of the tech crowd by making the same change. And its water gun might just be the best one yet.

Here’s what’s new: Microsoft showed a preview of its new emoji on Twitter yesterday, saying it was making the change in response to feedback (read: everyone else is doing it). Like almost all of the gun-replacements created since Apple started the trend in 2016, it’s primarily green and yellow.

While the orange Android pistol was my favorite of the new batch of non-lethal weapons, I’m swayed now that I’ve seen Microsoft’s which looks like something a playful alien might use to clean windows.

For context: Microsoft’s had a different path than the others getting here. Originally, it had a funky ray gun emoji instead of the standard revolver. Then, somewhere down the line it decided to swap to the more realistic option, losing a little color and individuality in the process.

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Out of the companies which have emoji libraries, Facebook is now the last remaining holdout with an actual gun, though a spokesperson told Business Insider it was already working on a replacement in the interest of consistency.

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