It seems there’s some good news for anyone who has despaired at Microsoft shoehorning AI features into every aspect of Windows 11, as new reports suggest the company has dropped plans to add its Copilot AI assistant to core parts of its operating system.
Back in 2024, Microsoft EVP Yusuf Mehdi promised Copilot would come to Windows 11’s Settings and File Explorer apps, and even be included in notifications.
However, while the company has been adding AI features to Windows 11, despite many users showing a disinterest – or downright hostility – to those additions, the features Mehdi showed off a few years ago have yet to appear.
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If in doubt, blame Recall
You might… recall… that Recall was initially a big part of Microsoft’s advertising push for Copilot+ PCs – essentially any Windows 11 laptop or desktop that has an NPU (Neural Processing Unit).
However, once critics and users alike started pointing out that having everything on your screen being constantly recorded and stored could be a rather major privacy violation, Microsoft later delayed adding Recall, and belatedly released it as a ‘beta’ test that’s turned off by default. It is still in beta, seemingly waiting for Microsoft to address the numerous concerns people raised about it.
That backlash has apparently made Microsoft cautious about adding AI features to Windows 11 with the Copilot branding, and while that doesn’t mean the company will completely stop adding AI features, Windows Central suggests that this is why we’ve not seen Copilot in Settings and File Explorer.
In fact, I wouldn’t get your hopes up that Microsoft has had some sort of road-to-Damascus realization over how unpopular its decision to add AI features rather than fix some rather fundamental flaws in Windows 11 has been. As Windows Central suggests, the continued work on fixing Recall appears to have put some of Microsoft’s more ambitious AI features on hold.
If Microsoft somehow finds a way to adjust Recall to address people’s privacy concerns, while retaining the original goal of the feature and proving that it’s a feature people should use, then the influx of AI features into Windows 11 could resume.
Also, the report suggests to me that rather than putting Microsoft off from adding AI features, it’s just stopping Microsoft from labelling them as ‘Copilot’ – perhaps in a bid to stop the Copilot brand getting further damaged by unpopular features.
In fact, Microsoft has added AI features to both the Settings app and File Explorer, but they are not as integrated as the features Mehdi presented in 2024, nor do they reference Copilot.
As much as I’d love for Microsoft to drop its AI obsession and get to work making Windows 11 a decent operating system, I just can’t see it happening. The company has invested far too much in AI for it to give up now. It’s also stuck with the Copilot brand, despite it being (in typical Microsoft fashion) a terrible name, and that brand is going to get damaged every time a bad product, feature or service is thrust onto users under the Copilot label.
Microsoft, then, needs to try to keep Copilot separate from the ‘Microslop’ accusations. While you might hope the company would do this by cutting down on poorly thought out AI features, it seems we might still get them, but with fewer Copilot mentions.
Until then, I’m afraid I’m going to continue to use my macOS-powered devices until Windows 11 becomes a more appealing operating system that actually works well, rather than a Trojan horse used to justify the company’s AI obsession.
Still, there are reasons to be positive. When Windows Central reached out to Microsoft, a spokesperson responded saying: “Our approach to product development is to preview with customers and evolve with feedback. Some experiences we may preview privately and update before rolling out more broadly, while others we may preview and iterate publicly with feedback from Windows Insiders,” which suggests Microsoft is taking user feedback on board.
Coupled with reports that Microsoft is cutting down on adding AI features to Windows 11, and instead actually fixing the operating system, I’m hopeful that the company is finally paying attention to its customers who have so far not been too impressed with the AI push, especially as it seems to have come at the expense of quality control. I just hope it’s not too little, too late.
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