These enhancements will improve the functionality and capabilities of AI apps and services by incorporating plugins created by external developers. It will be easier for users to find and use AI-powered apps and services they want. These co-pilot assistants will help users write emails and generate images. Microsoft has made a multi-million dollar investment in OpenAI and committed to using the same open plugin standard as OpenAI, enabling interoperability between Bing Chat, Microsoft’s CoPilot platform, and ChatGPT.
These announcements were made at Microsoft’s annual Build conference, which primarily focused on AI-related announcements. The company has seen an increase in daily downloads and has crossed the threshold of 100 million daily active users for Bing. The company has rapidly deployed AI systems, and their impact on various aspects of society is being noticed.
Bing/ChatGPT in Windows 11: Windows’s Copilot
After integrating AI into various apps and services, it is now coming to Windows 11 as Windows Copilot. It will be available in the Windows 11 taskbar, allowing users to change their Windows settings and perform other tasks. Copilot will have access to existing Bing and ChatGPT and will allow you to ask questions about anything, from simple to complex. It will summarise content from the clipboard and compose text. Copilot will be available on the desktop and is built on top of Bing Chat, as it supports Bing and ChatGPT plugins.
Users can ask Windows Copilot for specific adjustments for specific purposes, and users are expected to upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10. Microsoft claims that 20% of users have already made the switch. Windows Copilot will be available in June, putting Bing front and centre for Windows 11 users. The company has included features to expand Bing Chat’s functionality and reach across the Microsoft platform.
You can access Windows Copilot by tapping your taskbar’s bottom to enhance productivity. Once activated, the Copilot sidebar remains open across all apps, programs, and windows, serving as a personal assistant to provide helpful information and support. It will open in a separate window along the right side of your screen. This is one of the ways to offer centralized AI assistance. Microsoft is replacing Cortana as the primary Windows assistant. Copilot can be used to rewrite, summarise, or explain, and even to check the local time of family members living in another location, find flights, hotels, and more.
It can run commands, customize settings, and perform tasks in Windows apps. Bing and ChatGPT utilize advanced AI technologies, with Bing-powered by GPT-4 and ChatGPT using GPT-4 for its chat experience. This strengthens Microsoft’s search engine offerings, especially since Samsung has chosen to stick with Google instead of switching to Bing.
Customise RGB lighting through the Setting Menu.
Windows 11 is getting a new feature called dynamic lighting. It lets you adjust the lighting of your accessories and components in one place, even from different brands. You won’t have to use multiple programs to control RGB lighting. Dynamic lighting will be available to Windows Insiders this month, but it needs to be clarified when everyone else will get it.
With dynamic lighting, you can control the RGB lighting of your device and components from a single hub in the Settings menu. This will make adjusting the lighting for all your accessories and components easier, regardless of their brand. However, the company still needs to share exactly how it will work.
Microsoft Store
Windows Copilot is now available on the Microsoft Store with a new AI makeover, including an AI hub that showcases the best AI experiences available in the store. It also features AI-generated review summaries to help find apps that focus on productivity, such as resume building, trip planning, and creating presentations.
New apps will now appear in the Spotlight section, and Bing search results and Windows 11 will restore pinned apps to the exact location when switching to a new PC. Microsoft Store’s progressive web apps (PWAs) can use Windows widgets and the edge sidebar for a new experience, and a digital goods API is available for PWAs to accept in-app purchases, simplifying the checkout process.
Developers can use AI-generated keyword suggestions to improve their app descriptions for better search engine optimization (SEO). The AI hub is divided into subsections focused on different categories, such as photography and word processing, and it aims to educate customers on how AI can enhance productivity, help with tasks, and discover new content.
Microsoft is gathering feedback from the developer community on the review summary feature during its preview, and developers can still browse individual app reviews and ratings. Microsoft is committed to offering a safe and inclusive environment for its customers and developers. A new developer tool in the Microsoft Partner Centre allows developers to let AI suggest search tags for their apps, and Microsoft Store ads will start appearing in Bing search results and expand to 150 regions outside the US.
Overall, these features are coming soon, and Microsoft has updated its backup and restore system to retain Microsoft Store apps in the original position on the taskbar and start menu when users upgrade to Windows or switch computers.
Get More Android Apps
Microsoft has now opened the Amazon App Store for Android developers for Windows 11. Previously, it was limited to certain Android apps. This provides access to a subset of mobile apps adapted for desktop environments, and most of the Android apps tested on the Amazon App Store for Windows 11 run smoothly and offer a great user experience.
The company has made material available for developers to help them make their apps compatible with the Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA). Developers must submit their apps for testing to distribute them on Windows 11 devices. This means Microsoft emphasizes proper Windows resizing and native mapping to ensure Android apps integrate well with the Windows 11 interface. Developers with Amazon AppStore accounts can submit their apps for Windows 11.
Windows 11 supports Android 13, and with the potential for apps in the Amazon App Store to incorporate the latest features, opening the Amazon App Store to all Android developers is expected to bring more apps to the marketplace and increase the available options for Windows 11 users.
Windows Terminal gets Generative-AI.
Windows Terminal, a developer tool, now has an AI-powered chatbot through GitHub Copilot integration. With this tool, developers can receive code recommendations, get explanations for errors, and take action through the terminal. Microsoft is also considering bringing GitHub Copilot to other developer tools.
This means that developers can use natural language queries to engage with the Chatbot and receive recommendations for commands, explanations for errors, and suggested actions with the terminal. Microsoft also tests GitHub Copilot in other development tools, such as WinDBG.
GitHub CoPilot will soon come to other developer tools, including WinDBG, allowing developers to chat with AI. Additionally, a command-line palette will make it easier to find actions, and you can customize Windows Terminal with profile icons and various colour options.
GitHub Copilot can use natural language AI, both inline and in an experimental chat experience, to recommend commands, explain errors, and take actions with the terminal application. You can also add your name to the GitHub Copilot Chat waitlist and try out new features as they become available.
Windows Terminal was first introduced at Build 2019 and has become popular on Windows 10. It offers multiple tab support, colourful themes, customization options, GPU-based text rendering, and emoji support. It also experiments with GitHub Copilot AI in other developer tools, like WinDBG. WinDBG is used by developers to debug applications, device drivers, and Windows itself, and it can analyze memory dumps for troubleshooting.
Bing GPT-4 Chatbot: No Waitlist
The waitlist for the new Bing Chatbot powered by GPT-4 has been removed. Anyone can now sign up and start using the Chatbot immediately. Initially, there was a limit of 15 questions per session and a maximum of 150 per day.
Ungrouping the Taskbar with Labels
Microsoft is bringing back the ability to ungroup taskbar items on Windows 11. Users can click on apps running multiple instances, and the taskbar will automatically ungroup them with labels. This feature will be helpful for users who want to have apps ungrouped when interacting with the toolbar. Whether users can disable app groups and permanently enable app labels must be clear. This feature is expected to roll out in preview within the coming weeks.
Support for Win32 apps and Windows 365 Boot to Windows 11
The updates include better security with Win32 apps in isolation mode and a feature called Windows 365 Boot that lets PCs boot directly into Windows 365 for shared hardware environments. Win32 developers can now use new certification tests to make submitting apps smoother.
Microsoft is expanding beyond the standard Zip format by adding Native Windows Support for more archive formats, including tar, 7-zip, rar, gz, and others. This means users no longer need to install third-party apps like WinRar to access files in these formats. This is made possible through the lib archive open-source project, which is expected to improve compression performance for archive files on Windows.
These updates are being developed and will be available for Windows later this week. Previous versions of Windows’ native Zip support have been criticized, and the new archive format in Windows 11 is expected to provide a better user experience.
Bluetooth LE support and more Live caption language support
A low-energy audio feature was created through a partnership between Samsung and Intel to connect wireless devices with less battery usage. Bluetooth LE uses the LC3 audio code for multi-streaming and improves energy efficiency for hearing aids. The Windows 11 update will support 10 additional languages for live Caption, which transcribes audio in real time.
The support includes Chinese, Danish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and additional English dialects.
Bing as ChatGPT Default Search Engine
Microsoft’s Chatbot will support ChatGPT as its default experience. After this update, ChatGPT can access the web for real-time information about current events through the Bing Search Engine. However, it will cite its sources, allowing users to check out more information about the information. It is currently available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers, and we can expect it to become accessible to everyone through the Bing Plugin.
- ChatGPT integration
- Citations
- Plugins
- Windows Integration
Microsoft is adopting the same Open Plugin standard as OpenAI, allowing for interoperability across ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. This integration enables ChatGPT to access the web to provide up-to-date information from Bing’s Search Engine rather than being limited to pre-2021 information. The company has actively upgraded Bing Chat in recent weeks and over 70 plugins for ChatGPT+ subscribers, enabling the Chatbot to use third-party tools and access the internet.
Until a plugin is available for everyone, free ChatGPT users will soon be able to install an official plugin to access Bing Search. Bing now supports plugins from various services like Expedia, Instacart, TripAdvisor, Redfin, and Zillow. Microsoft has seen significant growth in Bing Chat since its initial unveiling.
Plugins for AI apps
Microsoft has a lot of apps and services powered by AI. Copilots and other companies want to make the ecosystem bigger by letting third-party developers create plugins using OpenAI with the AI-powered Chatbot called ChatGPT. Developers can use DEs like Visual Studio, Codespace, and Visual Studio Code to build plugins. There are three types of plugins: ChatGPT, Microsoft Team message extensions, and Power Platform connectors.
There will be three types of CoPilot plugins: ChatGPT, Team Message extensions, and Power Platform connectors. Plugins let developers integrate third-party apps with the Windows AI chatbot and AI technology. Plugins act as a connection between Copilot and the digital world. Azure OpenAI service-based applications also support the plugin standard. Plugins provide more capabilities by letting users access real-time information, integrate data, and perform calculations.
Microsoft also provides various tools, like Azure AI apps, Azure OpenAI Service, and Team Toolkit for Visual Studio, to help developers debug and test plugins. Although the pricing details are not yet clear, Microsoft is looking to make money from plugins. In response, competitors are expected to develop their plugin frameworks.
Recently, OpenAI ChatGPT announced plugin support. With the plugin standard, developers can create plugins that will work across Microsoft platforms, including ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Dynamic 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and even Windows Co-Pilot. Bing Chat has already received new plugins from Instacart, Kayak, Klarna, Redfin, and Zillow, and these plugins will also be available in Windows CoPilot.
Plugins are web-based APIs that allow users to interact with different software and services. They can retrieve real-time information, incorporate company data, and perform actions on behalf of users. Some companies, such as Atlassian, Adobe, ServiceNow, Thomson Reuters, Moveworks, and Mural, have partnered with Microsoft to offer new plugins for the Microsoft 365 CoPilot Early-Access program.
Microsoft also released a new plugin framework that bridges an AI system like ChatGPT and private or proprietary data. It exists due to concerns about privacy and the potential leakage of sensitive information by generative AI models. Companies like Apple and Samsung have already banned using AI tools like ChatGPT to mitigate the risk of mishandling and leaking confidential data.
Other Upcoming Windows 11 Features
- Applications running on Win32 in isolation
- Windows 365 Boot
- New privacy capabilities
- Glanceable VPN on the taskbar
- Live Caption is now available in 10 additional languages.
- Account Badging is available in the Start menu.
- Support for Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio
Other features are also coming with the future update, including enabling and disabling the presence-sensing feature, a Shield icon to recognize VPN connections, live captioning in 10 different languages, and a tweaked design for widgets. These features were in beta testing and are expected to come with future Windows updates, which could be the Windows 11 23H2 update and may be shifted away from yearly version changes. Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) audio support is partnering with Samsung and Intel to enhance the audio experience.