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Posts tagged "Copilot"

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Say your goodbyes to Cortana: the unloved Windows 11 assistant is going the way of Clippy as Copilot takes over
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The preview of the newest Windows 11 build is missing a big thing: the Cortana app. This change was detailed in an official Windows Insider blog post (aimed at people who help test out early versions of upcoming Windows 11 updates), providing a link to an extra page going into more detail about ending support for the Cortana standalone app. 

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen talk of effectively killing off the Cortana app. BleepingComputer reports about another Canary channel preview release that had the Cortana app and support for it removed earlier this year. The future of Cortana was originally announced back in June, when Microsoft first set out its plans to end support for the standalone app.

At the time, Microsoft wrote that support for Cortana would also eventually end for a range of Microsoft products including Teams mobile, the Teams display, and Teams Rooms, as well as ending voice assistance for Outlook mobile and Microsoft 365 mobile, in the later half of this year. 

This is a big step for Microsoft which committed a lot of time and resources to Cortana, integrating it deeply into the Windows operating system and tailoring it to work with a number of Microsoft apps and products. It was, however, long expected that it may end up getting culled after Microsoft put out an announcement on its official support blog two years ago that support for the Cortana mobile app would end.

Screenshot of Windows Copilot in use

(Image credit: Microsoft)

The new kid on the block, Copilot

Cortana’s exit is happening to make way for Microsoft’s new central focus, its AI-equipped assistant named Copilot, which was announced at this year’s Build conference. Users were able to try Copilot after the Windows 11 22H2 update was released on September 26. Microsoft’s CVP, Yusuf Mehdi, stated that “Copilot will uniquely incorporate the context and intelligence of the web, your work data, and what you are doing in the moment,” and emphasized that Microsoft was prioritizing privacy and security.

After an optional update (or eventually I assume a mandatory update), Copilot will be turned on by default, with users being able to configure settings with Microsoft’s Intune policy or Group Policy (for groups and organizations). This was clarified by Harjit Dhaliwal, a Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft, in a Microsoft enterprise blog post.

As well as Copilot, Microsoft has told users how they can utilize its AI-powered search engine Bing Search and enable voice assistance capabilities through Voice access in Windows 11. 

Cortana’s demise isn’t too surprising, as the voice assistant got a very mixed reception and saw a lot of criticism. Microsoft appears to want to have another try, and is clearly hoping that the AI-powered Copilot will fare better. Although Copilot has taken somewhat wobbly first steps, it’s innovative and has plenty of potential.

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In the least surprising Microsoft news ever, its new Windows Copilot AI assistant is showing users ads
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Microsoft has recently introduced its newest major addition to Windows 11, an AI assistant named Windows Copilot. So far, it's seen a lukewarm reception due to bugs, and now users have noticed something else – Microsoft is putting ads into Copilot’s Bing Chat function. 

As you might have guessed, many users aren’t happy about this. Copilot is still under development and available as an optional update feature, and I would speculate that users who were excited by its introduction are hoping to see improvements and changes rather than advertisements.

Windows Latest reports that Microsoft has added ads that show up when users make certain queries in Copilot, giving the example of “compare Amazon Prime with Netflix.” This apparently prompts Copilot to show you an ad for Amazon Prime within its interface. Oh boy. 

This is possible because Copilot’s Bing Chat makes use of Microsoft Edge’s WebView2, a program that enables developers to render web content for apps within the browser. In recent times, Microsoft has seemingly followed Google’s lead and integrated ads more and more into its own platforms and programs. This isn’t even entirely unacceptable to users who use Bing, either. 

Many users are okay with ads in Bing and its applications in exchange for being able to use powerful AI tools like ChatGPT equipped with GPT-4 (the latest version of the tech powering ChatGPT – OpenAI’s own website only allows access to GPT-3 for free, although this might change soon) and DALL-E via Bing Image Creator. This doesn’t automatically extend to tolerating ads within Windows Copilot, however, especially with it being more deeply built into the Windows 11 interface. 

Bing.com website homepage viewed through a magnifying glass

(Image credit: Shutterstock / SergioVas)

Windows Copilot: currently a work in progress

Windows Latest calls the current version of Copilot “boring and slow” (ouch) and many users are hoping that big changes are still to come. Users hope for developments like plugin support and being able to use Copilot in more Microsoft apps, like using it for tasks within Microsoft Office.

Microsoft did also present its Copilot assistant for enterprise users, Microsoft 365 Copilot, to assist in apps like Word and Excel. It’s unclear if regular Copilot will also assist non-enterprise users in this way at some point, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it happen.

Microsoft promoted Copilot as its state-of-the-art AI assistant product, integrating Bing Chat and the latest developments to ChatGPT from its collaboration with OpenAI. The initial reveal looked very promising and advertised Copilot as a pretty intelligent assistant, allowing it an understanding of context (such as what apps are open on your screen when you submit a query). So far, these kinds of promises look like they’re yet to be fulfilled, as apparently Copilot can’t open apps from your voice or text input just yet. 

This might not be what Copilot is for, compared to its predecessor Cortana, which could help open up apps and folders. It’s supposed to be more than an administrative assistant, and has many AI functionalities yet to be added. In its current form, it takes up a small amount of disk space and is an optional install. If you do install it and wish to turn it off, you can do so using the Group Policy editor.

Windows 11 on a laptop

(Image credit: Unsplash)

Will users be able to remove ads in Copilot?

That said, you can’t simply turn off ads within Copilot if you want to continue using it, meaning that if you want to use Copilot, you'll have to tolerate ads. Bing Chat and Microsoft’s big bet on OpenAI and ChatGPT is arguably its biggest challenge to Google’s dominance in a while. It wants to convince as many people as possible to try the newly AI-charged Bing Search, and maybe even consider replacing Google Search with it. It’s not cheap to run an AI-powered search engine, though, and as long as Google Search still reigns supreme, ads are a way to generate revenue while Microsoft continues to experiment. 

Bing Chat does see some demand and even popularity among experts and enthusiasts in the AI community, especially those who want to try out GPT-4 and DALL-E for free. Most users understand that ads are an everyday part of our lives, especially online; a small price to pay to be able to use services and apps.

However, ads are also annoying and sometimes disruptive, and Microsoft has a lot of work to do in finding a balance between including ads to recoup its massive investments and not pushing away users with ad-based irritation – especially since the latter would mean that they don’t see the ads in the first place, thus potentially losing Microsoft its revenue. 

For me personally, if Copilot means there could be ads surfacing in the deeper levels of Windows 11, like in my local file browser or right in the search bar on my taskbar, I’ll probably be reluctant to use it.  If it keeps ads to more internet-centered apps and programs like Edge (or extensions on other browsers like Google Chrome), I’ll be more likely to try it and continue using it. The ball’s now in Microsoft’s court to hear user feedback and hopefully try something different with Copilot’s ads.

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Microsoft Paint is getting its biggest upgrade in over a decade thanks to Windows Copilot
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During Microsoft’s Surface Event, the tech giant revealed a ton of new features and updates. One of the most interesting and possibly biggest was the Copilot all-in-one AI assistant, which is coming to Windows 11 on September 26, 2023.

Microsoft Copilot is a more general version of 365 Copilot that uses AI to help users with any Windows 11 programs including popular programs like Paint, Snipping Tool, Photos, and more. And now we have even more information about the standalone app, which just might be the most important update to Windows OS yet.

A new blog post from Yusuf Mehdi, CVP & Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, explains how Copilot works with a multitude of Windows programs. For instance, the Paint Cocreator app (which will be available to Windows Insiders starting September 26) allows users to input a text prompt, select a style, and generate a unique image, which can then be further modified by using the new layers feature for Paint, or by simply drawing on top of the generated image.

Microsoft Clipchamp, meanwhile, is a new companion AI tool for video editing with the use of enhanced AI tools like Auto Compose. By answering a few questions on the type of video you're developing, Clipchamp will provide recommended scenes, edits, and a narrative for you based on your input and creative assets. Then you can upload the video to, for instance, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or LinkedIn as well as to OneDrive or Google Drive.

Snipping Tool also received several new upgrades. You can now capture sound using audio and mic support along with visuals, by simply pressing Win + Shift + R or Print Screen to activate. Two new text actions, text extraction and redaction, were also added. 

Text extraction is used to scan content from an online article, a video call, or any other source and then copy it text directly into other documents like Word or PowerPoint. Text redaction is a safety feature that completely blacks out any text you don’t want to show, like an email address within your screenshots or a category of information.

A person using a touchscreen Windows 11 laptop.

(Image credit: Surface/Unsplash)

Photos app has been upgraded as well with a new feature called Background blur that offers a way to enhance image resolution and apply blur effects. Enhanced search capabilities make it easier to find photos saved in OneDrive by typing in keywords related to objects, locations, or dates. There’s also a new slideshow feature that organizes photos into a presentation to share with family and friends.

Voice also has gotten a boost and now works in more places including during the log-in process. You can now dictate complex and nonstandard words through the new spelling experience, and the corrections functionality will fix words that were recognized incorrectly. Narrator supports even more languages including Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and English (UK, India).

The Passkeys tool creates a unique, unguessable credential and allows you to sign in using your face, fingerprint, or device PIN. It will now be integrated into Windows OS and will work on multiple browsers including Edge, Chrome, Firefox, and more.

Adaptive Dimming is another new feature that allows users to conserve energy. If your PC presence sensor detects you are no longer paying attention, it will slowly dim your screen and save energy. It can also serve as an alert to refocus if your attention has been wandering.

John Cable, Microsoft’s, VP, Program Management, Windows Servicing & Delivery, released his own blog post which outlines how to access all these new features and updates. Windows 11 devices will gradually get access to these updates over the next few weeks. Anyone with Windows 11, version 22H2 running on their device can get access to these tools as soon as they're ready by going to Settings > Windows Update and turning on ‘Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available.’ 

All of these Copilot updates are expected to be broadly available in the November 2023 security update release. The Windows 11 23H2 update, meanwhile will not be dropping next week but in Q4 2023, which is October at the earliest.

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Windows 11 update coming today will finally persuade me to upgrade – but not because of Copilot
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Windows 11’s next big update – not the annual one for 2023, mind, that comes later – is rolling out today, and there’s some buzz on the rumor mill about what will be included with this upgrade.

PhantomOfEarth, a regular leaker on X (formerly Twitter) with their ear to the ground on all things Windows, pointed out what else is coming with the September 26 update (later today).

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Of course, it’s already known that the star of the show is set to be the Copilot AI. However, as tweeted, there’s another big piece of the jigsaw – at least for me, and a good few other folks – coming in the form of the option to never combine on the taskbar.

That’s the choice for the taskbar that you get with Windows 10 to tell the operating system not to stack up (combine) windows of the same application. (So, for example, if you have multiple browser windows open, they won’t all be lumped into the same entry on the taskbar, stacked up – with never combine, they remain separate icons on the bar).

PhantomOfEarth also clarified that another useful trick is coming for the taskbar, namely the ability to right-click on an app on the bar and end the task right there. Oh, and also the feature to hide the time and date from the taskbar should you wish.

And the new volume mixer, which offers fresh functionality including adjusting the volume of programs that are running on a per-app basis, is also set to roll out with the September 26 update later today.

Analysis: A winning never-combination

Of course, the centerpiece for this update – which is technically Moment 4 for Windows 11 22H2, with the 23H2 update to come later in the year, in Q4 – is undoubtedly Copilot. The introduction of the AI assistant to Windows 11 is, of course, a huge move, and one which may work out better than I anticipate. (I still feel it’s jumping the gun a little, but I’m ready – and happy – to be proven wrong).

For me, though, I’ve been holding back on upgrading to Windows 11 because of the lack of that feature to keep apps on the taskbar separate. That might sound a bit petty, but I have a workflow within Windows, and it involves never combining on the taskbar, and having that option stripped away is just too annoying, and jarring, for my fundamental way of working with the OS.

I couldn’t really believe it when Microsoft removed this choice with Windows 11 – apparently fiddly bits deep within the interface meant it wasn’t a simple implementation for the newer OS, or that’s what the software giant told us.

So, I’ve refrained from upgrading, until now – but with this new feature in place, I’ll be hitting the upgrade button straight away, with a caveat though. That being I’ll fire up the upgrade on my Surface (second PC) first, before my main desktop rig. But the latter will come soon enough (unless I find other things to hate about Windows 11, when I actually get into using it properly – perish the thought, naturally).

Anyway, it’s good to see that there’s a lot of stuff imminent for Windows 11, even if that does leave me scratching my head a bit as to what’s left for the 23H2 update, which at this point feels more minor than this ‘Moment’ (supposedly smaller than annual) upgrade.

So, that’s all a little confusing, but hey – I’m not going to argue about getting super-important features quicker, that’s for sure (though I wouldn’t say never combine has been exactly ‘quick’ off the mark, of course).

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Windows Copilot might be the biggest change Microsoft has ever made to its long-running OS
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Clippy, that helpful paperclip sprite that used to watch your work in Microsoft Word and do its best to help you, was never that smart, or even that deeply integrated with Microsoft's popular computing platform.

Now imagine if Clippy got a brain and body transplant that made it a true genius and then hooked it into the deepest parts of Windows 11. That's Windows Copilot, which was among the big reveals at Microsoft's 2023 Surface Event.

Microsoft showed off a lot of Copilot demos during its packed AI and Surface launch event, but it wasn't until I got an up-close and personal demo of the Copilot preview in action on a Windows 11 system that I truly understood it and the ramifications for the next generation of Windows 11 users.

When the Windows 11 update arrives on September 26, it will bring with it the Copilot preview. Microsoft tells me that it will work with every PC that supports Windows 11.

To be clear, Copilot is not an app. It's marginally a utility. It's more like the voice inside Windows 11 head, a consciousness that is fully aware of everything Windows 11 can do, and much of what you're doing on Windows 11.

Copilot combines all of Microsoft's best AI work to date. It can bring a large language model (LLM) to understand text, and context, and produce fresh text. It integrates Bing Chat to make it conversational (and also supports voice, though I did not see that in my demos).

Two things, though, make Copilot feel like a true part of the Windows 11 experience. The first is, crucially, that Windows 11 copy and paste triggers Copilot, basically waking it up to the possibility of working directly with you.

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Windows 11 Copilot

(Image credit: Future)
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Windows 11 Copilot

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Windows 11 Copilot

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Windows 11 Copilot

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Windows 11 Copilot

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Windows 11 Copilot

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Windows 11 Copilot

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In the demo I saw, we opened a Word document full of a massive list of things to do in New York City – there's nothing like a sea of gray text to make the eyes glaze over.

Copilot isn't pushy like Clippy. It didn't pop up immediately asking if it could help. Instead, copying the text set it off.

The fact that Copilot can see that you're performing one of the most fundamental Windows 11 tasks, and using that action to help you, is a big deal. Once Copilot sees the clipboard text, it politely asks if you want to use that text to chat. Once we did that, Copilot's chat asked what we wanted to do with it (Revise, Summarize, Expand, Explain). You can be quite specific in your requests, so we asked for distances between Tribeca and our hotel.

Copilot is deep inside Windows, but it's not shut out from the outside. As with Bing Chat, Copilot sources the web for answers. In fact, it synthesizes the best answers and then, yes, provides citations and links for it all.

Copilot tries to be extra helpful by going beyond the initial request. In this instance, it also quickly served up some local attractions.

The other thing that tells you Copilot isn't simply a plugin or add-on is that it has its own invoke and dismiss key combo: You use the Windows button and 'c.'

In my opinion, you don't get the keys unless you're part of Windows and not just a temporary tenant.

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Windows 11 Copilot

(Image credit: Future)
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Windows 11 Copilot

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Windows 11 Copilot

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Windows 11 Copilot

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Windows 11 Copilot

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Windows 11 Copilot

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Other demos further solidified my belief that this is not your father's Windows 11.

When we dragged a food photo from Outlook into the chat windows, Copilot asked what we wanted to do with it. We requested instructions on how to make the unidentified dish. It took a moment (Copilot preview isn't always that fast) for it to identify it as Shashuka, and then offer detailed instructions on how to cook it.

Copilot further demonstrated its integration by working seamlessly with Windows Snip (which always sends snipped images to the clipboard). We snipped a math problem image and, naturally, when we asked, Copilot helped us solve it.

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Windows 11 Copilot

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Windows 11 Copilot

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Windows 11 Copilot

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Windows 11 Copilot

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Windows 11 Copilot

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When we told Copilot we wanted to know how to focus at work, it used its platform integration to help guide us through Windows 11's Focus settings.

Copilot can be used for the most prosaic of Windows tasks, as well. Our demo desktop was getting a little cluttered, so we asked Copilot to “snap my windows.” It quickly organized the desktop and offered advice on how to make adjustments.

Windows Copilot Preview will simply arrive with the Windows 11 update. You won't have to install anything and there's no requirement that you use it. However, based on what I saw, if you ignore Copilot, you may be missing out on an entirely new way of working with the World's most widely used desktop platform.

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Microsoft announces Copilot all-in-one AI assistant coming to Windows 11 on September 26
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Today at Microsoft's “special event”, Yusef Mehdi, the tech company’s head of consumer marketing presented a huge next step in its AI evolution – Copilot. 

It has previously announced Microsoft 365 Copilot, an intelligent assistant that worked across a range of its suite of productivity apps like Word and Excel.

At the event, Microsoft explained how Copilot is going to help you with almost everything that you use Windows or Microsoft products for. This new versatile Copilot will be put into action September 26 to all devices that receive the next Windows 11 update. For desktop, you can get this today and start trying it out for yourself. This means Copilot will be on all kinds of devices – PCs, laptops, and tablets. 

Microsoft is aiming to integrate Copilot into Windows in such a way that feels natural and intuitive to use. It will be a standalone app, as well as function as an assistant in a wide assortment of other Windows apps to assist you with all kinds of tasks. This includes popular programs like Paint, Snipping Tool, Photos, and more where you can copy and paste right into the program and get to work on it right away. 

It will also help you figure out what to do with text, whether it can help revise or summarise it.

One particularly interesting addition to Microsoft’s available apps which Mehdi talked about is Windows Ink Anywhere which will allow you to handwrite a math problem into a text field or take a photo of it, and help you solve it. 

Also, if you connect your phone to your Windows device and give it permission to access your phone, Copilot will use that connection to inform its output.

Copilot and Bing, both with built-in AI

Microsoft’s flagship search engine, Bing, which has seen the integration of ChatGPT tech is also going to work in cooperation with Copilot, for example to help you shop online. You can take a picture and the two tools will help you quickly identify where you can buy it. Bing Image Creator, the AI image generator that anyone can access with a Microsoft account for free, is being upgraded to the DALL-E 3 model. When you ask Bing (and I assume Bing Chat, eventually) a question, the answers you get will be more personalized using your chat history. 

I think Copilot is going to have to prove itself – Microsoft spent a long time focusing on it during its presentation and it's not a physically flashy product, but it promises a lot. If it's as powerful and as useful as Microsoft says, that could be what makes it the next standard that we measure all AI assistants against (like Word was for text editors or Google is for search now). Time will tell.

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Windows Copilot leak suggests deeper assimilation with Windows 11 features
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Key Windows 11 features may soon be customizable as Microsoft further integrates its Windows Copilot AI assistant into the operating system.

This tidbit comes from tech news site Windows Latest, which claims to have discovered new .json (JavaScript Object Notation) files within recent preview builds of Windows 11. These files apparently hint at future upgrades for the desktop AI assistant. For example, a “TaskManagerService-ai-plugin.json” was found which is supposedly a “plugin for Task Manager integration”. If this ever comes out, it could give users the ability to “monitor or close running apps using” Copilot.

In total, six are currently tested and they affect various aspects of Windows 11.

Next, there is an “AccessbilityTools-ai-plugin.json” that gives Copilot a way to “control accessibility [tools]. This would make it “easier for those with [a] disability to navigate through the system.” Third is “ai-plugin-WindowsSettings.json” for controlling important Windows 11 settings. Which ones exactly are not stated within the report. 

Fourth is “ClockService-ai-plugin.json” to help people manage their computer’s alarm settings. Rounding out the pack are “LaunchApplication-ai-plugin.json and SmartFileActions-ai-plugin.json” for opening apps through AI commands.

Modular control hub

Windows Copilot was in limited release when it first came out back in late June 2023, and it was pretty barebones. Since then, Microsoft has been repeatedly upgrading the AI function to be more comprehensive. Earlier reports state Copilot may be able search for specific files as well as offer “store suggestions”, presumably for apps to download at the Microsoft Store.

You may read all this and think that the AI assistant may become a bloated mess, but on the contrary, it might not. Due to the fact all the .json files mentioned are plugins, Windows Copilot will most likely be a modular tool, meaning you can pick and choose particular Windows 11 features it can control. This effectively turns the AI into your personal control hub for the OS.

Upgraded AI assistants

Of course, that’s assuming the final version will release exactly as we just described. Nothing in the news story has been officially confirmed by Microsoft. Be aware there’s a chance, if small, that the company could terminate certain plugins at any time. 

So far, the updates have been first-party only. Windows Latest claims the tech giant could begin offering third-party plugin support within the coming weeks. Partnered third-party companies or developers remain unknown at the time of this writing. 

Generative AI models have opened a lot of possibilities for personal assistants. Gone are the days of asking simple questions to Siri or Cortana. Technological improvements have made it possible for AIs to help in our day-to-day tasks. Google, for example, is working on an AI writing tool for upcoming Chromebooks.

To learn more, we recommend checking out TechRadar’s list of the best AI chatbots for 2023 to see what the technology is capable of. 

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Microsoft’s latest trick for Edge could be the closest Windows 10 users get to Copilot AI
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Microsoft’s Edge browser has a new version which brings in some fresh features including the ability to detach the sidebar and move it onto the desktop for Windows 10 users.

This ability has been introduced with version 116 of Edge, as spotted by Ghacks, and it comes alongside the usual bug fixes and smoothing out of performance issues.

The Edge sidebar normally nestles on the right-hand side of the browser, but now, those on Windows 10 can pop it out of the browser window, and place it on their desktop.

The idea is to facilitate a “side-by-side experience” with the sidebar and any Windows 10 app, with the feature remaining present on the desktop, even if the Edge browser itself is closed.

So, this is kind of like having two taskbars on your desktop, if you will, with one of them being Edge-specific.

The Edge sidebar offers quick access to various bits of functionality, such as pinned websites, and Microsoft’s tools like Bing AI.

Analysis: Substitute Copilot – at least in a small way

This is a useful option that’s opt-in as Microsoft makes clear, so if you’re not interested in having the Edge sidebar on your Windows 10 desktop, you’ll never need to bother with it. For those who do want access to its features independently of the browser window, it’s clearly a handy choice to have.

Indeed, when you remember that Microsoft’s Copilot AI is only coming to Windows 11, this is actually a way of getting something a little like this on Windows 10. We’ve already seen that Microsoft plans to incorporate Copilot into the Edge sidebar, after all, so you’ll be able to deploy this on the desktop, in the same vein as Windows Copilot.

Granted, the functionality of Copilot for Edge will be nowhere near as useful as the full version of Copilot – which theoretically will be able to change all manner of Windows settings in the blink of an eye – but it’s something.

And Microsoft is going to work on adding “additional features and options” to the sidebar with future incarnations of Edge, as you might imagine. The sidebar isn’t going away, in short, for Windows 10 or 11 users, and is seemingly a key part of Microsoft’s ambition to make Edge one of the best web browsers out there.

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Microsoft risks angering Windows 11 users by adding more adverts in Copilot AI
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Microsoft is expanding the rollout of its Copilot AI to testers in the Beta channel for Windows 11 – but it comes with a sting in the tail.

Copilot has arrived with Beta build 22631.2129, but as with the preview incarnation of the AI in earlier builds, it’s in a limited form right now.

As Microsoft observes, this is more about getting the integrated UI for Copilot right – it runs in a sidebar, to the right – rather than testing all its features. We’re told that “additional functionality [is] coming down the road in future previews.”

Also, it should be noted that Copilot will be a “controlled feature rollout” meaning only a small amount of testers will get it initially. It’ll arrive for more folks in the “coming weeks”, so this is a rollout that could take some time.

(It’s also worth noting that not every Insider will get this build either – new testers, and a subset of existing testers, won’t get 22631 as it might cause their device to be put “into a bad state”, which sounds ominous).

If you’re not seeing Copilot and you’re in the Beta channel, then, this isn’t unexpected – but you should make sure you’re running Microsoft Edge version 115.0.1901.150 or better. (As the AI is powered via Edge, you definitely won’t get it on an older version of the browser).

For those who do receive Copilot, here comes that sting we mentioned at the outset. Microsoft tells us: “You may see inline recommendations we think are relevant through ads in Bing. We’ll continue to learn and listen to customer feedback.”

Yes, there we have it – adverts are going to be displayed in Copilot (we’ll come back to discuss that more thoroughly in a moment).

Elsewhere in build 22631, there’s a raft of tweaks and improvements, including some fresh work on bolstering accessibility. That comes in the form of the ability to now use Voice Access on the lock screen, plus there are new text editing controls when using speech dictation. (In order to help correct words that are misheard, or mistyped, as it were, by the voice recognition system – like putting ‘cereal’ when you meant ‘serial’ for example).

Check out Microsoft’s blog post for the full list of changes.

Windows 11 Copilot in Beta channel

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Analysis: So, ads in Copilot – testers, make your feelings known…

Windows Copilot making it to a beta build already is a pretty big thing, actually. This relatively swift progress through test builds suggests that Microsoft is serious about getting the AI integrated into Windows 11 this year. Rumors have indicated that Copilot could land with the 23H2 update, and this makes it look like that’s more likely to happen – even though we’ve said in the past we don’t think it will.

We’re still very unsure if it’s wise for Microsoft to push this hard getting Copilot out so quickly, though. The AI remains pretty barebones, and as Microsoft makes clear, it only has a “basic set” of Windows settings you can manipulate. (Turning on dark mode, or do not disturb, or ordering Copilot to take a screenshot are a few examples of Windows 11 functionality given in the blog post).

It's mostly still about the Bing AI summarizing things, or composing a picture, or writing text for you, and so forth – all the stuff that can be done already using the Bing chatbot on the web.

Over time, more features will be added, of course – and third-party plug-ins will expand Copilot’s functionality considerably – but all that seems quite a way down the line.

With Windows 11’s 23H2 update potentially arriving in October, that’s really very close now, so we don’t really get what Microsoft is planning here. It feels like the full launch of Copilot will be a basic incarnation of the AI, if it happens, and that runs the risk of underwhelming with first impressions. Oh well, we shall find out soon enough.

As for Copilot serving up adverts, this is something that Microsoft has said in the past, but the software giant appears to be pushing ahead with this frankly reckless idea. That’s not too surprising, though, as we are seeing more efforts to cram ads into Windows 11 – disguised as recommendations – lately. But obviously, it’s still a very unwelcome move in an operating system Microsoft charges you for.

We’d expect feedback to be pretty withering on this, particularly if, as it sounds, these will be more out-and-out adverts than what we’ve already seen in Windows 11 (like badging in the Start menu). And so hopefully Microsoft will have to take that into account, and curtail these ambitions. Hopefully being the keyword there…

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Has Windows 11 Copilot AI disappointed you so far? The AI could soon get supercharged
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Windows 11’s Copilot AI, which has only just entered testing, is still in a very barebones state, but a hint has been dropped that this could change soon, and the assistant should be getting considerably more extensive powers.

PhantomOfEarth, a Windows tester and regular leaker on Twitter, made the discovery that the new preview build 23506 of Windows 11 contains the first signs of Windows Copilot inbox plugins.

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What does that mean? Windows Copilot is essentially the Bing AI integrated into the OS via a side panel, capable of all the things the chatbot can do when interacted with online. However, the key difference is the ability to get the AI assistant to do stuff with Windows 11, such as changing settings. Meaning you might ask to ‘help me focus’ and Copilot can turn on a bunch of options to do this in one sweeping move.

And seemingly much of that fiddling with settings will be implemented via these plugins. In this way, as Windows Latest (which spotted this) points out, Microsoft can avoid bloating Copilot and slowing the experience down. (You won’t necessarily need all the plugins, of course – you can pick and choose).

While none of these plugins highlighted on Twitter work yet – these are just the first signs of them turning up in Windows 11 – we can see what the various features delivered as plugins might end up being (or some of them). As ever, though, just because they’re present in the background in testing doesn’t mean they’ll ever be realized.

With that caveat firmly in mind, the abilities spotted so far include an intriguing one: ‘boosting the user’s PC’, which should apply a bunch of tweaks to help the system run faster.

Other plugins are aimed at giving Copilot the ability to fire up (or close) apps, to set alarms or timers under Windows, to configure settings in general, to search for files the user needs, and even to offer ‘store suggestions’, which we presume means recommendations for apps to grab at the Microsoft Store?

As well as first-party plugins from Microsoft, the idea is that third-party plugins will be available too.

Analysis: Some difficult decisions ahead for Microsoft

Okay, so it sounds great for the Copilot AI to be able to optimize the performance of your system based on a simple request to ‘make things faster’ or similar. The note of caution comes, though, in the potential for things to go wrong here.

Presumably, any settings tweaks would be easily reversible if things somehow go awry with a batch of changes Copilot implements, but even so, the AI tinkering with things and coming off the rails – making things worse, not better – will not go down well with users.

As we’ve seen, there’s a clear potential for AI systems to make errors, which means that Microsoft must be very careful that when Copilot is finally introduced to all Windows 11 users, it works flawlessly. Otherwise, the AI will not make a good first impression which will be difficult to recover from. (We can just imagine it now: “That Copilot thing – it’s just another Clippy” and so forth).

This is why we don’t think Microsoft will rush to get Copilot in the Windows 11 23H2 update later this year – as the rumor mill seems to believe – because the company can’t afford to get it wrong.

Another route Microsoft could take is to roll out Windows Copilot with its Bing AI chatbot skills and just a few select plugins, meaning only a basic level of functionality for changing things in Windows 11, keeping that all very simple to begin with, and then building on it.

Maybe this is what Microsoft is planning, but the danger here is that Copilot will still feel underwhelming compared to what we’ve been promised in early teases – and again, that’d be a wobbly first impression to make.

To us, it makes more sense to keep this as a massive new feature for Windows 12 next year, and a compelling reason to upgrade.

It’s not as if there’s any real rush for Windows Copilot, not like there was with launching Bing AI earlier this year (namely beating Google’s Bard AI to the punch) – and notably, the wheels came off then, if you recall. Best be sure all the nuts are properly tightened this time round, Microsoft…

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