As Windows 10 Support Ends, Microsoft Is'Rewriting' Windows 11 Around AI All Windows 11 users will soon be able to talk to the Copilot AI assistant more easily via voice, and Copilot Vision can understand the context of your screen. Microsoft saved its most powerful AI tools for paying customers in the first phase of its AI evolution. Now, the company has announced a series of Copilot features coming to all Windows 11 PCs, including Voice, Copilot Vision, and Copilot Actions. Alongside the update, Microsoft is launching an ad campaign to expose people to these new features. Windows 10 support ended on October 14, and we're about to see a wave of people upgrade to Windows 11; Microsoft seems intent on putting advanced Copilot features at the fingertips of as many people as possible--and convincing them they're worth using.

I don't use a Windows Copilot PC as a daily driver, though I have several in my office. But there's one absolutely critical Copilot feature that forces me to swap out my current laptop, attach a Copilot PC to my docking station, and boot it up. Very few people have bought a Copilot PC in the last year. So these features, which are currently locked to Copilot PCs and their NPU, aren't well known: Windows Recall; Paint's Cocreator, Generative Erase, Object Select, and Sticker Generator; Click-to-Do; Photos' Super Resolution, Relight and Restyle Image; the intelligent search features within the Settings menu; Windows Studio Effects; and Live Captions. My editor assumed I would prefer the last feature, Live Captions, probably because it's both useful and cool.

Should Microsoft and the PC industry have paid more attention to the GPU during the development of AI and Copilot PCs? After a year's time waiting for Copilot PCs (and their newfangled "Neural Processing Units" to take off, I can't help but wonder. Microsoft launched the Copilot PC initiative on May 20, 2024, and began shipping them on June 18. Since then, Microsoft has supported Copilot PCs with a handful of features, rolling them out first for PCs with the Qualcomm Snapdragon chips inside and then later for PCs powered by Intel Core Ultra Series 2 chips and the AMD Ryzen AI 300 processor. Qualcomm is essentially blameless, delivering a potent PC processor with most AI capabilities and long battery life.

Almost a year since Microsoft announced its controversial Recall feature, and after several delays, the company has finally started bringing it to Copilot AI PCs today. The launch comes just a few weeks after Microsoft started testing Recall broadly with Windows Insiders. There are also a few other AI-powered features coming along with this release, including an improved Windows Search and Click to Do, which lets you quickly use AI features from within your existing apps. As usual, the release won't immediately roll out to all Copilot PCs, instead Microsoft is gradually releasing it over the next month (and likely monitoring potential issues along the way). Recall was one of the biggest announcements at Microsoft's Copilot debut last May, but almost immediately, it came under fire for some glaring privacy issues.

Microsoft unveiled a swath of new AI features during its 50th birthday bash in Redmond last week, and I got to try many of them. Copilot Vision holds the most potential for consumers, but Copilot's shopping features aren't far behind. If you're concerned about Copilot's new Memory and Personality traits, I wouldn't be -- it looks way too early to get a sense of what it will eventually be. Those were my impressions after sampling most of the new Copilot demonstrations on display at Microsoft's 50th anniversary celebration. Microsoft talked about its vision for a personable Copilot that could shop for you and walk you through tech issues step-by-step.

Microsoft is promising an AI-driven future for Windows 11--but initially, only select PC owners could try Copilot features as they rolled out in preview. If you didn't own a laptop with a Snapdragon X Elite or X Plus processor, you had to wait. That changes today, with Microsoft's announcement of two Copilot features becoming available to compatible Intel and AMD PCs: Microsoft Recall and Click to Do. Of the two, Microsoft Recall has greater notoriety--it captures your activity as you use your computer, taking screenshots every few seconds. Windows then leans on AI to sift through the accumulated data when you're seeking specific information like a recipe, conversation, or even document you previously worked on.

The Acer Swift 14 AI offers solid all-around performance with the latest Snapdragon silicon and a generous selection of ports, but the trackpad is poor and Copilot features are still MIA. The Acer Swift 14 AI looks like an unimposing laptop that could easily be mistaken for any number of machines in Acer's lineup. It has a secret inside, though. The Swift 14 AI is Acer's first Arm-based notebook, running on Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite processor. Laptops have changed a lot in the last few years as Arm-based chips have finally gotten powerful enough to run Windows.

Beyond debuting new features for Copilot AI PCs and Windows 11's 2024 update, Microsoft is also giving its Copilot AI a makeover on the web, mobile and desktop. That includes a slightly friendlier interface wherever you access it, along with new capabilities like Copilot Voice, which allows you to talk conversationally with the AI assistant. Ultimately, Microsoft is aiming for Copilot to be seen as more than just a party trick for generative AI search and image creation -- it's trying to make it a core part of your daily workflow. That starts with a cleaner and simpler UI that makes Copilot look different than a boring old search engine. You'll also be able to access Copilot from within Whatsapp, which could be useful if you want to avoid Meta's AI assistant.

Qualcomm's exclusivity period on Copilot PCs is winding down. Microsoft confirmed on Tuesday that Intel's new 200V processors and AMD's Ryzen AI 300 series chips will add Copilot AI capabilities beginning in November. Copilot PCs include features like Live Captions (real-time subtitle generation, including translations), Cocreator in Paint (prompt-based image generation), Windows Studio Effects image editing (background blurring, eye contact adjustment and auto-framing) and AI tools in Photos. Of particular interest to gamers is Auto Super Resolution, an Nvidia DLSS competitor that upscales graphical resolution and refresh rates in real time without stunting performance. The AI PCs will also eventually include Recall, Microsoft's searchable timeline of PC activity.