Microsoft has decided to pause the rollout of new Copilot features in Windows 11 in order to refine them based on user feedback. For those who already have the feature, Copilot will continue to work as expected while new ideas are developed with Windows Insiders. The company is expected to release new Surface laptops powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite processors running Windows on Arm to compete with Apple’s M3-powered MacBook Air. Additionally, new features for Windows will include an AI Explorer app that resembles the old Windows 10 Timeline feature, allowing users to pick up tasks across different devices and play up the idea of a “Copilot for every person.”
Some of the Copilot features recently tested in the preview include an animated taskbar icon that showed when the AI assistant could help and allowed users to hover over it to see their options, such as getting an AI-generated text summary. Another feature allowed Copilot in Windows to pop out of the sidebar and into a normal application window, which users could resize and move around. This feature started rolling out to the Canary channel in March. New builds going out to both the Dev and Beta channels include a fix for Copilot unexpectedly auto-launching after a restart. Additionally, there is a new shortcut in the right-click menu for tabs in File Explorer, allowing users to duplicate the current tab. Microsoft has also updated Task Manager units to correctly reflect memory speed, shifting from the MHz of previous years to a DDR-ready MT/s count.
The development of new Copilot features is ongoing, with Microsoft aiming to refine them further based on user feedback. The company is also preparing to release new Surface laptops powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite processors running Windows on Arm to compete with Apple’s M3-powered MacBook Air. In addition to these hardware updates, new features for Windows will include an AI Explorer app that resembles the old Windows 10 Timeline feature, allowing users to seamlessly continue tasks across different devices. The company is also emphasizing the concept of a “Copilot for every person,” providing AI assistance to users in a variety of contexts.
Some of the recent Copilot features tested in the preview include an animated taskbar icon that indicated when the AI assistant could provide help, as well as the ability to hover over it to access options such as getting an AI-generated text summary. Another feature allowed Copilot in Windows to pop out of the sidebar and into a normal application window, giving users more control over its placement and size. These updates have been rolled out to the Canary channel and are expected to be refined further before a wider release. Microsoft has also made improvements to Task Manager units, updating them to accurately reflect memory speed with a shift from MHz to DDR-ready MT/s count.
In addition to the aforementioned updates, new builds for the Dev and Beta channels include a fix for Copilot unexpectedly auto-launching after a restart, as well as a new shortcut in the right-click menu for tabs in File Explorer that allows users to duplicate the current tab. These changes demonstrate Microsoft’s commitment to refining and enhancing the user experience within Windows 11, with a focus on improving functionality and usability. As the company continues to gather feedback and make adjustments based on user input, Windows users can expect to see additional updates and improvements to Copilot features and other aspects of the operating system in the near future.