Microsoft has revealed its ugly sweater for this year’s holiday season – and it’s going to be a real crowd-pleaser for fans of Windows XP.
And there are plenty of folks who regard this operating system as one of the best versions of Windows ever – after all, it’s the operating system that refused to die – so it turns out there’s been quite some demand for the sweater.
Windows XP vs. Windows 11 💻 which one will reign supreme?tune in now to find out and grab this year’s #WindowsUglySweater https://t.co/4ivmjtvG7n pic.twitter.com/dJ10dUL63aNovember 28, 2023
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The cotton garment (well, 55% cotton, 45% acrylic) shows a stylized version of the Bliss (default) wallpaper for Windows XP, and it’s labeled as ‘Merry Blissmas’ in the product listing.
The design features the iconic fluffy clouds in a blue sky, with a green landscape underneath, and the addition of an oversized mouse cursor (you wouldn’t want anyone to miss the point of the sweater, now, would you?).
The sweater can be shipped internationally, across the globe, but if you want the bad news, it’s already sold out in the most common sizes.
Small, medium, large, and extra-large have all gone, with only the 2XL and 3XL sizes remaining. You can still request a notification for one of the sizes that’s currently out of stock, mind, so Microsoft will let you know when (or if) more inventory comes in.
Microsoft advises: “Machine wash cold, tumble dry low, and never take off.”
As an added bonus, some of the money goes to charity – namely The Nature Conservancy, which aims to protect our environment and combat climate change.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Analysis: Do sweat it
Microsoft’s holiday sweaters have become pretty famous at this point. In the past we’ve had the likes of Clippy last year (maybe a retired Copilot could be on a future sweater, though Microsoft better hope not, with the amount of eggs it has in that particular basket), and a Windows 95 sweater.
Indeed, there was a Windows XP sweater back in 2019 (which was also available in 2020, when Microsoft resurrected some past designs), covered with the ‘XP’ logo, but this take is a bit more subtle – aside from the stupidly supersized mouse pointer, anyway.
If there’s one point of criticism here, it’s that Microsoft should be making more of these garments. They’re clearly popular sweaters, and to be sold out of most sizes already is obviously going to be disappointing for those keen to get a slice of ‘bliss’ for the festive period.
We’re still waiting for the BSoD, frankly (that's the 'Blue Sweater of Death').
Bing AI, which Microsoft recently renamed from Bing Chat to Copilot – yes, even the web-based version is now officially called Copilot, just to confuse everyone a bit more – should get GPT-4 Turbo soon enough, but there are still issues to resolve around the implementation.
Currently, Bing AI runs GPT-4, but GPT-4 Turbo will allow for various benefits including more accurate responses to queries and other important advancements.
We found out more about how progress was coming with the move to GPT-4 Turbo thanks to an exchange on X (formerly Twitter) between a Bing AI user and Mikhail Parakhin, Microsoft’s head of Advertising and Web Services.
As MS Power User spotted, Ricardo, a denizen of X, noted that they just got access to Bing’s redesigned layout and plug-ins, and asked: “Does Bing now use GPT-4 Turbo?”
As you can see in the below tweet, Parakhin responded to say that GPT-4 Turbo is not yet working in Copilot, as a few kinks still need to be ironed out.
Not GPT-4-turbo yet, still need to iron out a few kinks. On Precise, I assume you are talking about Mobile: it is there, click on three dots->Show All TonesNovember 26, 2023
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Of course, as well as Copilot on the web (formerly Bing Chat), this enhancement will also come to Copilot in Windows 11, too (which is essentially Bing AI – just with bells and whistles added in terms of controls for Windows and manipulating settings).
Analysis: Turbo mode
We’re taking the comment that a ‘few’ kinks are still to be resolved as a suggestion that much of the work around implementing GPT-4 Turbo has been carried out. Meaning that GPT-4 Turbo could soon arrive in Copilot, or we can certainly keep our fingers crossed that this is the case.
Expect it to bring in more accurate and relevant responses to queries as noted, and it’ll be faster too (as the name suggests). As Microsoft observes, it “has the latest training data with knowledge up to April 2023” – though it’s still in preview. OpenAI only announced GPT-4 Turbo earlier this month, and said that it’s also going to be cheaper to run (for developers paying for GPT-4, that is).
In theory, it should represent a sizeable step forward for Bing AI, and that’s something to look forward to hopefully in the near future.
Namely that those who have previously taken the free upgrade offer in years past have reportedly found that their license key is suddenly deactivated.
Let’s outline a quick example to make the situation clearer. Say you owned a PC with Windows 7 way back when, then took the free upgrade to Windows 10 when it emerged. And down the road, you further upgraded to Windows 11.
So, you’ve been happily carrying on with your Windows 11 PC, but last week – since the mentioned loophole was closed – you decided to upgrade your graphics card.
After that upgrade, you found that Windows 11 is telling you that your license key isn’t valid – so you have to buy a new one.
That’s what has happened to The Verge, and some of its readers, and other folks who have been complaining about the situation on Reddit and other online platforms.
Okay, so it’s not clear how many Windows 11 and 10 users this is happening to, but it’s certainly occurring in some circumstances. It may arise without a hardware component upgrade, The Verge suggests, and the deactivation of the license could even take place due to a simple BIOS update.
Reader Daniel Mittelman tells a story of having his activation blocked after upgrading some hardware in his PC, and he contacted Microsoft customer support about the problem.
Mittelman observes: “They told me because my Windows 10 license had been upgraded from Windows 7, and that they had discontinued support for Windows 7 product keys, that they could not continue my license for Windows 10 Pro after the hardware change.
“They also acknowledged that changing the hardware is not a violation of the Windows license so there is no reason my Windows 10 license should be revoked or altered in any way.”
Analysis: Microsoft is investigating, thankfully
That’s the key point here, of course. While you can’t get an entirely new PC and use a Windows license from your existing computer – it’s tied to one machine – upgrading components should not mess with your license (it’s still the same PC, just with a bit of it swapped out, or maybe several bits).
So, this shouldn’t be happening, and as theorized it may be something to do with Microsoft squashing the upgrade path from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10/11. That free offer officially expired a year after the launch of Windows 10, but remained an unofficial route until just recently when Microsoft finally did away with it.
Microsoft is looking into this issue, you’ll be glad to hear.
Principal product manager of Windows at Microsoft, Bill Babonas, told The Verge: “Microsoft is aware of these customers reports and is investigating. Customers who are experiencing technical difficulties should contact customer support.”
You can use Windows without activating the OS, it should be noted, but there are a sizeable number of limitations including not being able to customize the operating system, and indeed not getting updates (except critical security patches). There are other annoyances such as a watermark and pop-ups nagging to activate Windows, too. In short, it’s far from ideal to be limping along in this manner…
You can now get Windows on your Apple iPhone, iPad, or Mac – sort of – with Microsoft’s latest innovation for its operating system, although this currently comes with a sizable catch (more on that later).
Of course, we’re not talking about a full-blown installation of the desktop OS, but rather, the new Windows App from Microsoft.
The application allows you to stream a Windows 11 desktop from a remote PC to your Apple device (or indeed another Windows device, or anything with a browser). Or alternatively you can stream a Windows 365 instance, or other options like Azure Virtual Desktop.
The Windows App is essentially a hub to facilitate streaming whichever instances you want to a given device. It packs support for multi-monitor setups, and device redirection to allow for the use of connected hardware like printers, webcams, speakers and so on hooked up to the device that the app is running on.
The Windows App is currently in preview – so expect potential flakiness – and available for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Windows itself. Those streaming a Windows desktop instance via a web browser don’t have to install any software at all.
Analysis: A business move, but that could change
(Image credit: Microsoft)
So, that catch we mentioned: as well as it being a beta, the Windows App only works for Microsoft business accounts, not personal accounts – yet.
But as The Verge, which picked up on the app’s release, points out, the login on the Windows version of the Windows app seemingly has an option to use a personal Microsoft account, it just doesn’t work yet.
That’s not exactly surprising as this is a beta, which is the other caveat here – not everything will necessarily work properly yet. This is a more than a hopeful suggestion that consumers will be able to use the app and stream a remote PC to their Apple (or other) device eventually, come release.
Of course, another omission here is the lack of Android support, and presumably that’s something else that will be in the pipeline.
We’re approaching ever closer to the next generation of Windows, which most people expect will be Windows 12, and at Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite event, which took place this week, we got a peek at some potential Windows 12 features.
Qualcomm, a company that specialises in wireless-related semiconductors, software, and services, unveiled a flashy new processor chip, the Snapdragon X Elite and it’s made some bold claims. It’s been said that this chip will boost Windows on ARM devices in a big way, and will play a crucial role in the next generation of Windows devices’ functionality.
At the event, Qualcomm shared the stage with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and CVP (Corporate Vice President) Pavan Davuluri, to discuss the Snapdragon X Elite processor and the topic of NPUs (Neural Processing Units) in the context of future Windows machines.
The discussion was more about broad strokes and less to do with specifics, as there were no demonstrations of the new hardware or even explicit mentions of “Windows 12”, but we did learn about some features that are in the pipeline, which many people felt were hints at what the next version of Windows could be like.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
What AI will look like in future Windows versions
As Windows Central reports, Nadella first described his (and Microsoft’s) vision for how AI is shaping computing. Nadella thinks that generative AI (gen AI, as he called it) can be as major as smartphones and mobile computing (something he’s previously declared at the Envision event we attended last week), the emergence of cloud computing, the internet, and the personal computer have been in the recent past. He thinks gen AI will impact human-computer interaction, potentially making it more intuitive and friendly to us and make it easier to change human behavior.
According to Nadella, gen AI will transform what operating systems (OSs) are as we know them, how a user interface (UI) looks like, how we engage with applications on devices, and more. UI changes are signifiers of bigger more fundamental change overall, and Nadella calls this “a big UI change.”
Nadella then went on to discuss Microsoft’s new reasoning engine, a system that “reasons” and mimics our own thought process. He cited the example of Microsoft’s Github Copilot, an AI coding assistant, which helps you brainstorm ideas and create. The overhaul of UIs and a modern reasoning engine will mean that, as Nadella puts it, “all software categories can be changed.”
(Image credit: GitHub)
Microsoft's big hybrid computing wager
After that, Nadella highlighted hybrid computing, which Windows Central points out has been a continued topic of discussion in what next generations of OSs like Window 12s might look like, and is another major area of development for Microsoft. According to Nadella, Microsoft’s vision includes hybrid computing being crucial to improving computing capability for low-powered or older devices by processing some things locally on the device and making use of the cloud for others.
This is apparently a critical area of innovation which makes use of the new generation of powerful NPUs to maximize the potential of local and cloud computing simultaneously. A hybrid approach to computing is also important because the scale of some AI processes and features require more processing power than a standard PC can handle. Hybrid computing basically expands the scale of what’s possible from your PC, particularly to do with AI, though it does mean you need an internet connection.
This is how Microsoft’s new brainchild, the AI assistant Windows Copilot, functions. Many of the functions it carries out happen in the cloud, and its functionality is a mix of on-device and in the cloud. Microsoft is also developing a new system architecture to make all of this happen that will allow developers to realize what Microsoft calls ‘hybrid apps’. Microsoft is looking to components like the Snapdragon X Elite chip to make this a reality.
(Image credit: Pexels)
High stakes and possible high rewards for Windows Copilot
Nadella calls Windows Copilot a “marquee experience,” so Microsoft is clearly placing big bets on it. It wants it to become the next Start button, which is certainly bold – that iconic element of Windows made a huge and lasting impact when it debuted in Windows 95. Nadella claims that you won’t even need to give it a direction or instruction – you can describe your intent and Copilot will pull up what you need. It could assist our workflows and activities like learning, creating, queries, and more.
Right now, you have to go to Start, find the application you want or navigate your File Explorer to find a specific file, and then get on with your work. With generative AI, the idea is that you state your intent (your wish, if you will) and your wish becomes reality with Copilot bringing you everything you need.
We’ve already seen that Microsoft is putting a great deal of effort into Copilot, and showed us previews of the sorts of things it’ll be able to do. If you try Copilot for yourself, you’ll see that it’s not quite there yet, but the vision is intriguing. Rumor has it that Microsoft is developing natural language models (a type of logical and systematic model that props up what we currently call AI) that will improve file searches and better restore previous activity. Davuluri spoke at length about other platform-related developments to help facilitate app-emulation and how generative AI will help shape each user’s individual experience.
So, it’s a long discussion that gives an interesting look into Microsoft’s future, but keeps it nebulous enough to not spoil too many surprises. For example, we still don’t know what “Windows 12” will be named officially. What we do know is Microsoft’s clear intent with an AI-centric UI that could radically change how we use PCs and devices, context-aware AI functionality that will personalize user experiences, and a focus on incorporating hybrid computing. It all sounds very exciting and it’s great for buzz-word bingo, but I think users are eager to see some solid details about what they can expect in the next version of Windows OS.
Microsoft’s software encryption for SSDs, BitLocker, has been found to be slowing down SSD performance by up to 45% in Windows 11 Pro. BitLocker is enabled automatically when Windows 11 Pro is installed and set up, and is intended to increase the security of SSD-related processes.
Eager to analyze the issue, TomsHardware tested the feature and found that SSD speeds could be seriously affected when running some applications.
Apparently, this happens because the software-based BitLocker constantly prompts encryption and decryption processes with data on your SSD while your computer carries out read and write processes. So, as your computer extracts and puts away files and data from your SSD as you go about your business, each of these inward and outward actions from the SSD is coupled with an additional encryption or decryption process that kicks off automatically every time.
A pcwelt.de article (translated by PCWorld) points the finger at Windows 11 developers including the encryption software as part of the installation process of Windows 11 Pro. According to pcwelt.de, many modern SSDs have their own built-in hardware-based encryption processes, and that results in all decryption and encryption processes being handled by SSD itself. Regardless, Bitlocker is activated when Windows 11 Pro is set up without giving users the option to opt-out or disable it.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
What is the heart of the problem and does it affect you?
It’s speculated that Microsoft insists on doing this because if it doesn’t, then it must give up control of encryption to SSD manufacturers. This means that Microsoft would have to depend on these SSD manufacturers to manage such a vital feature for Windows 11 Pro users, and, in recent years, there have been vulnerability issues in the hardware encryption code created by the SSD manufacturers.
These manufacturers have been attentive and patched these vulnerabilities, but perhaps understandably, Microsoft doesn’t want to have to rely on a third-party to guarantee users SSD security.
It seems like Windows 11 Home isn’t affected by this specific issue because BitLocker encryption isn’t supported.
To find out if your SSD is affected by this problem, you can do the following:
Open the Windows 11 Pro Command line with administrator rights.
Enter the following command: manage-bde -status
This should open up the BitLocker Drive Encryption: Configuration Tool which allows you to analyze all the drives in your computer.
If you open Conversion Status, you’ll be able to figure out how your SSD data is encrypted. Next, if you look at Encryption Method, you should see what type of encryption is used on a particular drive: software encryption (“XTS-AES”) or hardware encryption (“Hardware Encryption”). “XTS-AES” means that BitLocker is enabled and is running software encryption, while “Fully decrypted” means BitLock is disabled and encryption processes take place in the SSD.
When users use programs that greatly involve the SSD, because every in and out process of the SSD is compounded with an extra encryption or decryption process, the SSD has to handle more processes altogether and experiences greater strain. Microsoft may be working on a software patch to address this whole issue in Windows 11 Pro, but it’s unconfirmed if this is currently being developed.
(Image credit: Startup Stock Photos / Pexels)
How to configure BitLocker in Windows 11 Pro
To speed up your device, you might consider disabling BitLocker, but you have to make an informed decision, as BitLocker and the extra security it provides is beneficial to those who use corporate and business devices, and those who find themselves travelling often, and find that they’re in situations where there’s heightened risk of the device being stolen in general.
If you have BitLocker installed, because it’s integrated with your system on a software and operating system level, you can only access the computer’s data by entering the Windows account details tied to that specific Windows 11 Pro device.
If corporate and business devices come with Windows 11 Pro, then it’s likely that they have default settings, and that these devices are experiencing this specific type of slowdown.
After careful consideration and understanding, if you need higher-level data protection and you still want to get rid of this SSD encryption protection, then you can deactivate BitLocker by taking the following steps. Make sure that you understand clearly what level of encryption you need before you do this!
Open the Windows 11 Pro Command line with administrator rights
Enter the following command: manage-bde -off C:
C: here represents whatever drive you want to turn off BitLocker for, and if it’s not C: then you need to change it to the drive you want to remove BitLocker from. After that, you will need to restart your computer to complete the process of disabling BitLocker.
I personally would only consider disabling BitLocker if you don’t use your computer in any work capacity, or if you don’t have any data or files on it that you consider particularly sensitive. However, this is still useful information in terms of understanding more about the inner workings of your computer and digital security.
Noticeably missing from that list is Europe, and as Microsoft told Windows Latest, this is because of the European Union's extensive privacy protection regulations. The tech giant has also confirmed that it’s working on a version of Copilot that’s compliant with EU laws and intends to “add additional markets over time.”
Copilot is the latest big project in Microsoft’s AI vision, joining Bing Chat, which integrates the popular ChatGPT, and its other large language models (LLMs). Copilot makes use of Bing Chat and Microsoft’s other AI-assisted tech, and is built to integrate deeply within Windows 11, along with Windows apps and features.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
How can you get Windows Copilot?
If you’re in a region where Copilot is now live, you can get it by updating Windows 11 to the Moment 4 (22H2) feature update, which is an optional download that you should be able to see in the Windows Update app. You may need to turn on the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” setting. If you can’t see the Moment 4 update, it’s probably because you live in an area where Copilot isn’t available yet.
Not all hope is lost if you live in an ineligible area. You can follow the steps below to get Copilot if you live in an unsupported region:
1. Open up Notepad or a similar simple text editor. Make a new file and name it “Copilot.exe“.
2. Pin the new “Copilot.exe“ file to your taskbar or make a shortcut to it on your desktop. Hover over it and right-click your file. Don’t just drag the file from your File Explorer – this just moves the file. We need it to be a shortcut specifically.
3. Choose Properties from the menu. This should open a (Shortcut) Properties window for the file.
4. In Properties of your “Copilot.exe” file, go to the Shortcut tab, and change Target to this address:
Right now, Copilot runs in a similar way to Bing Chat on Windows 11, functioning in WebView (the framework within which apps can display native content in Microsoft’s Edge browser). It’s still early days for Copilot as a fully-fledged AI assistant, and many users are looking forward to seeing Copilot evolve, but the current version certainly has room for improvement. Many users have been reporting buggy performance, and as Windows Latest puts it, “achieving a ‘useful’ result isn’t easy.”
For example, Copilot struggles when users submit several prompts or when they switch between Bing Search and other apps. The preview version of Copilot also doesn’t have the deeper Windows integration that Microsoft spoke about at length, or the ability to access third-party apps and plugins, but Microsoft reassured users Copilot will function as promised in the future when speaking to Windows Latest.
Copilot has been presented as “Your everyday AI companion” and I believe Microsoft has the means to achieve this, but there’s a long way to go. I doubt Microsoft wants to retire another digital assistant so soon after axing Cortana, and the competition is hot, with Amazon investing in Anthropic and having the market-standard digital assistant, Alexa.
Anthropic is an AI-oriented company, like OpenAI, focused on safety and research, and has recently seen a $ 4 billion investment from Amazon. Combined with Amazon’s expertise in personal home assistance with Alexa, Microsoft could have something to worry about.
Precise mode is for those who want shorter and more factual answers in their dealings with the AI, whereas Creative lets the chatbot more off the leash in terms of replies (and Balanced strikes a compromise between these two ends of the freedom spectrum, as it were).
According to Mikhail Parakhin, head of Advertising and Web Services at Microsoft, the company has finished rolling out a “pretty big update” for the Precise mode.
Finished rolling out a pretty big update in our Precise mode of Bing Chat – no new features, just better answers. A few people noticed, in a “Creative has gotten worse – now even Precise is better” form, of course 🙂 Give it a try!September 25, 2023
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As Parakhin explained on X (formerly Twitter), this doesn’t entail introducing new features for Precise mode, just ensuring that the chatbot gives better answers with this setting.
Analysis: Pushing forward for a better Bing bot
Delivering better answers is, of course, one of the most effective ways Microsoft can improve its Bing AI. As Parakhin observes in the above tweet, the polishing of Precise mode has been noted by some users, even if they’ve framed it as ‘Creative is worse, and Precise is better than it now’, rather than it being a positive step forward for Precise. Which it definitely is, we shouldn’t need to add.
There’s another way that Microsoft is working on making Bing AI’s responses better, and that’s a ‘no search’ parameter. This is something that’s been mentioned in the past which will allow users to cut off the chatbot from the web (search functions) when formulating an answer.
In other words, you’ll be getting a direct answer from the AI (as opposed to one informed by search content derived from the web), and that could be useful in certain situations (like queries about coding, for example). It’ll also mean that responses should be swifter, too, without having to scrape the web for extra bits of data.
So what’s happening with the ‘no search’ function? Apparently, it’s going to be implemented as a plug-in, rather than directly into Bing AI, and is still inbound according to Parakhin (and will happen as part of the general plug-in rollout). Hat tip to Neowin for spotting that one.
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.
New statistics seemingly show that Microsoft’s Bing AI is not helping to drive traffic to its search site.
According to analytics firm Statcounter, Bing.com has actually fallen in terms of its market share for global search engine traffic, so this isn’t even a case of the Bing chatbot only providing small gains – in fact, the search site has gone backward (as highlighted by ZDNet).
At least compared to January 2023, when Bing.com had a share of 3.03% of the search market, and as of July of this year, that has dipped down very slightly to 2.99%.
In fairness to Microsoft, that 2.99% figure does represent a small gain on the 2.76% share Bing.com had in April.
ZDNet also points to another analytics firm, Similarweb, which puts Bing.com’s search share at 3.23% – which is pretty much the same as it was at the start of 2023.
Another analytics outfit, YipitData, also has numbers that apparently show Bing traffic at 95.7 million in February, growing to 99.2 million in April – but then falling to 97.7 million in June (this excludes China, mind you, and mobile devices too).
The overall picture this paints very much looks like Bing.com has remained pretty much flat in terms of how many users are searching the web with the site, then, despite the launch of the Bing AI in February, and subsequent full rollout in May – and that was clearly not Microsoft’s plan.
Analysis: An uphill battle (and a half)
Microsoft is faced with a very steep uphill battle in the search sphere, where Google has been dominant for so long at this point. So, when the Bing chatbot came onto the scene, Microsoft was doubtless thinking this could be the secret weapon it needs to really cut into Google’s big lead.
Even Google was worried about what might happen – just recall the mad rush to launch its rival Bard AI, when Microsoft pushed Bing AI onto the scene (also rather too early, before it was really ready).
As noted, these fresh stats look worrying in terms of the light they cast on Bing AI’s impact, but Microsoft isn’t buying it, and claims the figures here are skewed – and that they fail to account for surfers who go directly to the Bing chatbot’s page.
Microsoft told ZDNet: “Our usage signals show strong growth since February and because of new access points like Bing Chat Enterprise, we’ve experienced one of our biggest growth months on record since we launched our new Bing and Edge experience.”
For their part, the analytics firms told ZDNet that their figures do take direct traffic to Bing Chat into account.
David F. Carr, senior insights manager at Similarweb, commented: “Microsoft says their internal numbers show greater growth than we’re reflecting. It’s possible that we’re missing some of the Bing Chat interactions that use an Edge sidebar or extension, but I don’t know how significant that is in the grand scheme of things.”
While we can’t know the full story here, and we certainly wouldn’t say Microsoft doesn’t have something of a point, the fact that there are three separate sources of third-party data which appear to – roughly – match with each other, is rather telling. And as Carr observes, any missing bits and pieces of data will likely be of questionable significance.
All that said, this will be a very long game for Microsoft, with the idea being that Edge, Bing.com, and Bing AI will all reinforce each other, and ultimately build browser share as well as search share, taking on Chrome in the battle for the best web browser, as well as Google search.
Microsoft is certainly building in features for its chatbot at a rate of knots, and over time, Bing AI could help to build search (and browser) adoption, but at this admittedly relatively early stage, nothing much appears to be happening yet.
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