Frustrations are being aired about Windows 11s new Copilot app but heres why were not worried (just yet)

Date:
Tue, 02 Jul 2024 14:27:37 +0000

Description:
Is Copilot going backwards? Accusations of a downgraded AI are being flung around, but whats really going on?

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Microsoft is seemingly going backwards with Copilot in Windows 11 , and
things certainly dont look great in testing for the AI assistant right now.

Windows Latest spearheads a complaint echoed elsewhere by other denizens of various forums and social media outlets that the latest incarnation of Copilot sees Microsoft downgrading the AI to a Microsoft Edge-based web wrapper (well come back to that point shortly).

To take a step back for a moment, this is all part of Microsofts recent move announced in May 2024, and implemented in June to switch Copilot from being an assistant anchored to a side panel (on the right) to a full app experience (a window you can move around the desktop, resize and so on, like a normal
app basically).

As Windows Latest points out, in the latest update for Windows 11 (in testing), changes that are rolling out to some users turn Copilot into a
basic web app although in fact, Copilot has always been a web app (even when in its previous incarnation as a locked side panel, before the standalone app idea came about).

What the tech site is really complaining about is how basic and transparent Copilots nature really is in this freshly deployed take. This means the Copilot window shows Edge menus and options, and just opens copilot.microsoft.com in an Edge tab and you can even open any old website
in the Copilot app with a bit of fudging and a few clicks here and there. And all that feels rather disappointing and basic, of course. (Image credit: Future / James Holland) Analysis: Strip it back, then build it up

We get the criticism here, although as noted, all thats really happening is that Copilot is being more obviously exposed for what it is a simple web app that basically just pipes you through to the same AI chatbot experience you get with the Copilot website.

However, there is a twist here - namely that the extra options Copilot
offered for manipulating Windows 11 settings in some respects (in the pre-standalone app days) have reportedly been ditched. Not that these abilities were any great shakes to begin with theyve always been fairly limited but still, it does feel like a step back to see them vanish.

Ultimately, this leaves the new Copilot experience in Windows 11 feeling very disjointed and not at all well integrated into the OS just slapped on top, really. However, we do have to remember that this is still in testing.

Stripping features back in preview can be expected even if it isnt a pretty sight right now, presumably Microsoft is going to build it back up, make the new Copilot app more seamless, and reintroduce those powers related to
Windows settings. In fact, wed be shocked if that didnt happen

Unless Microsoft does have plans to make Copilot a more basic entity in Windows 11, but that seems very unlikely unless many more future AI powers
are going to be forked off exclusively for Copilot+ PCs , perhaps ( like Recall which is another controversial topic in itself ).

Time will tell, but eventually, we expect Copilot to become a more well-rounded and seamless app, and crucially, when powerful NPUs become more widespread, the AI assistant will be able to perform a good deal more AI workloads on-device (rather than hooking up to the cloud to get the necessary processing power). Thats when a more fully-fledged app with greater powers to operate locally will likely become a reality.

In its current format, though, which has always been pretty basic, Copilot in Windows 11 doesnt really need to be any more than a simple web wrapper. You might also like... Watch out: soon some older PCs will lose Windows 11
support Windows 11 is getting a voice-powered ability many users have been longing for Dont make these 5 big mistakes when using Windows 11



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/windows/frustrations-are-being-aired-about -windows-11s-new-copilot-app-but-heres-why-were-not-worried-just-yet


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