Remember when Microsoft said Windows 10 wouldn’t get any more features, and was effectively on ice, with the exception of minor tweaks? Well, the reversal of that policy is clear enough now, as another inbound feature for Windows 11 is also coming to its predecessor OS.
Namely a ‘richer weather experience’ – including dynamic, interactive weather updates – on the lock screen.
This is something that’s already been spotted in testing for Windows 11, and is now in the latest preview build for Windows 10 (version 19045.3992).
It means that when you hover over the weather on the lock screen, further info is revealed. On top of that, if you click the weather card, you get the MSN website weather forecast popping up (in Microsoft’s Edge browser, as you might guess).
This will be the default setup for the lock screen if its status is set to ‘none’ Microsoft explains, but you will be able to turn it off if you wish.
Analysis: Thawing the feature freeze
Okay, so this is no big deal as a feature, but nonetheless it is a new piece of functionality, and not a minor tweak. Of course, the other addition since Microsoft announced that feature freeze for Windows 10 was the introduction of Copilot – and you couldn’t get a more major move than that.
As Windows Central (Zac Bowden), which spotted this latest development, points out, late last year, when Copilot was announced for Windows 10, Microsoft did say it was revisiting its decision to halt features for the older OS, and planned to make ‘additional investments’ in the operating system. It appears that this is happening, then, and we can likely expect further features to be bolted on to Windows 10 as 2024 rolls onwards.
Furthermore, Bowden has heard on the grapevine that Microsoft will be reopening the Windows 10 Beta channel for testers, which is a clear suggestion that more features will be on the way for the operating system – as they’ll need to go through a full testing process.
It looks like Microsoft is going to make Copilot, its new AI assistant, start up automatically on PCs with ‘wide screens’ running suitable versions of Windows 11. As it happens, most PC screens are wide, so it seems like Microsoft wants to get Copilot in front of as many users as possible.
This potential development has been discovered in a Windows preview build that’s just been released in the Dev Channel of the Windows Insider Program. The Windows Insider program is Microsoft’s official community of professionals and Windows enthusiasts who can access previews of new Windows features and versions. Windows Copilot’s interface opening automatically when a PC boots up is being trialed as part of preview build 23616, and it’s worth pointing out that this feature is still in the testing stages and may not end up being included in a finalized Windows 11 update that’s rolled out to all users.
The feature is already being called controversial, which I understand – I get very annoyed when apps and features are sneakily enabled to start up automatically when I turn on my laptop. Also, in a Microsoft Windows Blog post, it does emphasize that users can turn off this feature, which will probably be the case if it makes it into a final Windows update version. Even Windows Insiders who are in the Dev Channel may not see it at the moment, as the rollout of the preview build is ongoing.
Here’s what Microsoft has to say about this Copilot change:
We are trying out opening Copilot automatically when Windows starts on widescreen devices with some Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. This can be managed via Settings > Personalization > Copilot. Note that this is rolling out so not all Insiders in the Dev Channel will see this right away.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
A frosty reception so far
Microsoft didn’t specify which widescreens will qualify for this automatic feature – specifically what aspect ratios will be eligible. Windows Central asks if “widescreen” means common 16:9 and 16:10 screens, or ultrawide monitors with 21:9 ratios.
So far, this is being received as unnecessary and possibly annoying, especially as Copilot currently is pretty limited in what it’s able to do. Windows Central speculates that this update could be laying the groundwork for a more substantial Copilot update, suspected to be in development for the next iteration of Windows (unofficially known as “Windows 12”).
When Microsoft presented its vision for Copilot, it was presented as an AI assistant that would work across a multitude of apps and could enhance users’ productivity. When it becomes something that’s more familiar (and popular) like Microsoft hopes, maybe there’s a case for Copilot opening up as soon as your PC turns on.
At present, Copilot isn’t there yet – and this move will probably just end up rubbing users the wrong way, especially if it ends up slowing down the time it takes for their PCs to load Windows 11.
Now, it looks like Notepad, a Windows staple and simple text editor that’s been included as default on Windows devices since 1983, is also getting a Cocreator of sorts (possibly named Cowriter). Windows Latest reports that Microsoft is testing out an AI bot powered by GPT-4, OpenAI’s large language model (LLM) and its most advanced language generation system.
References to this feature (yet to be officially announced and released by Microsoft) have been spotted in the app package folder of Notepad by Windows enthusiasts. The updated Notepad app package reportedly has files with prefixes like “CoWriterCreditLimitDialog”, “CoWriterDropDownButton”, and “CoWriterWaitlistDialog” in their names. According to Windows Latest, these refer to user interface (UI) elements and dialogs that we could possibly see in Notepad AI’s UI.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Sneaking a peak at what's coming to Notepad's UI
From what we’ve seen so far, an AI-assist bot in Notepad will enable users to enlist ChatCPT-powered text generation directly in the Notepad app. That said, it looks like there will be limits in place, with the reference “CreditLimitDialog” suggesting a potential usage quota and “credit” system for how much you can use the AI feature. If it’s similar to Bing Image Generator or Cocreator in Paint, you’ll probably receive boosts (or credits), to generate unique content within Notepad. After this initial bonus amount, you might still be able to generate content with Notepad’s AI feature, but it’ll take longer than it does using the boosts.
Because Microsoft itself hasn’t announced the feature yet, we don’t know if the credits will be on a word-by-word basis.
Other references have been spotted that might indicate what Notepad’s AI will look like in Notepad’s UI. A reference to “CoWriterDropDownButton” points to a button on the right hand side of Notepad that allows you to open up the Notepad AI feature’s panel to use it. This was spotted by Windows Insiders, members of the Windows Insider Program which allows enthusiasts and developers to previous upcoming Windows features and builds, who publicized their findings on X (formerly Twitter).
New Notepad feature soon™️ pic.twitter.com/yv6axwuG2eJanuary 9, 2024
See more
One other UI-type reference that was found was “CoWriterInfoButton” which could be a button that might work like a “Help” button. This could provide users with more information such as instructions on how to use it, ideas for how users can use the feature, and other help and troubleshooting information.
Windows Latest speculates that Notepad’s AI feature might start rolling out to tests (presumably Windows Insiders) very soon, but there might be a waitlist (according to references found by some Windows testers according to The Verge).
This isn’t the first AI-powered text editing feature that Microsoft has worked on – it introduced an Editor feature to Microsoft Edge last year that was capable of a range of text-related functions. These include spelling and grammar suggestions, autocompletion functions, help with research and formatting, and rewriting and clarity-related suggestions.
In a similar way, Notepad’s AI tool will seek to make suggestions relevant to the context of the document and specific to the type of content you’re writing. In a promotional image for the feature, found in Notepad’s updated app package, there’s a counter in the bottom ribbon of Notepad that reads “1 of 4,” indicating that you can get multiple suggestions for a text selection that you can browse and choose one to your liking. You can ask for modifications to do with “Length,” “Tone,” “Format,” and “Instructions” for a selection of text, similar to how Windows Copilot functions in Office apps like Word, Powerpoint, and Outlook.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
The AI tool might be in testing – but opinions are already coming out
Vigilant observers also pointed out that there’s a “thumbs up” icon with a counter to allow users to give their opinion of the output that the AI tool produces, similar to the feedback function you can see in ChatGPT itself after it gives you a response. Feedback helps the developers of these AI tools fine-tune them to provide better responses.
When Copilot was first introduced, Microsoft made it clear that it wants to transform how you interact with Windows altogether with the help of Copilot and that Copilot was going to make its way through Microsoft 365’s apps, and be deeply embedded in Windows 11 to help you with all kinds of tasks. This development shows just how insistent Microsoft seems to be about Copilot, and AI-assistant bots and features in general. Some people point out that apps like Notepad and Paint are known for their straightforwardness, and that an AI-assist bot detracts more from that than it helps. The feature has not yet officially been debuted for beta testing in testing channels, but Microsoft seems very keen to push forward with AI on as many fronts as possible.
Microsoft came out hot with its Windows Copilot 365 and Copilot for Windows announcements last year, and presented Copilot as a general virtual assistant to help with your whole digital life. So far, we’re yet to see Copilot reach its potential, but it looks like we’re one step closer: Microsoft is reportedly gearing up to add a powerful new feature that will allow users to take a screenshot, submit it to Copilot, and ask Copilot to explain what’s in the screenshot.
As far as we know, an “add a screenshot” button is rolling out to the general public – meaning you may already be able to try it. If not, you should be able to very soon. This button should appear in the Copilot panel, prompting you to select a part of the screen, confirming that you’ve captured what you want to discuss with Copilot, and then upload it to the Copilot or Bing right-side panel. When I tried it, I did also need to submit some text to go along with it, such as a question or additional context.
(Image credit: Future)
Once the screenshot is uploaded, you can talk about it and ask about anything within it or relating to it with Bing Chat or Copilot on Windows 11.
As you can see in the screenshot, the new button sits next to the existing image upload button. You can try the new feature at Microsoft’s Copilot website, or over at Bing Chat.
Windows Latest has their own demonstration of this new feature, and I had a go of my own. First, I took a screenshot selection which showed a full description of video creation platform HeyGen's YouTube channel and asked it to tell me two things: whose channel it is and what it’s about.
Copilot returned this:
This is the YouTube channel of HeyGen. It is a next-gen video creation platform that turns text into professional spokesperson videos in minutes. They offer premium avatars speaking in multiple languages and professional video templates for various use cases including marketing, e-learning, and corporate communication. You can find more information about HeyGen on their website.
This is pretty accurate, and reminded me of one feature in particular that I really like about Bing Chat and Copilot – they readily and very visibly provide sources and websites that you can visit to double check the information.
Once you make a selection of your screen, you can make markings on it and draw on it. You can also add specific instructional visuals to help Copilot understand your query, and you can move your selection window around to a different part of the screen altogether.
According to Windows Latest, Bing Chat recently got a ChatGPT-4 boost granting it a new level of functionality and this is likely making its way into Copilot as well. Apparently access is currently only granted to select users, and this development enables Copilot to engage in conversations about emotions. Currently, there is a limited pool of users who can try this for themselves and access is seemingly given at random, and it will be available to all who access Windows Copilot and Bing Chat very shortly.
(Image credit: Shutterstock / Primakov)
Microsoft charts a course ahead with Copilot
Microsoft has been pretty definitive in its messaging that Copilot is a big deal for the company, and will be a central feature in several products like Microsoft 365 and Windows, but not just those.
In a pretty major (yet not terribly surprising) development, Microsoft is planning to add an actual physical Copilot button into the hardware of newly manufactured products as early as 2024. Microsoft is doing this in its continuing effort to make computing, especially AI-powered computing, simpler and more seamless for users. This was detailed and confirmed in a recent Windows Experience Blog post written by Yusuf Mehdi, Executive Vice President and Consumer Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft.
For the rest of us not ready to throw our older Windows devices out quite yet for this new button, you can bring up Windows Copilot with the shortcut Win+C (if you have updated your Windows 11 version to one that has Windows Copilot included).
According to Microsoft itself, the introduction of the Copilot key will be the most notable upgrade to the Windows keyboard in almost thirty years. It likens this future introduction to the addition of the Windows Start key, which is putting a lot of faith in Copilot itself so I imagine we’ll continue to see major developments to Copilot throughout this year. I think especially with Copilot’s development, Microsoft is one of the most exciting companies to watch this year.
That didn't take long: just days after launching a dedicated Copilot app for Android, Microsoft has restored balance to the universe again by making the same app available for those users who prefer iPhones and iPads.
As initially spotted by The Verge, the Copilot app for iOS and iPadOS seems to be an exact replica of the Android one, and is also free to use. The same rules apply: you can use it in a limited fashion without logging in, but signing into a Microsoft account gives you more prompts and more features (like image generation capabilities).
If you do sign in with a Microsoft account, then you can enable the latest and greatest GPT-4 model from Microsoft's partner OpenAI. Responses will generally be slower but better, and bearing in mind that ChatGPT customers have to pay to get the GPT-4 version, this is a pretty good deal from Microsoft.
While it's a notable move from Microsoft to give Copilot its own app, this hasn't come out of nowhere: pretty much all of the functionality here was previously available in the Bing apps for Android and iOS, so little has changed in terms of what you can do.
Copilot everywhere
If you're completely new to generative AI, these tools can produce text and images based on a few user prompts. You can get Copilot to do anything from write a poem about TechRadar to produce an image of a glowing Apple iPhone.
You can also get Copilot to query the web – if you need party game or travel ideas, for example – and have it explain complex topics in simple terms. It's a bit like a supercharged version of Google Assistant or Siri from Apple.
Microsoft is continuing to push forward quickly with upgrades to Copilot, as it knows that the likes of Apple and Google are busy improving their own generative AI tools. It looks inevitable that AI will be one of the hottest tech trends of 2024.
And if you don't want to install Copilot on your phone, you can find it in plenty of other places too. The same features are still available as part of Bing on the web, and Copilot has also now been added to Windows 11 and Windows 10.
If you're keen to play around with some generative AI tech on your phone, you now have another option: Microsoft has launched an Android app for its Copilot chatbot, and like Copilot in Windows 11, it's free to use and powered by GPT-4 and DALL-E 3.
As spotted by @techosarusrex (via Neowin), the Copilot for Android app is available now, and appears to have arrived on December 19. It's free to use and you don't even need to sign into your Microsoft account – but if you don't sign in, you are limited in terms of the number of prompts you can input and the length of the answers.
In a sense, this app isn't particularly new, because it just replicates the AI functionality that's already available in Bing for Android. However, it cuts out all the extra Bing features for web search, news, weather, and so on.
There's no word yet on a dedicated Copilot for iOS app, so if you're using an iPhone you're going to have to stick with Bing for iOS for now if you need some AI assistance. For now, Microsoft hasn't said anything officially on its new Android app.
Text and images
The functionality inside the new app is going to be familiar to anyone who has used Copilot or Bing AI anywhere else. Microsoft has been busy adding the AI everywhere, and has recently integrated it into Windows 11 too.
You can ask direct questions like you would with a web search, get complex topics explained in simple terms, have Copilot generate new text on any kind of subject, and much more. The app can work with text, image and voice prompts too.
Based on our testing of the app, it seems you get five questions or searches per day for free if you don't want to sign in. If you do tell Microsoft who you are, that limit is lifted, and signing in also gives you access to image generation capabilities.
With both Apple's Siri and Google Assistant set to get major AI boosts in the near future, Microsoft won't want to be left behind – and the introduction of a separate Copilot app could help position it as a standalone digital assistant that works anywhere.
The software giant confirmed that the problem – which meant that university Wi-Fi networks (and those at other educational establishments) failed to work for some students – was caused by patches KB5032288 and KB5033375.
The latter is the cumulative update for December in Windows 11, and the former is the preview version of that upgrade (unsurprisingly, as they are essentially the same thing).
The good news is that the solution came alongside the confirmation of the bug.
Microsoft got in touch with us directly to point out the fix, with the company also announcing on its release health status dashboard: “This issue is resolved using Known Issue Rollback (KIR). Please note that it might take up to 24 hours for the resolution to propagate automatically to consumer devices and non-managed business devices. Restarting your Windows device might help the resolution apply to your device faster.”
Analysis: A swiftly delivered save
It’s great to see Microsoft move quickly with the fix here, as this was a pretty nasty issue for those students affected. It seems that it was mainly universities, businesses, and public Wi-Fi networks where this gremlin struck, with Microsoft telling us that it’s “not likely to occur on home networks” (though that doesn’t rule out the possibility completely).
At any rate, you don’t have to do anything to cure these Wi-Fi blues. The Known Issue Rollback means that Microsoft is rolling back the problematic part of the update, while leaving the rest of it in place (to redeploy that faulty bit at a later date, when it’s fixed up and no longer causing Wi-Fi woes).
The catch is that the issue rollback takes a bit of time to filter through to everyone, up to 24 hours as noted. However, that announcement was made late in the day yesterday, and all affected users should have the fix in around the next five hours or so, all being well. If you’re getting impatient, as Microsoft advises, you can try a reboot to surface the fix.
Windows 11 users are getting a rejig for the Microsoft Store to make it easier to find apps or games that might be relevant or interesting.
As posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Rudy Huyn, Principal Architect for the Microsoft Store, there’s a holiday update inbound for testers.
Exciting Holiday Update: The #MicrosoftStore now prioritizes discovering new applications and games by deprioritizing those you already installed on your device. This feature in beta version is currently available to #Windows #Insiders. pic.twitter.com/WR8Kzqr3G1December 18, 2023
See more
This means that the store will no longer show apps and games installed on your device – or at least, it won’t show nearly as many – and will instead favor new apps and games that you might enjoy based on your past download history.
Hopefully, this adjustment won’t take long to arrive with a broader rollout to Windows 11 users who aren’t testers.
Note that the Microsoft Store did already show apps you might want to grab, it’s just that the balance has shifted more towards displaying these, rather than installed software.
Analysis: Another (small) step forward
This is another useful move for the Microsoft Store, as it’s not much help to show the user what they’ve already got installed on their PC. While we’re not keen on Microsoft’s ‘suggestions’ throughout Windows, in the case of an app store, recommendations can be more useful to glance at than a list of what you already know about.
That said, this change alone is obviously not going to do much in terms of persuading folks to use the Microsoft Store if they don’t bother with it. The move is hardly a major selling point in itself.
Still, Microsoft has been doing a lot of work on the store of late, and those improvements are building momentum. The store now loads up way faster, and we’ve seen meatier chunks of work, too. Most notably the introduction of AI (it’s getting everywhere) in the form of a dedicated hub for AI software – and also AI-generated review summaries.
The latter could be pretty handy indeed, as wading through a bunch of reviews isn’t much fun, so it’s a useful task where AI can do the proverbial grunt work.
Thanks to a newfound partnership with music creation platform Suno, Microsoft Copilot can now generate short-form songs with a single text prompt.
The content it creates not only consists of instrumentals but also fleshed-out lyrics and actual singing voices. Microsoft states in the announcement that you don’t need to have any pre-existing music-making skills. All you need is an idea in your head. If any of this sounds familiar to you, that’s because both Meta and Google have their versions of this technology in the form of MusicGen and Instrument Playground, respectively. These two function similarly too, although they run on a proprietary AI model instead of something third-party.
How to use the Suno plugin
To use this feature, you’ll have to first launch Microsoft Edge, as the update is exclusive to the browser, then head on over to the Copilot website, sign in, and click the Plugin tab in the top right corner. Make sure that Suno is currently active.
(Image credit: Future)
Once everything is in place, enter a text prompt into Copilot and give it enough time to finish. It does take a little while for the AI to create something according to the prompt. In our experience, it took Copilot about ten minutes to make lyrics to a pop song about having an adventure with your family. Strangely, we didn’t receive any audio.
Copilot told us it made a link to Suno’s official website where we could listen to the track, but the URL disappeared the moment it was finished. We then prompted the AI to generate another song, however it only wrote the lyrics. When asked where the audio was, Copilot told us to imagine the melody in our heads or to sing the words out loud.
This is the first time we’ve had a music-generative AI flat-out refuse to produce audio.
(Image credit: Future)
Good performance… when it works
From here, we went to Suno’s website to get an idea of what the tech can do. The audio genuinely sounded great in our experience. The vocal performances were surprisingly good although not amazing. It’s not total gibberish like with Google’s Instrument Playground, but they’re not super clear either.
We couldn't find out how good Copilot’s music-making skills are, but if it’s anything like the base Suno model, the content it can create will outshine anything that MusicGen or Instrument Playground can churn out.
Rollout of the Suno plugin has already begun and will continue over the coming weeks. No word if Microsoft has plans to expand the feature to other browsers although we did reach out to ask if this is in the works and if Microsoft is going to address the issues we encountered. We would’ve loved to hear the music. This story will be updated at a later time.
Windows 11 users (as well as those on Windows 10) have been experiencing weirdness around a frustrating bug with printers, but the good news is that there’s now a fix.
The bad news is that it’s not quite a straightforward solution, as rather unusually, Microsoft requires the installation of a standalone troubleshooting utility in order to facilitate repairs.
As we’ve previously reported, the problem is that PCs are getting the HP Smart app installed when they haven’t got an HP printer connected – or even a printer at all, in some cases – and printers are being renamed as a specific HP LaserJet (whatever their model).
As a result of this, some functionality is failing to work with affected printers, and there’s been quite a lot of head scratching going on (especially for those who don’t have a printer at all, who are apparently suffering at the hands of the Microsoft Print to PDF icon being renamed).
This will reverse any printer renaming which has taken place, and reinstate the correct icons for printers, and uninstall the HP Smart app if it shouldn’t have been installed.
You can check out Microsoft’s support page for the full instructions on how to use the tool here.
Analysis: Metadata issue confirmed
The theory behind this bug was that the printer weirdness was happening because of incorrect metadata supplied in a Windows update, which led to printers being wrongly identified as an HP LaserJet.
It seems that idea was bang on as the tool which brings in the fix is called the ‘Microsoft Printer Metadata Troubleshooter.’
Normally, we’d expect the fix to be piped through via Windows Update, so as noted, it’s rather unusual to have to go through a separate download. It’s a slightly clunky process, in short, but at least it is a fix, which was much-needed for some folks, because in some cases, this bug could prevent functions beyond basic printing from working.
1 844.742.7448 
Email Us
Remote Support 
Contact
