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Microsoft is packing more AI into Windows, ready or not - here's what's new
Publish Time: 18 Nov, 2025
Microsoft is pushing more AI into Windows, but is that what people want?
Lance Whitney / Elyse Betters Picaro /

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Key takeaways

  • Microsoft is adding more Copilot and AI agents to Windows.
  • Certain new AI features require a Copilot+ PC.
  • But do Windows users really want an agentic OS?

With the buzz around generative AI, Microsoft has been on a mission to add AI to virtually all its products and services, including and especially Windows. The company's vision for Windows is an agentic AI filled with bots and agents that promise to carry out your every wish.

With this week's Ignite event, the company has even more in store, from new Copilot skills to writing assistance to troubleshooting agents. But is this focus on AI what Windows users really want? That's debatable. But before we get into that debate, let's see what the folks in Redmond have on tap.

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In a new blog post connected with the Ignite event, Microsoft described the new AI features and skills coming to Windows.

AI agents

First up are AI agents. As Microsoft touts: "Windows is transforming how users access and manage Al agents across the operating system, with new features in preview."

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Here, an Ask Copilot icon on the Windows taskbar will let you more easily trigger Copilot and various AI agents across all your apps and devices. You'll be able to kick off Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot from anywhere in Windows via the taskbar and Start menu.

From the Windows taskbar, you can call up Microsoft 365 Copilot agents, troubleshooting agents, and even agents from third parties. You'll also be able to launch these agents directly from the prompt in the Copilot Windows app by using the Tools menu or by typing @.

New Copilot AI features

Next up are new AI features for Copilot, also in preview mode. Microsoft brags that with the new features, "Windows is continuing to transform how users interact with Al by delivering a simple, personalized, and multimodal experience." OK, so what does that mean?

With the Click to Do feature still limited to Copilot+PCs, a new action called Ask Microsoft 365 Copilot will grab any supported image or piece of text and automatically send it to Copilot.

Also: Microsoft gives Copilot a 'real talk' upgrade - and an (optional) cartoon face

The Ask Microsoft 365 Copilot option in File Explorer will let you select any file and ask the AI to analyze, summarize, or answer specific questions about it. You'll even be able to hover over a document in File Explorer to access different AI models.

Here's another option, but again only for Copilot+ PCs. Users on trusted Microsoft 365 domains can search for local and cloud-based files by using natural language to describe the items they want to find.

Another feature called Writing Assistance will provide built-in AI to help you rewrite, edit, and proofread documents. With Copilot+PC, you can also use this option offline.

Launch Copilot by voice

Next, you'll be able to launch and work with Microsoft 365 Copilot by voice. For this, you can say "Hey, Copilot" or just press the Copilot key on supported keyboards (or Win+C on keyboards without a dedicated key). The idea here is to help you access Copilot without having to interrupt what you're doing or switch to a different app or window.

There are also a couple of new AI features designed with accessibility in mind.

Currently in preview, Fluid Dictation is a new option for Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs that aims to improve dictation. Part of the Voice Access suite, this one promises to make typing by voice faster, easier, and more accurate, turning your spoken words into text without too many mistakes.

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The Windows Narrator and Magnifier tools both promise a more natural reading of text and on-screen elements. Using AI, the new high-definition voices will try to provide a more pleasing tone and pace as you listen to the spoken words.

There's still one more piece to the AI puzzle. Now available for Windows 11 insiders, a new option for experimental agentic features will allow AI agents to use the latest agentic tools in Windows. To enable this on a Windows 11 insiders build, head to System, select AI Components, and then turn on the switch for "Experimental agentic features." If you take the plunge, this Microsoft web page on Experimental Agentic Features explains what's in store for you.

Well, that's certainly a hefty dose of AI being doled out to Windows users. Well, not all Windows users. Several of these items require a Copilot+ PC as the company continues to push these AI-infused computer models.

What users want

Microsoft is clearly excited about all this AI infiltrating Windows. But are its users as excited? Not quite.

In a tweet posted November 10, Microsoft president Pavan Davuluri boasted that "Windows is evolving into an agentic OS, connecting devices, cloud, and AI to unlock intelligent productivity and secure work anywhere." Davuluri likely expected Windows users to share his enthusiasm for the company's vision of an agentic OS.

Instead, the post elicited almost 500 angry and often nasty responses from people who clearly don't see AI as the greatest thing since sliced bread. Their collective argument?

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Instead of increasingly pushing AI into Windows, Microsoft needs to refocus on making the operating system more reliable and stable. That means correcting the many bugs, flaws, and weaknesses that permeate the platform. It also means turning Windows into a cleaner and more basic OS that hosts your applications and files without all the bells and whistles that people don't seem to want.

Likely taken by surprise by all the negative feedback, Davuluri responded to one post in which he seemed to at least acknowledge the complaints.

"I've read through the comments and see focus on things like reliability, performance, ease of use and more," Davuluri wrote. "But I want to spend a moment just on the point you are making, and I'll boil it down, we care deeply about developers. We know we have work to do on the experience, both on the everyday usability, from inconsistent dialogs to power user experiences. When we meet as a team, we discuss these pain points and others in detail, because we want developers to choose Windows."

However, with Microsoft Ignite running this week, it's back to business as usual, which means promoting AI for Windows. In a post on Sunday, Davuluri touted: "With Copilot and new agentic experiences at the center, every Windows 11 PC becomes an AI PC that empowers you to connect, create, and work in more natural ways." Of course, this post also led to a host of negative comments as if we're going around in circles.

Also: 50+ Windows keyboard shortcuts you should use ASAP for improved productivity

So is Microsoft stuck down the wrong path here and too far along to switch gears? Certainly, there's nothing wrong with sprinkling some AI into the operating system. I turn to these tools both personally and professionally. But I know that they're prone to errors, so I use them sparingly and judiciously.

The problem is that Microsoft is pouring hefty doses of AI into Windows to capitalize on all the buzz. Instead, the company should be focused on making the OS less bloated, more reliable, and more stable. That's what users want. And once that's been accomplished, then maybe we can talk about AI.

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