Microsoft Announces Major Update to Windows 11, AI Assistant Copilot Comes

On November 1st, software giant Microsoft released a major update to its personal computer operating system, Windows 11, on Tuesday, US time. It includes an artificial intelligence assistant called CopilotAI, which shares many similarities with the popular chat robot ChatGPT from artificial intelligence research company OpenAI

On November 1st, software giant Microsoft released a major update to its personal computer operating system, Windows 11, on Tuesday, US time. It includes an artificial intelligence assistant called CopilotAI, which shares many similarities with the popular chat robot ChatGPT from artificial intelligence research company OpenAI.

It is understood that Microsoft Copilot is a generative artificial intelligence tool that can create text and other content similar to those given by real people with just a few prompt words. It relies on underlying large language models, and OpenAI, supported by Microsoft, has conducted extensive dataset training on these models to help write email texts, answer questions, and automatically perform related operations in Windows, leveraging information from websites to enhance its capabilities.

Earlier this year, Microsoft upgraded the Bing search engine using chatbot technology. Now, a variant of the robot is enhancing the latest version of the world's most widely used personal computer operating system. Meanwhile, later this week, Microsoft will begin selling Microsoft 365 Copilot, an artificial intelligence plugin aimed at enterprise employees using its productivity applications.

The personal computer specific features of Windows Copilot include opening applications, switching to dark mode, turning on Bluetooth, and obtaining screenshot guidance. When browsing a website in Edge browser, you can have Copilot provide a summary of the page content. On Apple Mac computers, people can have conversations with Siri assistants, but their answers are not as detailed as Windows Copilot.

According to StatCounter, a US website traffic monitoring agency, Windows 11 currently holds approximately 24% of the desktop computer market share, while Windows 10 controls approximately 72% of the market share. Microsoft's support for Windows 10 will continue until October 2025. After that, Windows 11, which will be launched in 2021, may become more popular.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a conference call with analysts last week, "We see companies such as BP, Eurowings, market analysis firm Kantar, and Royal Bank of Canada accelerating the deployment of Windows 11 globally

Windows remains important to Microsoft as it provides one tenth of its total revenue. Microsoft hopes to maintain the attractiveness of Windows as it is the foundation of the company's Microsoft 365 productivity application suite and the driving force for Azure public cloud growth.

Copilot may be the most important part of the Windows 11 update released this year. Some people have already used Copilot through Microsoft's "Continuous Innovation" version released in September. This process enables Microsoft to provide customers with updates several times a year, rather than sticking to previously announced annual plans.

When you click on the new Copilot icon on the taskbar or click on the Windows+C keyboard shortcut, a panel will pop up on the right side of the screen, where you can have a text conversation with the new virtual assistant. Copilot has more powerful features than Microsoft Xiaona, which was an intelligent assistant introduced by Microsoft when it launched Windows 10 in 2015 and gradually became obsolete.

The following is a list of other new features for the Windows 112023 update (also known as 23H2):

Virtual Video Editor:The automatic synthesis function built-in in the Clipchamp video editing application utilizes artificial intelligence technology to make the final video synthesis process easier. By answering a few questions, Clipchamp can extract scenes from your shots and compile them.

Multi language screen reading:Last year, Microsoft introduced the use of artificial intelligence to read natural sounds from text on the screen in Windows' storytelling assistance feature. The new update adds support for other languages, including English, Hindi, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Reduce electricity bills:Some personal computers have built-in sensors that can turn off the monitor when you leave and wake it up when you come back. The new energy-saving feature "adaptive dimming" can make the screen dim when you are not looking at it, and turn it back on when you look at it again. You can turn this feature on or off when using this update or setting up devices in the settings app.

Guide to the cloud:If you are using a cloud based version of Windows, you can directly log in to the cloud instance as your primary experience on your PC.

More intelligent trimming function:Using Windows, extracting text directly from screenshots has become increasingly easy. Using the update editing tool application included with Windows 11, you can copy text from screenshots and quickly edit emails or phone numbers.

Better backup:Microsoft will allow users to back up applications previously installed on their PC for future recovery.

Draw with text:Microsoft is testing a new feature, and the Paint application will receive artificial intelligence support. You can enter a few words and choose a style, and then Paint will create an image based on your description. This is similar to Adobe and other companies' tools, as well as Microsoft's image creation tool in Bing search engine.

More taskbar customizations:Windows 11 has introduced a brand new taskbar that places the start button and a series of application icons in the center at the bottom of the screen. Now you can view the application icons with labels, just like in Windows 10. Even applications that are not running can display labels. You can also hide the time and date.

Notepad with memory:Notepad will automatically save your status, so if you close this application and reopen it, you can immediately return to your previous work.

Finding images is easier:Microsoft has simplified the photo application in Windows 11 so that you can enter keywords and objects in the search box to find relevant images stored in OneDrive.

Provide suggestions during work:If you are using Windows 11 on your work computer, the File Explorer and Start menu will start displaying suggestions for the files you may want to open based on your usage.

Support for instant gaming:Microsoft is testing 'instant games', which allows you to find casual games in the Microsoft App Store without having to download and install them first. Google tried a similar feature on Android a few years ago.

Developer login platform:The DevHome application provides software developers with a way to track activity on Microsoft's GitHub, monitor PC activity, and set the destination for a new PC storage volume called DevDrive.

System Application Home:When you click on the "All Applications" button in the start menu, applications that Microsoft considers to be system components, such as File Explorer, will display a new "System" label. Previously, you could manage them by going to 'Settings> Apps> Installed Apps'. There is now a dedicated page in the 'Settings> System> System Components' section.

Some of the above features may not be immediately available, but they will gradually appear in new updates over time. For example, Windows Copilot is still in the preview stage and is only available in North America and some regions in Asia and South America. Microsoft hopes to expand this feature to other regions in the future.