If you are using Windows 11, and have made the latest 22H2 update, then we have good news for you!
(if you don't have the update available, you can speed up the process by enrolling in Insider Program)
You now have access to Copilot, Microsoft's AI-based assistant.
Ok, not yet, but that's because being part of the European Union, things are a little more complicated. Thus, at the beginning of the month, the Union added some restrictions on the use of certain functionalities, more details here.
The good thing is that, even if it is inaccessible, when you updated, you downloaded the bits necessary to run Copilot. Moreover, you can access it if you open Run with ‚windows key+ R' and execute the following command ’ microsoft-edge://?ux=copilot&tcp=1&source=taskbar’.
What does this mean?
It means it will be a while before this service is easily accessible.
Then, it means 'goodbye Cortana!' Honestly, and without cynicism, we won't miss you.
Then, the fact that we have an AI assistant at our disposal, which integrates natively with certain functionalities in Windows 11. More precisely, in addition to the fact that it can answer all kinds of questions without having to open the browser, it can also execute commands.
Below, I asked him to write a 3-sentence phrase describing himself.
„"I am Bing, a chat mode of Microsoft's search engine. I can understand and communicate fluently in your language of choice, such as Romanian, English, French, etc. I can create imaginative and innovative content, such as poems, stories, code, essays, songs, celebrity parodies, and more, using my own words and knowledge."”
Cute. This functionality can help you respond to an email when you're out of inspiration or find the perfect ending for the offer you're about to send.
It can extract text from images. If you take a print screen and add it to the chat, it can extract the text from that print screen.
In my example, it took about 1 minute to extract the 3 sentences.
Also in the conversational area, he knows how to generate images.
It knows how to open apps and settings pages, but it can't apply the settings.
In conclusion, a traditional AI assistant that can answer questions, open apps, and generate images.
Coming back to extracting text from images, another update has been made to the SnippingTool application, which can now also extract text from your print-screens. This time instantly and with more results.
Other features in the same update:
For a complete list of changes that the new update brings, you can access the link this.
All the functionalities we talked about are also aimed at the home user, and are found in the free Copilot for Windows product.
In November, Copilot for Microsoft 365 will also be released, but it won't be free. This time, integrations will be done at the application level. For example, it will be able to generate a PowerPoint presentation based on a Word file or a conversation in Teams. Cool, right?
We will return at that time with an overview of these features and how they can help you work faster.