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Posts tagged "Copilot"

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Copilot is everywhere in Windows 11 and it’s about to get harder to ignore – but is Microsoft in danger of wearing out the AI assistant’s welcome?
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Windows 11 is going to see a lot more of Copilot in the future – that’s pretty obviously the line Microsoft is taking with its desktop-based assistant – and there’s fresh evidence of the AI creeping into more corners of the OS.

Firstly, we have a sighting of a new wallpaper, which came yesterday, when a couple of inbound laptops with the promising Snapdragon X Elite CPU were leaked. Both of those Lenovo notebooks had a Copilot-themed wallpaper on the desktop, so it’s a safe assumption that Microsoft has an official new background for the AI in the pipeline.

As Windows Latest observes, this is actually a traditional ‘bloom’ wallpaper, except Microsoft has redone the image in the Copilot colors (mirroring the Copilot button in the taskbar).

The tech site also points out other ways in which Copilot is creeping into Windows 11 and Microsoft Edge. For example, in the Edge browser, as highlighted by leaker Leopeva64, there’s now a bar of options pertaining to the AI when you open the Settings panel.

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This bar contains suggestions for how you might use Copilot, allowing you to get advice on security settings for example, or managing your passwords in the browser. These suggestions change depending on what section of Edge’s settings you’re in, by the way, making them more relevant to what you might be looking to do.

Note that this idea is just in testing right now, and in the Canary channel to boot (the earliest test avenue).

Another ability brought in for Copilot in Edge (again, in the Canary channel) is an expanded Ask Copilot context menu. This means that when you select a section of text in a web page, there are new options for directly interacting with Copilot in this menu.

As Windows Latest explains, these choices are: Explain, Summarize, Expand, and Ask anything in Chat.

The last option acts like the current incarnation of Ask Copilot – it just fires up the AI’s panel with a query on the selected text.

With the new options, however, Explain prompts Copilot to do just that – offer an explanation of the text – and Summarize provides a summary, as you’d expect. In a similar vein, Expand goes the other way, furnishing you with extra facts or information about the selected text.

Again with Edge, Leopeva64 also spotted that AI is going to be integrated into the browser’s ‘Magnify Image’ option, with a button spotted that offers to ‘AI Enhance’ the image after it’s been blown up. This is in very early testing, though, and the button doesn’t yet do anything at all.

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Another recent addition Windows Latest flagged up is ‘Circle to Copilot’ in Edge in Windows 11 (and iOS), allowing you to literally draw a circle around something to activate a Copilot query about the highlighted item.

All this comes on top of a recent move in the Beta channel of Windows 11 previews, trying out a new way of highlighting that Copilot can help with something – by animating the taskbar button for the AI when this is the case. New options have also been added to the menu that appears when you hover over the Copilot button, too, expanding that further.

Analysis: Making Copilot a more visible presence

All of this is still to come, we should note – these are changes in testing for Windows 11 or its Edge browser, and in the case of the wallpaper, a glimpse of what’s very likely to come.

Indeed, that Copilot background will likely be the default wallpaper for AI PCs starting with Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptops that launch in June. (Not forgetting Microsoft’s own Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6, the consumer spins on which will land then, and may have a custom version of the Elite SoC inside).

Overall, though, it’s clear that Microsoft is pushing forward with expanding Copilot’s capabilities, and sussing out ways in which the AI can be made more visible on the desktop. Whether that’s about an animation for the taskbar button (effectively declaring “It’s-a-me, Copilot, I can help with that”), or a fancy desktop wallpaper that could be a permanent reminder of the AI, if you fall for the color scheme (which does look quite funky, to be fair).

We’d be surprised if most of these tested changes didn’t come to fruition, frankly, and as noted, there’s a theme of Microsoft increasingly pushing Copilot which comes as no surprise.

The big rumored addition on the horizon is, of course, AI Explorer – but that feature (supposedly debuting in the Windows 11 24H2 update) may have an unexpected twist in its initial incarnation that’s a bit of a shocker. (Spoiler alert: If you don’t have an ARM CPU like the aforementioned Snapdragon, then you can forget it – Intel and AMD-powered PCs might be left out in the cold).

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Microsoft pushes ahead with controversial move in Windows 11 – having Copilot appear immediately after startup
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Remember that Microsoft was previously testing an idea whereby Copilot automatically launches by default when Windows 11 first boots?

Well, Microsoft is pushing ahead with rolling out this feature more broadly, and some of the Windows Insiders who test preview builds aren’t too happy about this.

A quick bit of background here: The functionality to enable Copilot to appear on the desktop when Windows 11 first starts up was brought in with preview releases of Windows 11 back in January.

However, this only happened on a very limited basis with testers in the Dev channel initially, but now Microsoft is expanding the rollout of the feature, as MS Power User noticed – as did various testers posting on X (formerly Twitter).

Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc, senior program manager on the Windows Insider team, addressed some of the eyebrows being raised on X, noting that Microsoft had previously released this feature in build 23615 and that it had been temporarily disabled – but was now back in build 26100 from last week.

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LeBlanc then spoke to the Windows team and returned with another post to clarify that in fact the rollout of this Copilot functionality was actually re-enabled back in February in both Canary and Dev channels, but that what’s happening now is that the deployment of the feature is being expanded.

Whatever the case, it’s clear Microsoft is pushing forward with this concept of having Copilot appear on the desktop when you first turn on your PC.

However, as before, this is only happening for certain users depending on the type of monitor they have – meaning those with a display big enough to handle the Copilot panel appearing in this way. That means a monitor with at least a 27-inch screen and a pixel width of 1920 (with Full HD resolution being 1920 x 1080, of course).

Analysis: The risk of feather ruffling

Clearly enough, this is one of those features which is set to ruffle more than a few feathers. Making it so that Copilot is right there by default on the desktop from the get-go will obviously increase the visibility of the AI for Microsoft, and the amount of usage it gets thereafter.

Presumably that’s the idea, but the equally obvious risk is that having Copilot operate in a more in-your-face manner when the Windows 11 PC boots up is going to provoke the ire of some users.

That said, Microsoft is limiting it to larger monitors, and there is a switch to turn off this feature in Settings, and we can reasonably assume that’ll be carried through to release – if this Copilot auto-boot idea makes it through testing to finished builds of Windows 11, and it may not. Depending on feedback, Microsoft might end up abandoning it.

However, the feature progressing to a wider rollout seems to suggest that it will be a keeper for Microsoft. We’ll know for sure if it turns up in the Beta channel, and the Release Preview channel after that – at the latter point, it’s almost certainly going to make the cut for release.

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Microsoft continues to shove Copilot down our throats, this time on our tablets
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If you’re a Windows user, you’ve probably been embracing (or running away from) Microsoft Copilot being integrated into your operating system. The AI-powered tool has been added to Microsoft Edge, Microsoft 365, and the Windows 11 taskbar. Now, it seems like the AI companion is making its debut on Windows tablets – in the most annoying way possible. 

Zac Bowden from Windows Central discovered that swiping from the right on your tablet now opens Copilot instead of your notification center – disrupting a core gesture that users have grown accustomed to. Bowden posted a video on Twitter (sorry, X)  showing this change in action, swiping to open notifications and instead being greeted by an unwelcome Copilot. 

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Bowden also adds that the notification panel has apparently simply disappeared. You would think that if Copilot had been moved to the right, the notification panel would have been relocated, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Now, it seems that if you miss a notification it’s simply gone with the wind – you have nowhere to catch up on anything you miss. 

Give it back! 

Almost all modern devices have some kind of notification center that’s easily accessible. iPhone and Android mobiles have the swipe down from the top gesture, which is also translated to larger touchscreen devices like iPads or Galaxy tablets. Even your Windows PC has a notification center on the right side of your taskbar. So, it’s incredibly peculiar for Windows tablets to have that crucial feature removed. 

If you’re worried about your tablet being affected, don’t panic – so far this change has only been implemented on tablets that are running on the latest Windows 11 version (24H2). It was first spotted in Microsoft Windows Insider Dev and Canary channel and now seems to have broken out to a wider array of devices – so if you want to avoid this, just hold off on updating to version 24H2 for now.

Hopefully, this is a temporary change that’ll be reversed soon. While Microsoft’s Copilot is an objectively impressive tool, there’s no doubt that not everyone will be happy to have these changes shoved in their faces like this. Especially if you’re not a big fan of AI chatbots in the first place – I’d be pretty upset if I lost access to my notifications for something I’d never use.

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Microsoft is testing small but impactful changes to draw your attention to Copilot AI on the Windows 11 desktop
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Microsoft has made a relatively minor but pretty useful tweak for Copilot in testing, as part of the ongoing effort to bring the AI assistant into play more often with Windows 11.

This is part of the new Windows 11 preview build 22635 deployed in the Beta channel, and the change to Copilot is rolling out gradually, so not all testers in that channel will have it just yet.

The idea is a ‘new experience’ for Copilot that aims to boost your productivity in Windows 11. How exactly? Well, when you copy a text or image file, the AI’s icon in the taskbar has an animation that’s triggered to let you know the assistant can help with that file.

If you hover the mouse over the Copilot icon, you’ll then get some new options – for example with an image file, you’ll be presented with choices including creating an image like the current one, or getting Copilot to analyze the picture.

Windows 11 Copilot Options

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Build 22635 doesn’t do an awful lot more than these Copilot tweaks, but there is another change here for Windows Share. Microsoft is making it so you can use this functionality to share directly to a specific Microsoft Teams channel or group chat. (This is an ability that had been in testing previously, but was temporarily removed due to bugs – and it’s now reinstated).

As ever check out Microsoft’s blog post for the build to find out the full details and known issues in this preview release.

Analysis: Treading a fine line

The fresh tweaks for Copilot are simple but quick ways of interacting with files using the AI. Microsoft is putting these various abilities at the fingertips of the user, and highlighting that the AI can help with said animation on the icon. Clearly, the hope is that having brought Copilot to the attention of the person sat at the Windows 11 PC, this will result in more usage of the AI.

With this change being in the Beta testing channel – the step before Release Preview, where things are finalized for the stable builds of Windows 11 for everyday users – we’ll likely see this introduced with the 24H2 update later this year.

As to the overall concept of having Copilot pointed out actively, if Microsoft is planning to do more along these lines, it’ll have to tread a thin line between helping the user, and perhaps getting on the annoying side with too many little calls for attention.

There’s a fine balance with some aspects of OS development – such as, for example, when recommendations or suggestions in menus become more like adverts – and sometimes Microsoft has strayed beyond the acceptable boundaries, at least in our humble opinion. We’re hopeful this won’t be the case here, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with the current Copilot rejigging in testing.

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Microsoft is pushing out Copilot AI to more Windows 11 users – ready or not – and Windows 10 will follow shortly
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Microsoft just announced that Copilot is rolling out to more Windows 11 users right now, and also it’ll be inbound to more Windows 10 users soon enough.

Neowin spotted the revelation in the Windows message center where Microsoft let us know that Copilot is coming to a wider audience – so, if you haven’t seen the AI assistant yet, you may well do soon enough.

Microsoft also let us know that from this week, it’s possible to use up to 10 queries with Copilot before you have to sign in to your Microsoft account. So, you can give the AI a bit of a try even if you don’t have an active Microsoft account on your Windows installation.

The ‘new wave’ of Copilot additions is happening now with Windows 11 (23H2 and 22H2), at least for consumers (with businesses, it will depend on admin policies). And eligible Windows 10 devices on Home or Pro versions (22H2) will start to get Copilot in this broader rollout later in March – so within the next week.

Microsoft tells us: “This current rollout phase will reach most of its targeted Windows 11 and 10 devices by the end of May.”

Meanwhile, Microsoft is also busy expanding Copilot’s repertoire of tricks regarding changing Windows settings, though it’s very slow going on that front thus far.

Analysis: AI for everyone

It sounds like most folks will have Copilot by the end of May, then. We’ve already seen it arrive on our Windows 10 PC, so that rollout is definitely already underway – it’s just about to step up to another level.

How will you know if you get Copilot? You can’t miss the colorful icon which will appear in the taskbar, on the far right (in the system tray). It’s marked with a ‘Pre’ on the icon to denote that the AI is still in preview, so it’s still possible to experience wonky or odd behavior when running queries with Copilot.

While you can turn off the Copilot icon if you don’t want to see it, you can’t actually remove the AI from Windows as such (not yet) – it’ll still be lurking in the background, even if you never access it. That said, there are ways to extract Copilot from your Windows installation, such as using third-party apps (though we wouldn’t recommend doing so, as previously discussed).

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Copilot AI’s mission to infiltrate the Windows 11 desktop appears to have advanced another step
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Copilot is creeping into another corner of the Windows 11 interface, it seems, with the AI assistant seen in the context menu of File Explorer.

This is still in test builds of Windows 11, mind, and not officially either. Windows Latest flagged up the change, which was first noticed by PhantomOfEarth, a well-known leaker on X (formerly Twitter) who previously picked up on clues that File Explorer integration was inbound for Copilot back in January 2024.

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Now we can see how the context menu option will work, enabling you to right click on a file, and choose to send it to Copilot – open the AI’s panel with the file active, as if you’d dragged it in there – or to elect to ‘summarize’ the file. The latter choice being the standard option for Copilot to summarize a document or PDF for example.

Even though we’ve caught a glimpse of the menu now, it still doesn’t work (which is why it isn’t officially running in Windows 11 previews – yet). As Windows Latest makes clear, if you click to summarize, a summary isn’t provided.

Other options may be added down the line, too. In fact, it’s very likely we’ll see a ‘rewrite’ choice for example, allowing for rewriting a document, another task Copilot is currently capable of.

Analysis: Copilot’s future flight path

We can expect to see Copilot’s tendrils snaking into all parts of the Windows 11 interface eventually, which may not be to everyone’s tastes.

Those who don’t want to use the AI, or even see it in Windows at all, can ignore it, or turn off the functionality for the time being (one way or another) – but there will come a point where Copilot will be the beating heart of Microsoft’s OS, and you’ll have to use AI, like it or not. Although the functionality provided will probably be pretty advanced and undeniably useful (or indeed indispensable) at that stage.

This particular move is not a big intrusion into the desktop, though. We’re talking about an extra line in the right-click menu, and perhaps Microsoft will be incorporating an option to turn it off as well. In the same way you can remove the Copilot icon from the taskbar if you wish – maybe there’ll be a way to switch all the AI’s functions off with an easy flick of a toggle. (Or an instruction, perhaps: “Copilot, remove yourself from all parts of my Windows 11 interface” – we wouldn’t bank on it, mind).

As long as users have a choice, that’s a good thing, but as we’ve already said, in the future we feel there likely won’t be a choice as such because Copilot will pretty much become Windows, or the central pillar of the OS. Windows 2030 might just be called Copilot 2030.

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Microsoft is planning to make Copilot behave like a ‘normal’ app in Windows 11
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Windows 11 is set for a major change to the Copilot interface, or at least this is something that’s being tried out in testing.

With Windows 11’s preview build 26080 (in both Canary and Dev channels), Microsoft is adding a choice to free Copilot from the shackles that bind the AI assistant to the right-hand side of the screen.

Normally, the Copilot panel appears on the right, and you can’t do anything about that (although Microsoft has been experimenting with the ability to resize it, and other bits and bobs besides).

With this change, you can now undock Copilot, so the AI is in a normal app window, which can be moved wherever you want on the desktop, and resized appropriately. In other words, you’re getting a lot more versatility regarding where you want Copilot to appear.

Also in this preview build, more users are getting Copilot’s new abilities to alter Windows 11 settings. That functionality was already introduced to Canary testers, but is now rolling out to more of those folks, and Windows Insiders in the Dev channel too.

The extra capabilities include getting the AI assistant to empty the Recycle Bin, or turn on Live Captions, or Voice Access (there are a fair few new options on the accessibility front, in fact).

Analysis: Under the hood tinkering, too

Not all testers in the mentioned channels will see the ability to fully free Copilot and let the AI roam the desktop for a while yet, mind. Microsoft says it’s just starting the rollout – and it’ll only be for those in the Canary channel initially. A broader rollout will follow, with Microsoft asking for feedback as it goes, and adjusting things based on what it hears from Windows 11 testers, no doubt.

There are also some ‘under-the-hood improvements’ coming for Copilot as well, as mentioned in the blog post, but mysteriously, Microsoft doesn’t say what. We can only guess that this might be performance related, as that seems the most obvious way that tinkering in the background could improve things with Copilot. (Perhaps it’s to do with ensuring the smooth movement of the undocked panel for the AI, even).

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Microsoft is upgrading its Copilot with GPT-4 Turbo, even for free users
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Microsoft revealed that its Copilot AI assistant will be getting a huge upgrade: it will be integrating Open AI’s GPT-4 Turbo language model. The best part is that all users will have full access to GPT-4 Turbo, including those in the free tier.

According to the same status update on Twitter / X, Pro tier users will have the option to choose the older standard GPT-4 model by using a built-in toggle, which is useful for specialized cases. It also gives the Pro tier added value without taking away from the free tier users.

GPT-4 Turbo is the updated version of the base GPT-4 and is well-known for speed, accuracy, and complex long-form task management. The update brings faster code generation, more insightful suggestions, and improved overall responsiveness, translating to better productivity and smoother coding.

Copilot is really increasing its value

It’s good to see that free-tier users are getting meaningful updates to their Copilot AI assistant already – it’s a good sign that Microsoft will ensure that those without deep enough pockets to maintain a paid premium subscription can still benefit from the service. This is especially important since the tech giant needs to win over more people to Windows 11, which is where the full version of Copilot will be.

However, the Pro subscribers aren’t left in the dark either, as they get more flexibility in the AI assistant when it comes to language model upgrades. Not to mention other features and tools that have been added so far.

Microsoft just announced a Copilot Chatbot builder, which allows Pro users to create custom task-specific chatbots based on their job role. What makes this so interesting is that it was built without any input from OpenAI, which could be due to a need to distance itself from the popular AI tool due to increased scrutiny and lawsuits. This is odd considering that the latest GPT update was added across the Copilot board.

There’s also a feature that lets the Copilot bot directly read files on your PC, then provide a summary, locate specific data, or search the internet for additional information. However, it’s not a privacy nightmare as you have to manually drag and drop the file into the Copilot chat box (or select the ‘Add a file’ option), and then make a ‘summarize’ request of the AI.

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Windows 11’s bizarre QR code ad for Copilot met an angry reaction – so Microsoft has halted the experiment
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Some Windows 11 (and Windows 10) users recently experienced a QR code-powered advert on the lock screen of their PC, but Microsoft has halted these ads following negative feedback from users.

The QR code appeared on the lock screen and when scanned it turned out to be a promotion for the Copilot AI, sending users through to where they could download the relevant mobile app for Copilot.

Needless to say, as noted there were unhappy users due to this, as evidenced in this Reddit thread pointed out by Windows Latest. Some Windows 10 users were also complaining, as well as those on Windows 11, and all were displeased that a relatively sizeable advert had been used in this clunky manner.

The user who started the thread described being confronted by a “lovely QR code plastered across my lock screen,” and others expressed similar sentiments. (More threads on Reddit here and here – and a quick warning, all this gets a bit salty at times).

Microsoft has now dropped this experiment, fortunately, as Windows Latest reported. A Microsoft spokesperson told the tech site via an email: “The notification [QR code] was simply a way to educate users and has since been paused. We value our customer experiences and are always learning to determine what is most valuable and to whom.”

This comes on top of another recent and unwelcome move by Microsoft to once again try to drive better Windows 11 adoption.

Analysis: Wonky implementation

There are a few things that make this episode worse. Firstly, while Windows Latest talks about Microsoft canning the QR adverts, the statement above mentions a “pause” – a halt for now, not forever. Does that mean QR code-powered adverts are still a possibility for the future? We can’t rule that out, sadly.

The second point is that this experiment was rolled out to those running finished versions of Windows 11 (and 10) – not people in testing channels. That rubs salt in the wound, frankly, even if it was only a small subset of users who witnessed the ads.

What compounds the above is that as observed on Reddit, the QR code was slightly obscured by a part of the Windows interface in some cases, which meant some thought the code was actually there due to a bug, not by design or any intention of Microsoft’s. Again, why this wasn’t trialled in testing, particularly given the apparently glitchy implementation some folks witnessed, we don’t know.

It’s all a bit puzzling. When you mention QR codes and Windows 11, what we immediately think of is the Blue Screen of Death, which offers up a code related to the error that has occurred. That’s somewhat ironic as this latest move appears to be a clumsy error on Microsoft’s part, too.

Those who were irritated by this – or any other lock screen suggestions – can turn them off. On either Windows 11 or Windows 10, go to Settings > Personalization > Lock Screen, and at the top of this panel, select either ‘Picture’ or ‘Slideshow.’

You’ll then see the option to ‘Get fun facts…’ on the lock screen, which you need to turn off – job done. No more fun facts, suggestions, or randomly piped through shoddily-made QR code adverts.

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Microsoft’s Copilot AI can now read your files directly, but it’s not the privacy nightmare it sounds like
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Microsoft has begun rolling out a new feature for its Copilot AI assistant in Windows that will allow the bot to directly read files on your PC, then provide a summary, locate specific data, or search the internet for additional information. 

Copilot has already been aggressively integrated into Microsoft 365 and Windows 11 as a whole, and this latest feature sounds – at least on paper – like a serious privacy issue. After all, who would want an AI peeking at all their files and uploading that information directly to Microsoft?

Well, fortunately, Copilot isn’t just going to be snooping around at random. As spotted by @Leopeva64 on X (formerly Twitter), you have to manually drag and drop the file into the Copilot chat box (or select the ‘Add a file’ option). Once the file is in place, you can proceed to make a request of the AI; the suggestion provided by Leopeva64 is simply ‘summarize’, which Copilot proceeds to do.

Another step towards Copilot being genuinely useful

I’ll admit it, I’m a Copilot critic. Perhaps it’s just because I’m a jaded career journalist with a lifetime of tech know-how and a neurodivergent tilt towards unhealthy perfectionism, but I’ve never seen the value of an AI assistant built into my operating system of choice; however, this is the sort of Copilot feature I actually might use.

The option to summarize alone seems quite useful: more than once, I’ve been handed a chunky PDF with embargoed details about a new tech product, and it would be rather nice not to have to sift through pages and pages of dense legalese and tech jargon just to find the scraps of information that are actually relevant to TechRadar’s readership. Summarizing documents is already something that ChatGPT and Adobe Acrobat AI can do, so it makes sense for Copilot – an AI tool that's specifically positioned as an on-system helper – to be able to do it.

While I personally prefer to be the master of my own Googling, I can see the web-search capabilities being very helpful to a lot of users, too. If you’ve got a file containing partial information, asking Copilot to ‘fill in the blanks’ could save you a lot of time. Copilot appears capable of reading a variety of different file types, from simple text documents to PDFs and spreadsheets. Given the flexible nature of modern AI chatbots, there are potentially many different things you could ask Copilot to do with your files – though apparently, it isn’t able to scan files for viruses (at least, not yet).

If you’re keen to get your hands on this feature yourself, you hopefully won’t have to wait long. While it doesn’t seem to be widely available just yet, Leopeva64 notes that it appears Copilot’s latest new skill “is being rolled out gradually”, so it’ll likely start showing up for more Windows 11 users as time goes on.

The Edge version of Copilot will apparently be getting this feature too, as Leopeva points out that it’s currently available in the Canary prototype build of the browser – if you want to check that out, you just have to sign up for the Edge Insider Program.

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