As hinted earlier, though, you can’t just use this with any device. In addition to using the latest Your Phone software on your Windows 10 system, you’ll need a phone with the latest Link to Windows integration — and for now, that means a Samsung phone running Android 9.0 (Pie) or later. The computer and phone need to be on the same WiFi network, so this won’t be an option for checking the device you forgot at home.

Even so, this is a big step up from phone screen mirroring. You don’t have to handle everything a single window, or wade through your phone’s OS just to launch a favorite app. It’s not the seamless union of desktop and mobile that Microsoft envisioned with Continuum, but it’s considerably closer.

This preview build isn’t all about coronavirus, though. Another new feature will allow you to control your music and audio apps with the Your Phone app. You’ll be able to play, pause and skip the songs playing on your phone through your desktop, and tracks will remain synced across your phone and PC. You can even switch between multiple sources using a dropdown menu in the app.

Microsoft is releasing the build to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring today, but some changes won’t go into effect until later this week. Of course, the next big Windows 10 update for the public is just around the corner. It’s expected in May.

According to Microsoft’s Roberto Bojorquez, the new RCS functionality is available “starting with” the Galaxy S20, suggesting the feature will work with other Samsung devices (and perhaps other Android phones) in the future. The integration comes as part of Samsung and Microsoft’s ongoing partnership, which has in the past seen the South Korean company integrate apps like OneDrive into its devices.

Proud to announce that we have partnered with the Samsung Messages team to bring RCS messaging support to #yourphone app via #linktowindows. Starting with the #galaxys20series you will be able to send and receive RCS texts from PC if your default SMS app is Samsung Messages!

— Roberto Bojorquez [Microsoft] (@bojorchess) February 15, 2020

If you don’t plan to buy the S20, you can still send RCS messages on your computer by using the Google Messages web client. But as with everything RCS-related, there are a lot of requirements both you and the person you’re texting have to meet before you can see the protocol at work. While it’s a small step, efforts like the one Microsoft is making here help make the platform more useful.

Microsoft first added kaomoji shortcuts (Japanese emoticons with especially expressive faces) to Windows 10 version 1903. Based on user feedback, it’s testing a few more, like ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪ and /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ.

You might remember PowerToys from the Windows 95 and Windows XP era. While they’ve been gathering dust for a few generations, Microsoft is bringing them back. This build includes two new PowerToys: PowerRename, which lets you rename files in bulk, and FancyZones, a window manager that helps you arrange and snap windows into custom layouts. If you’re not a Fast Ring Insider, you can also find PowerToys v0.12 on GitHub.

This build also includes a Linux update. Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) 2 will send unused Linux memory back to your Windows machine. Before, the memory would grow to meet your needs, but it would not shrink back when excess memory wasn’t being used. Now, when memory is no longer being used by your virtual machine, it will return to Windows.

As part of its announcement today, Microsoft shared that Samsung phones using Phone screen (which lets you allows you to interact with your Android apps and phone content directly on your PC) in the Your Phone app will no connect via Bluetooth. Instead, they’ll use the local network connection.

Finally, in an unrelated update to Microsoft 365, Microsoft is bringing new file and sharing experiences to Teams and Outlook. Those will allow users to collaborate in real time and use AI to secure data.

You’ll have to be ready for potential glitches when this is pre-release software. Microsoft has warned that older versions of some anti-cheat game software can produce crashes on this Windows build, for example. Don’t try this if you absolutely depend on a reliable PC. If that’s no obstacle, though, you no longer need third-party tools (or an all-Apple setup) to juggle phone calls while you work.

This is bad timing for an outage. As The Verge explains, the Galaxy Note 10 has its own version of Your Phone, called “Link to PC.” That phone just went on sale last week, and Link to PC is reportedly unavailable as part of this outage.

Typically, the app lets you reply to texts, access files and manage phone notifications from your PC. The feature has been in Insider testing since this spring, and Microsoft began rolling it out to PCs in July. If Microsoft can get past this hangup, it’s expected to bring the screen-mirroring capability to more handsets in the coming months.

The feature is gradually rolling out to Windows Insiders using at least the 1803 (RS4) build. You’ll also need a phone running Android 7.0 Nougat or newer and a minimum of 1GB of RAM. You can’t respond to notifications (at least not yet), but this could be particularly vital for Snapchat and other apps that don’t really have a presence on the desktop.

There are a few stipulations. You’ll need a Windows 10 PC running Windows build 1803 or later and an Android phone running Android version 7.0 or newer. Microsoft specifically says to make sure you’ve updated to the latest Insider build, and your PC will need to support Bluetooth’s low energy peripheral mode. Right now, if you have a Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+, S9, S9+ and a PC that meets the specs, the “phone screen” feature should work. Out of Microsoft’s own Surface PCs, the only one that’s compatible right now is the Surface Go. Microsoft promises it will update the list of compatible devices as it grows.

As we reported when the feature was demoed at the Microsoft Surface launch in October, this is an alternative to running mobile apps on a PC. One of Windows shortcomings as desktop OS has been its lack of touch-friendly apps. If Microsoft can get the “phone screen” feature right, it might make up for this shortcoming. Of course, Microsoft’s competitors are working on similar initiatives. Chrome OS has supported Android apps for a few years now, and Apple is making it easier for developers to bring their iOS apps to the Mac.