During its special event in New York, Microsoft has announced that Copilot, its new AI assistant, will make its debut in Windows 11 on September 26th, alongside many other features included in Windows 11 version 23H2. Copilot is also now its own thing, an underlying AI component that lives across all kinds of Microsoft products, including Windows, Edge, and Microsoft 365.
Copilot lets you ask all kinds of questions, sort of like Bing Chat. For example, you can ask it about how to make a certain recipe, or for ideas for trips. However, it also has a lot of unique capabilities by being built into Windows. For example, you can write math equations in the Copilot using your pen (on supported devices) and get an answer for that equation. You can also take a picture of a math graph and get solutions using Copilot. It can even pull information from your phone, such as flight times and other info in your texts. Microsoft also says Copilot can make things like copy and paste better, and it can also see your apps and other devices.
Other AI features will also be coming to Windows 11, including a few that Windows Insiders have been testing for a few days. One of them is background removal in paint, which automatically detects the subject of a photo and removes background elements so you can keep only what matters. The Snipping Tool can also now recognize text in screenshots so you can easily copy text from it.
Of course, Windows 11 version 23H2 includes a lot of other things, too, like RGB lighting control, a new look for File Explorer, and other improvements. We have an extensive list of changes in this release if you're interested in knowing more about what's coming on September 26th.
Back on the topic of Copilot, Microsoft is also bringing it to Microsoft 365, and that's coming on November 1st for enterprise customers. Copilot lives across all the Microsoft 365 apps to help you get work done more efficiently, but it will also come in the form of Microsoft 365 Chat. Basically, this is a chatbot for the enterprise that can help you make decisions and solve problems using AI. You can ask it to summarize messages in your inbox, including from specific senders, create event plans, draft replies, and more, all with the ability to tweak things yourself so you can make it look just right. It also supports third-party plugins, so you can extend these capabilities even further.
One of the new Copilot-powered features in Microsoft 365 is Sound Like Me in Outlook. Essentially, it can automatically write emails that match your writing style and tone, including sign-offs, so you can more quickly get emails written without them sounding artificial or automated.
There's also the Copilot Lab, a new experience designed to help workers "build new work habits" in the era of AI. It can help improve the quality of prompts and it lets you share prompts with other users so they can be inspired to come up with their own.
There's also Microsoft Designer integration, helping you to create all kinds of designs using natural language prompts, which you can then edit yourself. Microsoft Designer will also be available in Bing chat. Even Clipchamp is getting some smarts with the ability to automatically create a video based on the clips you feed it. Additionally, Bing Image Designer is getting an update to use Dall-E 3.