MD-100 information source - Windows 10 Updated: 2023

There’s a lot to be said for open source software. The ability to change code to suit one’s needs, the fact that security vulnerabilities can be easier to find, and the overall transparency are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the strengths of using open source software. And, while Microsoft is no Apple when it comes to locking down their source code, their operating system is still, unfortunately, closed.

Don’t despair, though! There is a project out there that aims to change this. No, they’re not stealing anything or breaking into any computers to obtain Microsoft’s code. They’re writing their own version of Windows called ReactOS that aims to be binary-compatible with Windows. The software has been in development for over a decade, but they’re ready to release version 0.4 which will bring USB, sound, networking, wireless, SATA, and many more features to the operating system.

While ReactOS isn’t yet complete for everyday use, the developers have made great strides in understanding how Windows itself works. There is a lot of documentation coming from the project regarding many previously unknown or undocumented parts of Windows, and with more developers there could be a drop-in replacement for Windows within a few years. It’s definitely worth a shot if you fondly remember the frontier days of Linux where doing things like studying information on a CD required extensive experience using the terminal. If this is a little too much, though, there are other unique operating systems out there to investigate.

Thanks for the tip, [Matt]!

The Steps Recorder app for Windows is going away. Microsoft has quietly confirmed it’s killing off the Step Recorder, famous for recording screen on Windows 7, in a future release of Windows, likely via a cumulative update. This was confirmed in a quality updated support document.

Windows 7-era Steps Recorder app’s primary purpose is to help consumers troubleshoot a problem on their devices by recording the screen. This includes exact steps to reproduce the issue, which is why the name “Steps Recorder”. With Steps Recorder, users could send the recorded video to the tech support team and help them diagnose the problem.

As part of its efforts to reduce bloatware in Windows, Microsoft plans to remove the Steps Recorder app in a future release of Windows. The company confirmed the app is no longer being “updated” and recommends switching to modern options like web-based Clipshamp, Snipping Tool or Game Bar.

“Steps Recorder is no longer being updated and will be removed in a future release of Windows. For screen recording, we recommend the Snipping Tool, Xbox Game Bar, or Microsoft Clipchamp,” Microsoft noted.

Some people still use and love Steps Recorder on Windows

In a conversation with Windows Latest, some users reminisced about the often-overlooked utility, Steps Recorder, as Microsoft plans to discontinue it in Windows 11.

Some people still use the Steps Recorder for troubleshooting issues on Windows and consider the tool pretty straightforward and lightweight, albeit with some quirks, especially when recording Command Prompt sequences.

One of our readers highlighted Steps Recorder’s role as a troubleshooting aid, detailing its straightforward activation process via psr.exe. The tool’s capability to capture keyboard and mouse activity in screenshots, coupled with descriptions, made it a helpful app for creating troubleshooting tutorials.

With Steps Recorder going away, you can use Microsoft’s native screen recorders like Game Bar, Snipping Tool and Clipchamp or switch to a third-party open-source alternative like OBS.

Other apps going away on Windows

In addition to Steps Recorder, Microsoft plans to remove several legacy apps and services in the coming months. This includes the unpopular “Tips” app, which is being deprecated for now, and the content will continue to be updated with new information.

Microsoft is also removing the Computer Browser driver and service, Webclient (WebDAV) Service, Remote Mailslots, Windows Timeline for Microsoft Entra accounts, VBScript and more.

That’s not all. Windows 12 won’t even ship with WordPad as Microsoft wants people to try Word or NotePad, which supports rich text documents.

Price When Reviewed

$139.99

Best Prices Today: Windows 11 2023 Update

Microsoft’s most accurate update to Windows 11, formally known as the Windows 11 2023 Update (23H2), is the most consequential update in some time. Of course, you probably think you know why: Windows Copilot, Microsoft’s first step in creating a Windows “AI PC.” But there’s as much under the hood and within updates to familiar applications like Paint that almost overshadow the rest.

Microsoft began rolling out the Windows 11 2023 Update at the very end of October, and you should see it start to deploy on your PC in the coming weeks — if it’s not there already. Consider this to be a review of the new features, but also recommendations to those you should try.

It’s important to note that Windows 11’s 2023 Update is both a cumulative update, as well as one that won’t be rolled out in one fell swoop. I expected to see some features in my Windows 11 Home test laptops, including features that other publications have reported were present. At press time, some of those have shown up; a few haven’t. To ensure that you do the latest features, update your PC via Windows Update after checking the “Get the latest updates as soon as they are available” box. Check the Microsoft Store, too, for individual app updates.

My favorite new features in the Windows 11 2023 Update? Passkeys, the updates to Paint and Photos, and heck, even Snipping Tool. Copilot is…okay. But killing off Mail in favor of the new Outlook app? Boo. BOO.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Windows Copilot (Copilot) is blandly effective

Windows Copilot, now just called Copilot, is the flagship feature of Windows 11’s 2023 Update, and for good reason: Copilot helps usher in a new generation of AI-infused PCs. Copilot is an odd amalgamation of Bing Chat with some of the capabilities of Windows’ old Cortana app, now deprecated. Type in a question to the small chat box (up to 2000 characters, or less than about 500 words) and Copilot will return a Bing Chat-like response with a couple of sources at the end. Ask it to draw you a picture, and it will. It even can perform a few Windows tasks for you, such as shifting your PC to dark mode.

You’ll find the Copilot icon on your Taskbar, most likely just to the right of the Search box. (Or else use Windows+C).

Copilot is rudimentary at best. It’s slow: on a 400Mbps home broadband connection, it took about eighteen seconds to respond to a request, and several more to generate a response. Copilot churns through its response, line by line, reminiscent of how a dot matrix printer’s head would go back and forth.

Mark Hachman / IDG

On average, Copilot is a novelty. It’s not omnipresent, such as how your browser’s URL/search bar is. Instead, it must be opened via the small Copilot icon on your taskbar. Somewhat ironically, it appears right next to the Windows Search box — which really does nothing of the sort, search-wise. Microsoft has yet to commit to a genuine search experience on the desktop, and Copilot isn’t it.

Copilot can be used as a search tool, and functions pretty well when it’s asked to provide a lengthy response on a given Topic — such as what it itself can do. Ask it for assistance with a pitch deck, and it provides good advice. But as someone who has written for a living for about a quarter of a century, Copilot’s sourcing mechanism — a footnote, with a link at the bottom — is depressing. A list of links, whether it be from Bing, Google, Brave or elsewhere, provides some visual context as to what that page contains. There’s no indication whether Copilot knows what it’s talking about.

The key with Copilot: experiment. Do not think of it as a search engine, with narrow, factual queries. The best test of Copilot is to try open-ended queries. Copilot does have access to Bing, so asking it for up-to-date information will work: I asked it a question about a accurate world event, and it cited information recorded on the date I asked it. One weakness: The information Copilot cited came from a report on its own news service, MSN, which only gave the headline when I hovered over it. As it turned out, the source was a respected news source, Reuters, but that’s not obvious.

And then there’s the personality. Which is to say, there isn’t one. Windows 11’s Copilot offers the same three personality modes at the beginning of the conversation: Creative, Precise, and Balanced. Changing them doesn’t seem to have much effect, as far as most generic inquiries are concerned.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Microsoft goes to ludicrous lengths make sure you’re not offended or that it’s not violating privacy policies. “How do I create a pitch deck” warned me that the conversation wouldn’t be saved, as the information wouldn’t be public. God forbid you ask it anything even remotely racy, such as a question about the role of the male prostate. “My mistake, I can’t provide a response to that right now. Let’s try a different topic” will be a frequent response.

And if you do choose to exercise your adult prerogative, it gets snippy: “That is not an appropriate Topic for me to chat about. Please respect my boundaries and let’s talk about something else. Thank you. 🙔 Copilot feels less like a personal assistant and more like a young HR representative sitting next to your desk.

Copilot will also summarize a web page, which is really handy for long articles or papers. The catch is, naturally, that it only understands Web pages which were opened in Edge, and it has to have been opened before the Web page loads, not the other way around. But yes, this is a useful feature.

One problem, though, is that Copilot isn’t consistent across Windows. A version of Copilot is tucked away inside Edge; if you click the icon in the upper-right-hand corner, you’ll see a Copilot window open up. But this version of Copilot is the less powerful one: if you ask it to switch your PC to dark mode, Copilot will provide you a list of instructions that includes locating and switching the Windows setting. The Windows Copilot on the taksbar will offer a button to actually perform the process, instead.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Windows has always lacked a robust, one-stop-shop for help, tips, and new features. Copilot’s ability to guide and adjust settings on your Windows PC feels like a step forward, but it’s still so very random. I was rather pleased when I was able to ask Copilot exactly what it could do, and received a nice summary: take a screenshot, change your PC to dark mode, manage Bluetooth, and initiate a screen cast. All these are sort of useful, though painfully slow to use. And they work.

But what Copilot can do to manage your PC feels like such a tiny teaspoon of features set against the gallons of things Windows can already accomplish that it’s just not worth even asking. Even just being able to link to the appropriate Settings menu would be a good start.

But there is potential, even now. When I asked Copilot for help creating a pitch deck, it offered to open PowerPoint, and then gave me a list of ideas to construct it. And when I opened PowerPoint, I noticed that it had chosen to highlight “pitch deck” templates.

That’s exactly what users will want Copilot to do. Microsoft is not going to be in a race to convince users that Copilot can accomplish their tasks — but to convince users to assume Copilot will be able to perform those tasks. Until Microsoft can build a dependence upon Copilot, the feature will flounder.

File Explorer’s UI update feels useful for business users

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I value the new changes to File Explorer, specifically a new “carousel” view of files that puts the most recommended files atop File Explorer’s new “Home” view, and a “Gallery” view that shows you your photo thumbnails.

Windows 11 only seems to allow access to the carousel view if you have a corporate SharePoint account (my employer, IDG, does) and not if you use a personal Microsoft 365 subscription. But not only is it a nice way of keeping frequently-used documents handy, it also seems to aggregate documents that were emailed to a work account. Note that the documents File Explorer collects seem to be different than the “Recommended” files that the Windows Start menu collects.

Mark Hachman / IDG

If a file does appear in the carousel view, you’ll see some accompanying information attached to it, who created it, if you recently edited it, and so forth. You’ll even see “conversations” about it. The latter, though, assumes that you’re working and chatting about it in Windows apps. Emails about it didn’t seem to be referenced, and if you discuss the file in, say, Slack, I wouldn’t expect those conversations will appear.

There are many ways of transferring photos from a phone to a PC, including the Your Phone app that Microsoft provides for Android phones. The File Explorer Gallery view is another option, with a no-nonsense mosaic of photos that it pulls from your PC — from your phone’s camera roll, or via screenshots that you’ve saved via your PC.

Normally, I use the Photos app for this, reviewing my photos and then editing them. Here, it takes an additional step to edit your photos, via Photos or some other app. But the advantage here is that you can treat the files as files — selecting multiple files, saving them in a ZIP file, or quickly sharing images with contacts via a OneDrive link. That’s a handy feature that Photos lacks. In that app, “sharing” a handful of files means Windows will simply embed them inside an email.

Mark Hachman / IDG

The one thing I don’t like about the Gallery view: it’s slow. I can take a photo on my Android smartphone and it takes minutes to show up, even if it can be found on OneDrive’s Camera roll and in the Windows Photos app, which connects to it. I can understand a delay, but I finally gave up on looking for a accurate shot and moved on.

File Explorer now thankfully unpacks RAR and 7-Zip files, among others, which has been substantially overdue.

Passkeys are the future, now

I love passkeys. One of the advantages of Windows Hello is how simple it makes logging in, using just your face or a fingerprint to identify yourself. Web developers have long promised that we’ll start to see those in everyday web sites, just as mobile applications are now beginning to use biometric logins as either a secondary form of identification of just a primary login. Put another way, to log in to Google, all you need to do is let Windows recognize your face. That’s it!

Either way, we’re just starting to see passkeys appear. So far, I’ve only seen them offered for Microsoft, Google, and most recently, Amazon. Setting up a passkey can be as simple as accepting the invitation from the Web site to set up a passkey. In Amazon’s case, you’ll need to dig through your account settings to find the option.

Unfortunately, while Favorites and passwords can be synced via Edge, Passkeys currently do not. That means that if you move from PC to PC, you’ll need to re-apply the passkey.

Mark Hachman / IDG

To manage your passkeys, navigate to Settings>Accounts>Passkeys within the Windows 11 Settings menu. While you’ll need to sign up with a web browser, it doesn’t matter if that browser is Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome; the passkeys will be saved to Windows on your PC.

Supposedly Windows offers the option of using a nearby phone as a security token to provide another level of authentication, but I was never offered that option.

Windows Backup and Restore overpromises, underdelivers

I can’t say I love the new Windows Backup and Restore option nearly as much. I’ve made my feelings clear in a separate story, but the bottom line is this: the new Windows Backup app is solid in what it promises. Backup takes your apps (but only apps that can be found in the Windows Store, mind) and stores them in the cloud. It should do the same with your documents and files.

Upon configuring a new PC, the “Out of the Box Experience” should offer to restore those apps and files. But the whole process is a mess. Videos don’t carry over. Neither do games and apps that you didn’t download from the Microsoft Store. And I’ve truly begun to dislike the whole “placeholder” file concept, which makes me wade through numerous icons to find the files I’m looking for, unless I hide them behind some master file folder.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Backup and Restore should essentially clone my PC’s drive into the cloud, then reproduce it on a new PC. It doesn’t come close to that. Microsoft should either rename “Backup and Restore” to something that doesn’t promise a full backup and restoration, or possibly buy a company like PCMover. (Ironically, PCMover doesn’t transfer apps that can be acquired from the Microsoft Store.) With speedy broadband, downloading applications isn’t that big of a deal. But with games and big video files, transferring them from one PC to another can be a real pain. Windows Backup and Restore doesn’t really solve that problem yet.

UI improvements in Taskbar, Settings, and the Volume interface

The Start menu and the Taskbar are left relatively unchanged in the Windows 11 2023 Update. Some people (me included, on occasion) like when an app pinned to the Taskbar shows you what it actually is, instead of an icon. This feature an be configured in  Personalization > Taskbar within the Settings menu in the Windows 11 22H2 update: “Combine taskbar and hide labels.” If you set it to “never,” the icons on your Taskbar will be replaced with badged labels. (Even on a widescreen monitor, though, you won’t be able to see too much.)

Mark Hachman / IDG

Microsoft has said that it will be replacing the “Chat” app on your Taskbar with the oddly named Microsoft Teams (free), complete with an overhaul and with SMS texting. It’s not here yet, though.

Likewise, Settings has been improved, so that the first “home” page consolidates information that was previously scattered about several pages. It’s a front door to changing system settings like your display, personalizing your PC’s background, and managing your Bluetooth devices. Some people may care that the “Apps” section now separates some Windows apps, now labeled as “System components,” into a separate page.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Settings now leans a bit too much toward subscriptions — most people probably don’t need a constant reminder of their OneDrive quota and Game Pass subscription, but it’s understandable.

Microsoft has also provided an updated audio mixer for Windows 11, which is a step forward. You’ll need the click the volume controls in the Taskbar, than navigate through to the small “wires” icon to the right of the volume bar to make any adjustments. But it’s a fairly natural interface, even if it “drops down” a bit, forcing you to scroll down. Muting works as expected.

App improvements overshadow Windows 11’s own

In years past, updates to various Windows apps were part and parcel of the Windows upgrade experience itself. No longer. Instead, updating your applications within the Microsoft Store app brings with it a whole host of improvements that, in this update, might just overshadow what Windows 11 now offers.

Mark Hachman / IDG

AI “appears” inside the Microsoft Store app, as part of an “AI Hub” page that indexes some “AI” powered apps, including ones you may have heard of (Adobe Lightroom) and others you haven’t (Gamma). If you’re intrigued by AI, then it’s worth checking out — sort of a curated page of AI-powered apps that may become more important as AI itself does.

It’s a point I’ve tried to make tangentially in other stories, but it’s worth repeating: Microsoft cares about storing your data in its cloud, using AI to access it, and charging you a subscription fee for the whole package. Intel, Qualcomm, and AMD are trying to sell you local AI, that runs on your PC, for free. The two approaches may eventually go to war with one another…or not. But it’s worth keeping an eye on.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Instant Games is another new novelty: quick games that you can play right from the Store without having to install them. There’s a dozen or so — but nothing that’s really worth seeking out.

AI in Paint and Photos: Wow!

The humble Microsoft Paint has also been supercharged in time for the Windows 11 2023 Update, with three distinct improvements: layers, Cocreator, and background removal. The three go hand in hand.

Layers have been a feature of photo-editing tools for some time. You can separate a primary layer in Adobe Photoshop, where you can add a photo or illustration; in another layer, you can add a secondary illustration, such as a background. When the editing is done, you can export the image with both (or more) layers combined together. Paint now has a simple version of this, where a Layers tool allows you to construct multiple layers, than combine them together via a Merge function.

I am a very basic amateur artist, which means that I initially struggled to use the Layers tool. Cocreator, though, helps. As the name suggests, it’s an AI image creator, much like Bing Image Creator. What’s odd about it, though, is that Bing Image Creator not only generates images of better quality and resolution, but works off a separate “credit” system. (Exhaust your credits, and the images are generated more slowly, at least on Bing Image Creator.) However, there are drop-down menus to choose styles, such as “oil painting,” that aren’t in Bing Image Creator.

Mark Hachman / IDG

The easiest and best way I found to use the updated Paint was to import a photo (or use Cocreator), then extract the subject from the background. Again, that uses AI to identify the subject of the photo — no “magic lasso” or selection necessary. I then created a background layer. All of this is a bit like the Magic Select tool that I loved in Paint 3D.

This is a victory for Microsoft. You’re not going to get the sophisticated elements of a photo editing tool like Photoshop or Lightroom with the new Paint. Still, the update gently introduces you into lightweight AI art generation and editing, even if it’s a bit obtuse for newcomers.

There’s a small AI-enhanced addition to Photos, too: background blur, and it’s fantastic. You’re probably aware that traditional DSLRs add background blurring, or bokeh, as a natural byproduct of how a lens focuses. A digital camera or smartphone’s “portrait mode” adds this via AI. So too, does Photos.

You’ll need to select a photo in Photos, then edit it using the leftmost teeny-tiny icon above it. You’ll then see the interface that looks much like it did a year ago. What’s new, though, is the additional “background blur” option that appears to the far right. Click it, and Photos identifies the foreground subject and blurs the rest of the image. You have an option to adjust the blur function, and even unblur specific areas.

Let’s put it this way: I take a lot of photos with a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and it does just an average job at identifying the sharp, distinct edge of a laptop in portrait mode. Photos does it nearly perfectly. With the Photos’ Retouch /”Spot fix” feature back in place to erase bits of dust and dirt, plus Auto Enhance and now Background Blur, we can hopefully bury my old Photos complaints.

I’m going to stand up and cheer for the AI improvements in Photos and Paint. They’re not front and center like Copilot is, but they’re equally (if not more) important.

Snipping Tool is more than just a way to capture screenshots, though that’s the way I (and probably you) still think of it. But you can capture an image or video, and you can adjust the app’s settings to include audio from your mic and the system sounds. In reality, you can basically record an app while you narrate what’s going on. Microsoft doesn’t explicitly connect the Snipping Tool to Clipchamp, but that would be the next step to edit your videos.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Snipping Tool also has a new component: the ability to extract and redact text. Windows 11 uses optical character recognition to extract text, and it does an excellent job when it does so. All you need to do is highlight an area on screenshot or PDF, and the tool copies the extracted text into the copy buffer. (I didn’t test this on a protected PDF, but it works just fine on a normal one.)

The app also is surprisingly intelligent when it comes to redacting text, too. As a test, I gave it a screenshot of a document the Consumer Electronics Association had sent me for CES. Snipping Tool automatically redacted my email and a personal identification number the CEA sent me. Unfortunately, it doesn’t automatically identify my username when I try and take a screenshot of the Windows Settings menu, however.

This probably isn’t what Microsoft had in mind, but there’s an undeniable 1980s Cold War vibe that I get when Snipping Tool extracts text from a PDF or redacts personal information.

RGB lighting controls

Dynamic Lighting doesn’t actually qualify as a Windows app, but it’s a sort of “uber app” within the Settings menu (Personalization > Dynamic Lighting) that supposedly eliminates the proprietary apps that govern peripherals with RGB lighting. Peripherals from Razer are still the favorites here, but you may find more are added over time.

Michael Crider/Foundry

Ideally, Dynamic Lighting was designed to take RGB peripherals from Corsair, Razer, NZXT, Logitech and more and provide one app to rule them all, so to speak, rather than force you to download and load apps from each manufacturer to control all of the sparkly, blinking lights. Unfortunately, it’s sort of limited to a lot of modern Razer peripherals and not a whole lot else. I have an old left-handed Razer DeathAdder that I really like, but Dynamic Lighting does nothing to stop its constant pulsing.

Outlook is replacing Mail

One of the reasons not to get the Windows 11 2023 Update is the new Outlook app (which differs from the more robust Outlook app in Microsoft 365 — and no, I have no idea why there’s two). You may find, as I did, that Windows finally killed off Mail and replaced it with the lightweight Outlook app. Mail did just what it needed to do, and no more, with a dense UI that emphasized the essentials.

If you try to load Mail, the app will open, crash, then be replaced by Outlook. I have no idea why Microsoft can deprecate Movies & TV and Windows Maps but leave them in the Microsoft Store, but it can’t do that with Mail. Please bring Mail back, Microsoft!

Things we expected to see, but didn’t

In our introduction to Windows 11 2023 Update, we expected to see in-field inking: if you were to write “Bluetooth” in the search box, the ink would be inputted and accepted as “Bluetooth.” That isn’t the case, unfortunately.

Windows Spotlight appears to be the same as before, allowing you to opt in to Microsoft’s selection of desktop backgrounds. We’re not seeing options to up- or downvote backgrounds yet. Microsoft is also allowing HDR displays to display HDR-backgrounds in HDR, which appears to be the case on an HDR monitor. There’s no explicit mention of this that we can find, though.

All of these features may be headed to your PC (and ours!) in the future.

Conclusion: a step ahead

It’s been a while since PCWorld has written a Windows 11 feature update review, and a while since we’ve had a feature update worth reviewing. Windows 11 finally feels livelier, more energetic. I’m not entirely sure that Windows is headed in the direction most users care about, if only because I’m not sure Windows 11 users are demanding the AI future that Microsoft envisions.

To its credit, though, Microsoft’s first attempt at an AI-infused PC put artificial intelligence both high and low: as a high-profile assistant with Copilot, but also with more subtle, pointed improvements within Paint and Photos. My contacts in the chip industry feel that those very specific, localized features will be how AI PCs eventually succeed. Yes, you might walk away thinking that you’ll never need all this AI junk in your operating system. I can’t help but think these incremental updates will generally ease that reluctance, but over time.

If I had to deliver a letter grade, it would be somewhere around a B. Microsoft’s Windows 11 2023 Update is a step toward the AI PC, providing a foundational update that Microsoft can build upon.

This review was updated on Nov. 7 to clarify the differences between Copilot for Windows and Copilot for Microsoft Edge.

Despite plenty of misgivings, artificial intelligence—and in particular, generative AI that produces text and images from prompts—continues to be pushed into the hardware and software we use every day.

Microsoft has been active in the space, adding AI chatbot capabilities to its Bing search engine earlier this year, and it's now previewing an early version of its new Copilot AI assistant in Windows 11.

Copilot has been built to "enhance your creativity and productivity," Microsoft says, and it works in a similar way to Bing's chatbot—capable of coming up with everything from travel advice to an original poem.

To get Copilot in Windows 11, make sure you're running the very latest version of the operating system: Head to Windows Update in Settings to check (you might need to turn on the Get the latest updates as soon as they're available toggle switch).

By default, you should see a Copilot button on the taskbar, which you can click to launch it (head to Personalization then Taskbar in Settings if you want to change this). You can also launch Copilot with the Win+C keyboard shortcut, or via the Start menu.

Text and Image Generation

If you're completely new to generative AI, just dive in and try something: You can tell Copilot to compose a short poem, an introduction to a cover letter, or text for an email to a coworker. When you start a new chat, you'll see you can choose between More Creative, More Balanced, and More Precise conversation styles, just like Bing Chat on the web—so you can tweak how imaginative Copilot gets with its responses.

You're not just limited to generating text though, because you can ask Copilot questions as well. Thanks to its links to Bing and the web, it can tell you about the must-see sights in a particular place, provide you cooking and recipe tips, or offer advice on the best ways to fix a DIY problem around the home. You'll see that the responses come with links to where the information has been sourced from online.

Windows 11’s 2023 Update is here, bringing with it a number of new features to explore. But which ones are worth trying? We’ve listed our favorites, below.

Windows 11’s 2023 Update is (eventually) being pushed to your PC as a free, cumulative update, which means that it encompasses features and applications that may have already arrived on your PC. Windows 11 users will receive most of the 2023 Update features by Nov. 14, though it may take longer for some systems.

As our review shows, the latest Windows 11 2023 Update feels meaningful, in a way that Windows hasn’t for a while. In part, that’s because of what it promises: an evolution into an “AI PC,” a term adopted by Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, and PC makers. True, AI might be the hot new term in the way “metaverse” once was, but it offers some tangible benefits right now, with more to come.

Here are the must-try new features of Windows 11’s 2023 Update.

Passkeys

If you have a Windows 11 2023 Update PC with Windows Hello, you’ll have access to passkeys — a password-free future that can’t get here soon enough. They’re the least sexy thing about the Windows 11 2023 Update, but they’re so, so useful.

At one time sitting down to your PC meant entering your password to log on for the day. Windows Hello did away with that. Now, visiting a website means that you need a password manager or browser to store your passwords. Wouldn’t you like Windows Hello to do that, too? That’s what a passkey does.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Websites aren’t throwing passkeys at you, but they’re out there. Microsoft supports the newfangled technology, as does Google. Amazon does too. For each site, you’ll need to set up a passkey. The drawback? They only work on one PC, not mobile, and they don’t roam from PC to PC, either. But I’m all in favor of letting a Web site recognize me, just like my PC.

To manage your passkeys, navigate to Settings > Accounts > Passkeys within the Windows 11 Settings menu.

Copilot

Once known as Windows Copilot, it’s the obvious place to start. Copilot is basically Bing AI Chat with a bonus: you can provide it commands to tweak your PC settings, without knowing exactly how to do it.

We’re going to be up front: While this is the flagship feature of Windows 11’s 2023 Update, it’s not its best. But it is absolutely something you need to try, to understand what Copilot and AI can and can’t do.

Copilot’s icon can be located in the Taskbar, just right of the search box, or type Win+C to activate it. (You’ll see a similar Copilt icon nesting in the upper right-hand corner of Microsoft Edge. The difference is that Edge’s version can only function as a chatbot; the version “within Windows” can make adjustments to your PC.) Click it, and a sidebar will slide over from the right. Ignore the “Creative,” “Balanced,” and “Precise” choices, as they don’t make much difference.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Instead, start asking it questions. Don’t treat it as a search engine: you’re looking for opinions and analysis, not answers. And be creative. You can ask, “How much is Oprah worth,” but it’s much more enlightening to ask if she’s more influential than Barack Obama or Tyler Perry. Was Joe DiMaggio a better player than Albert Pujols? Try it and see. Copilot’s smart enough that if you tell it that “I’m 40, with $85,000 in the bank. How do I maximize my retirement?” it will actually go out, search the Web, plug in those numbers into an AARP retirement calculator, and start suggesting strategies — all without opening a Web page. Copilot’s not always objectively right, but it will cite its sources, via footnotes and links.

Copilot will also accept photos or images as input, and answer questions about them. Copilot uses Bing as a search engine, so it stays up to date. You can ask it to draw images, too.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Copilot’s weaknesses are that it’s slow — queries can take several seconds to respond to. It’s bland, lacking personality, aside from the odd emoji or two. If you try to ask something that’s Not Safe For Work, it will shut you down and refuse to answer — and that can get annoying. Conversations last just 30 responses. And you can’t be 100 percent sure it’s right, either.

You can ask Copilot to tweak various elements of your PC, like setting it to dark mode or taking a screenshot. The annoying thing is that Copilot doesn’t easily tell you what you can or can’t do, which makes it an exercise in frustration. (And no, asking Copilot doesn’t work that well, either.) Still, Copilot is an AI tool you should know.

Paint

We celebrated Paint’s new lease on life back in 2019, and since then Microsoft has finally brought Paint back into the fold. After adding accessibility enhancements back in 2019, Paint has seen something of a renaissance: adding background removal, transparency and layers, and even Cocreator, an AI art tool that leverages Bing Image Creator.

Paint remains Paint, at its core: a basic tool to resize, draw upon, add arrows to, and generally mark up images. But the three latest features provide it some Photoshop-like capabilities: you can take a photo, use AI to highlight and pull out the subject of a photo, add an AI background to it, and republish it as a whole new piece of art. It’s simple, though not the most intuitive for those who have never used Photoshop.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Still, Paint’s ethos has always been simplicity, and the Windows 11 2023 Update takes some of the better elements of generative AI art and applies them to Paint. There’s room for improvement, but it’s a really interesting addition.

The Windows Photos app has a new background blur feature, which I personally find extremely useful when snapping a quick photo of a laptop. But you’re not me, and I think that the Snipping Tool will be much more universally accessible.

Snipping Tool is Microsoft’s screenshot tool (Win+Shift+S), and has two purposes: record an image of what’s on the screen, or (alternatively) a video. I suspect not enough people use the latter function, preferring Canva or Clipchamp instead. But the video recording now adds mic and/or system audio, too.

Mark Hachman / IDG

The better feature is the automated text extraction and redaction. Take a screenshot, click the little “text extraction” button, and Windows automatically copies the text from the image, using OCR. On my tests, it works really, really well. If you’re at a sales conference or an academic retreat and just want to quickly grab text via a photo, this is the tool to use.

Snipping Tool is also smart enough to recognize text that you don’t want to share. This is impressive, too. I haven’t tested it extensively with, say, filing travel expenses for an expense report, but Windows seems smart enough to redact personal information from the documents I’ve tried it on.

But wait, there’s more!

That’s not all the Windows 11 2023 Update has to offer– check out our Windows 11 23H2 review for more. If you’re into gaming, for example, you may find Dynamic Lighting to be right up your alley, while productivity-minded folks will want to check out the File Explorer improvements.

But these are the four biggest improvements Windows 11 will bring to your PC, for free.

No matter how many features Microsoft crams into its Windows 10 operating system, there will always be users looking for a faster, better or different way of doing things. Microsoft’s acknowledgment of this force of human nature is the Microsoft PowerToys download. With the general release of Microsoft Windows 11, developers are now referring to this project as Microsoft PowerToys rather than Windows 10 PowerToys.

A set of slightly unusual free Windows tools has been a part of the Windows operating system landscape since Windows 95, but their availability was noticeably absent for Windows 10 and Windows 11 — at least until September 2019.

In 2019, Microsoft partnered with Janea Systems and released the first two PowerToys for Windows 10, accompanied by a promise of more releases in the near future. This TechRepublic cheat sheet describes each available tool or feature provided by Microsoft’s official Microsoft PowerToys and describes what each system utility can do.

Jump to:

When was Microsoft PowerToys first made available?

The first set of Microsoft PowerToys were first made available for Windows 95. That first set of 15 free utilities were published and endorsed by Microsoft and made available in a free download.

From the beginning, PowerToys were designed for “power users” who were seeking ways to tweak how the operating system functions. In some cases, inexperienced users were able to make a careless change while using a PowerToys utility, which could wreak havoc within the Windows operating system; as such, novice users have often been encouraged to use caution.

For the most part, though, PowerToys have allowed users — whether they considered themselves power users or not — to more easily make tweaks to the look and feel of Windows without a deep dive into configuration screens or the dreaded and dangerous edit of the Windows Registry file.

Even in the earliest iterations of PowerToys, Microsoft offered users many valuable functionalities. Windows 95 PowerToys included:

• TweakUI was used for tweaking obscure Windows settings.
• CD Autoplay allowed all CDs to autoplay, not just audio CDs.
• Command Prompt Here opened a command prompt in the current directory.
• Explore from Here opened File Explorer in the current directory.
• FlexiCD allowed users to control audio CDs from the Taskbar.
• Xmouse 1.2 allowed users to change window focus by moving the mouse cursor, no click needed.

Through the years and various Windows versions, individual PowerToys have come and gone. Each Windows version inspired a new set of tools based on what developers perceived was needed to Improve and enhance that version. Windows 10 inspired a completely new set of PowerToys.

Additional resources for Windows users

How can I get Microsoft PowerToys?

Traditionally, each of the Microsoft PowerToys has been offered as a separate executable file, available as a free download from a specific Microsoft website.

For Windows 10 and Windows 11, Microsoft has taken a slightly different approach. All Windows 10 PowerToys are now included as part of a free downloadable system that users can configure. Figure A shows you what the Microsoft PowerToys system looks like.

Figure A

Windows PowerToys Version v0.75.0 is available on GitHub right now. Release v0.75.0 adds an Environment Variables editor to the toolset already available in PowerToys. The new release also makes quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes. Environment Variables allows users, particularly software developers, to add, change and apply profiles, user information and system setting variables.

These PowerToys are currently available:

• FancyZones
• Windows key Shortcut Guide
• PowerRename
• Preview Pane add-ons for File Explorer
• Image resizer
• Window Walker
• PowerToys Run
• Keyboard Manager
• Color Picker
• Video Conference Mute
• Awake
• Mouse utilities
• Always on Top
• Screen Ruler
• Quick Accent
• Text Extractor
• File Locksmith
• Hosts File Editor
• Mouse Jump
• Paste as Text
• Registry Preview
• Mouse Without Borders
• Peek
• Crop and Lock
• Environment Variables

SEE: All of TechRepublic’s cheat sheets and smart person’s guides

What can Microsoft PowerToys do?

Here is a list of available Microsoft PowerToys with a brief description of what each toy does.

FancyZones

FancyZones allows users to manage where and how each application window that is open on a Windows desktop will display.

SEE: Learn more about how to use and configure FancyZones.

For example, you could use FancyZones to set up a Windows 10 desktop where Outlook always displays on the right-hand side of the desktop, Twitter or other social media always displays on the left-hand side of the desktop, and Word or Excel always displays in the middle between the other two. There would be three distinct and perpetual zones displayed at all times (Figure B).

Figure B

Windows key Shortcut Guide

The Windows key Shortcut Guide displays all of the available keyboard shortcuts for the current Windows desktop (Figure C). This PowerToy is activated by holding the Windows key down for the length of time specified in the tool’s configuration settings. The default is 900ms.

SEE: Here’s how to use the Windows key Shortcut Guide.

With this feature, users don’t have to remember so many Windows key-related shortcut combinations.

Figure C

PowerRename

The PowerRename Windows PowerToy provides users with advanced tools for bulk renaming of files. The toy extends the Windows Shell Context Menu to add an entry for PowerRename to File Explorer (Figure D).

Figure D

With PowerRename enabled, simple search and replace or more powerful regular expression matching are added to your toolset for the bulk renaming process. A preview area is displayed as you perform search and replace procedures, so you can see how file names will change before initiating the action.

Preview Pane add-ons for File Explorer

This Windows PowerToy expands on the Preview Pane feature already available in the standard File Explorer application by adding additional file types. Preview Pane allows users to preview the contents of a file after clicking it in File Explorer without actually opening the file (Figure E).

Figure E

Version 0.16.0 adds preview support for Scalable Vector Graphics (.svg) and Markdown (.md) files. Subsequent PowerToys releases have added more file types including source code files and geometric code.

Image Resizer

The Image Resizer Windows PowerToy adds more functionality to File Explorer by allowing users to apply bulk image resizing. Users can select images in File Explorer and then select the new Resize Pictures item on the context menu, revealed with a right-click on any image (Figure F).

Figure F

Window Walker

The Window Walker Windows PowerToy is designed to be an alternative to the standard Alt-Tab feature in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Users press the CTRL-Windows key combination instead of Alt-Tab to pull up a search box (Figure G). Users then enter keywords into the search box to narrow down the currently open apps and screens on their desktop.

Figure G

PowerToys Run

PowerToys Run acts as a quick launcher in Windows. It is another extension of the ALT-Tab concept and taps into the Windows file indexing system. To activate the tool, use the keyboard combination ALT-Space and start typing the name of your desired application (Figure H).

Figure H

PowerToys Run will search the system and start listing possible applications based on your search phrase. When the application you desire appears, click or tap to run.

Keyboard Manager

The Keyboard Manager application in Microsoft PowerToys is a simple keyboard remapper. Run the application from the PowerToys menu (Figure I) and either remap a single key on your keyboard or remap a shortcut keyboard combination. Whatever you remap will remain active as long as Keyboard Manager is enabled and PowerToys is running in the background.

Figure I

Color Picker

Color Picker was contributed to the Microsoft PowerToys project by Martin Chrzan. The utility allows you to identify any color on your screen by either its HEX or RGB code and then save that information to the Windows clipboard for later use (Figure J). It is a simple tool, but it can save time and prevent frustration for developers and content creators working on color design.

Figure J

Video Conference Mute

As a number of organizations shifted to remote work structures during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us now rely on video teleconferencing for work and school interactions and collaboration. The Video Conference Mute tool in Microsoft PowerToys allows you to mute the audio and video on your PC with a single key combination (Figure K).

Figure K

You may mute both audio and video at the same time or independently. The same key combination will toggle the audio and video back to the on position. The Video Conference Mute tool works regardless of what app you are using or what app is currently in the foreground.

Awake

The Microsoft PowerToys tool Awake was contributed to the PowerToys project by the community with attribution given to Den Delimarsky. Awake allows users to keep their computer awake on-demand without having to manage its power settings (Figure L).

Figure L

Mouse utilities

Mouse utilities was contributed to the Microsoft PowerToys project by Raymond Chen. Mouse utilities is a collection of features that enhance the mouse and cursor functionality on Windows systems.

SEE: Learn how to activate and use the Windows Mouse utilities.

With two consecutive presses of the Left CTRL key, Find My Mouse will locate your mouse cursor and highlight its current position with a halo (Figure M). Pressing the Esc key will dismiss the highlight. The Find My Mouse feature is useful for presentations on large displays when you want to draw the audience’s attention to a specific area of the screen.

Figure M

Always on Top

Always on Top allows users to designate the application window currently in focus as “always on top” with a keyboard shortcut toggle (Figure N).

Figure N

Regardless of what commands, mouse clicks or other inputs are made from that point on, the designated window will remain at the forefront, superseding any other open windows until Always on Top is toggled off. The default keyboard shortcut for the Always on Top toggle is Windows Key + CTRL + T.

Screen Ruler

The Microsoft PowerToys utility, Screen Ruler is a quick and easy way to measure the pixels represented on your display screen (Figure O). The tool is perfect for determining the pixel size of a potential screen capture or for lining up objects in a document.

Figure O

Quick Accent

Quick Accent is an alternative way to type accented characters, which is useful for when a keyboard doesn’t support that specific accent with a quick key combo (Figure P). Use this utility to create accented characters, especially for writing in languages other than English.

Figure P

Text Extractor

The Microsoft PowerToys utility Text Extractor is a convenient way to copy text from anywhere on your screen (Figure Q). This code is based on Joe Finney’s Text Grab. Text Extractor uses optical character recognition to read the text on the screen, so it may require editing or proofreading.

Figure Q

File Locksmith

The Microsoft PowerToys utility File Locksmith is a Windows shell extension for checking what files are in use and by which processes (Figure R). After installing, right-click on one or more selected files in File Explorer, and then select “What’s using this file?” from the context menu.

Figure R

Hosts File Editor

The Window PowerToys utility Hosts File Editor is a quick and simple utility for editing a local hosts file (Figure S). Note, the application will only work if a hosts file exists.

Figure S

Mouse Jump

The Microsoft PowerToys utility Mouse Jump is a new feature for the existing set of mouse utilities (Figure T). Mouse Jump allows you to instantly move the mouse pointer great distances on the same screen and even jump from one screen to another, if you wish.

SEE: Learn more about the features that released with PowerToys 0.68.0.

Figure T

Paste as Text

The Window PowerToys utility Paste as Text is a keyboard combination shortcut that allows users to paste formatted clipboard contents as plain unformatted text (Figure U). Using this tool will also replace the formatted text with plain text in the clipboard, so users can always paste as text.

Figure U

Registry Preview

PowerToys Registry Preview, released in Version 0.69.0, is designed to simplify the process of visualizing and editing Windows Registry files (Figure V). The utility app also allows you to write registry changes directly to the Windows Registry file without using the standard Regedit app that comes built into the Windows operating system.

Figure V

Mouse Without Borders

PowerToys Mouse Without Borders, released in Version 0.70.0, gives users the ability to interact with other computers using the same keyboard and mouse they are using for their current PC (Figure W). With Mouse Without Borders, users can also share clipboard and files between the machines. Control of the other computers is granted using an encryption key.

Figure W

Peek

Peek, released in Version 0.70.0, allows users to see a quick preview of files they select in File Explorer when they press a specified keyboard shortcut (Figure X). The keyboard shortcut can be modified to a user’s preference.

Figure X

Crop And Lock 

PowerToys Crop And Lock, released in Version 0.73.0, allows users to crop a current application into a smaller window or create a thumbnail (Figure Y). The utility allows you to focus attention on a specific section of an application window without shutting down the application’s running functions. Essentially, from the application’s perspective, the window is normal, but from the user’s perspective, the window is smaller or thumbnail size.

Figure Y 

Environment Variables

PowerToys Environment Variables, released in Version 0.75.0, allows users to add, change and apply profiles, user information and Windows system setting variables (Figure Z). The tool is particularly useful for software engineers, programmers and other IT professionals when testing and iterating applications, platforms and systems during the development process.

Figure Z

Are more Microsoft PowerToys coming soon?

New Microsoft PowerToys are periodically added to the Windows library to address new user expectations and requirements. As new PowerToys are released, this list of available tools will be updated to reflect that expansion.

Additional resources

Why are Microsoft PowerToys important?

Microsoft PowerToys provide tools and features that can make users of the Windows operating system more productive and, by extension, happier. Over the years, many users have come to depend on one or more of these PowerToys for their daily computer productivity. For many power users, PowerToys Improve their quality of work and life.

SEE: Build a Microsoft 365 Services Usage Policy with this template from TechRepublic Premium.

Beyond making users more productive, PowerToys have also provided a glimpse into what features and tools could and should become an integral part of the Windows operating system in the future. Many of these once-separate tools have become just another part of the operating system during its next iteration.

How much RAM does PowerToys use?

The amount of RAM Microsoft PowerToys uses is entirely dependent on how many tools and apps you have decided to run in the background. The PowerToys Settings app, which runs in the background and can be accessed from the Windows 11 system tray, requires about 104 MB of RAM. Each additional running app requires more RAM to support it, which you can gauge for yourself in Windows Task Manager (Figure AA).

Figure AA

In general, the amount of RAM required by PowerToys apps is significant enough that you should activate only the tools you are actually using. If you determine an app is not something you use on a regular basis, it may be advantageous to set it to the “off” position. You can always turn it on again when you need it.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to reflect the latest version of Microsoft PowerToys.

News

Microsoft Goes Big with Multiple Copilots at Ignite Event

• By Kurt Mackie
• 11/15/2023

Microsoft's Ignite event happening this week elicited the declaration that "Microsoft is the Copilot company" now, and there were lots of product announcements attesting to it.

Microsoft's generative artificial intelligence-based Copilot assistants are integrated across Microsoft 365 apps, Azure services, and developer and administrative tools. New Copilots pop up frequently, and Microsoft sometimes changes the names of the ones that had been introduced earlier in the year.

A few Copilots have already reached the "general availability" (GA) commercial-release stage, such as Microsoft 365 Copilot, released earlier this month, which Microsoft has now renamed as "Copilot for Microsoft 365." The ability to use plugins and Microsoft Graph connectors with Copilot for Microsoft 365 is currently at the preview stage. IT pros can find and set policies for these plugins via the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, a capability that's at GA stage.

Microsoft also commercially released Copilot in Power Apps last month. In July, Microsoft Sales Copilot in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, now called "Copilot for Sales" (renamed from "Viva Sales"), reached the GA stage.

The following Copilot updates mostly derive from this announcement by Colette Stallbaumer, general manager of Microsoft 365 and future of work, and this announcement by Jared Spataro, corporate vice president of modern work and business applications, plus Microsoft's Book of News, section 5.

Copilots Minus the Bing
Microsoft is removing the "Bing" branding from some its search AI assistants and giving them the "Copilot" brand instead. Update 11/15: A Microsoft spokesperson explained that these search AI assistants are just getting called "Copilot," adding that "Copilot is available in various experiences and, when relevant, you may see references to Copilot in Bing, Edge, or Windows." So, in a nutshell, here's the new naming convention, minus the Bing:

• "Copilot" is the new name for Bing Chat, which is accessible via a Web portal, Windows and Bing search itself.
• "Copilot" is the new name for Bing Chat Enterprise, which adds "commercial data protection" for organizations by not saving user chat data.

Copilot is expected to reach the GA release stage on Dec. 1. Details can be found in the Bing blog.

Microsoft had released Bing Chat Enterprise as a preview back in July as a free offering for Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard and Business Premium subscribers. It'll also be available maybe on the Dec. 1 GA date for Microsoft 365 F3 subscribers, which is a new product addition. In August, Microsoft announced a preview of Bing Chat Enterprise in the Windows Copilot preview, which will require having E3- or E5-type Microsoft 365 licensing to use it.

Microsoft also plans to release Copilot (formerly Bing Chat Enterprise) as a "standalone" product offering, priced at $5 per user per month.

As for Windows Copilot, it's at the preview stage, and is available with the Windows 11 version 23H2 operating system product that was released last month.

New Copilots
Microsoft also announced new Copilots this week, including Sales and Service implementations, a Copilot for Azure, plus many others.

Copilot for Azure, used for gaining insights into Azure workloads, is now at the preview stage. Copilot for Azure may depend on using Azure Arc, Microsoft's multicloud management solution, as Microsoft stated that "Copilot [for Azure] will leverage large language models (LLMs), the Azure control plane and insights about a user's Azure and Arc-enabled assets."

On the Dynamics 365 product side, new products include "Copilot for Service" and "Copilot for Sales" for use with customer relationship management solutions. Microsoft indicated that Copilot for Service will be integrated with "Salesforce, ServiceNow and Zendesk," and can be "extended to other systems with more than 1,000 pre-built and custom connectors." Copilot for Sales, on the other hand, actually reached the GA release stage in July, although it was called "Microsoft Sales Copilot in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales" back then.

Microsoft also has a separate Copilot in Dynamics 365 Sales product, which got a few updates this week. For more on the Dynamics 365 Copilots, please see this RCPmag.com article.

Copilot in Microsoft Fabric is now at the preview stage. It works with the Azure OpenAI service and can used to "create dataflows and data pipelines, generate code and entire functions, build machine learning models or visualize results" using natural language prompts.

Copilot in Microsoft Loop is at the preview stage, with a more general rollout expected "next year." Microsoft Loop, which lets people collaborate on Microsoft 365 app components, reached GA this week.

Copilot in Viva Insights was described as "our latest experience." It lets users query data harvested by the Viva Insights employee productivity and performance app. Copilot in Viva Insights "will be in private preview in January 2024."

Other Microsoft Viva apps getting Copilots include:

• Viva Goals: "preview in December 2023."
• Viva Insights: "preview early next year."
• Viva Learning: "private preview for joint Viva and SAP SuccessFactors customers by the end of 2023."
• Viva Engage: "preview in January 2024"
• Viva Glint: "private preview in January 2024."

Copilot in Microsoft Outlook, helping users with meeting preparation and scheduling, "will begin to roll out in early 2024."

Copilot for Microsoft 365 Developer Sandbox is at the private preview stage. It lets developers "build and test plugins and Graph connectors in a non-production tenant environment."

Microsoft Security Copilot in its "embedded experience" is currently at the private preview stage. It works with the Microsoft Intune Admin Center to provide guidance on endpoint policy creation and deployment. Security Copilot also is getting integrated with Microsoft Purview and Microsoft Entra, as well as Microsoft Defender XDR and Microsoft Sentinel.

Microsoft additionally mentioned that it has a "new Copilot profile" capability for Microsoft 365 users. Copilot profile lets Copilot for Microsoft 365 users gain "greater control over your Copilot interactions" by specifying their preferences. Copilot profile will be coming first to the Word and PowerPoint Microsoft 365 apps, but the timing was not indicated.

Copilot Studio
Copilot Studio is a new "low code" conversational AI product with an "integrated Admin Center" that was introduced this week. Microsoft described Copilot Studio as being "built on the foundations of Power Virtual Agents and the broader Microsoft conversational AI ecosystem."

Copilot Studio is used for connecting Copilot AI solutions to data sources. It has prebuilt plugins for that purpose, or custom plugins can be used. It also works with OpenAI's GPTs, or generative pre-trained transformers, used with large language models for generative AI. Its use with GPTs lets organizations "create a tailored version of ChatGPT that is more helpful for specific tasks," including the ability to customize Copilot for Microsoft 365.

Organizations can use Copilot Studio to connect Copilot for Microsoft 365 to other data sources besides the Microsoft Graph data that underlie Microsoft 365 services. Here's Microsoft's description to that end:

Until now, Copilot for Microsoft 365 has relied exclusively on your business data within the Microsoft Graph. But not all your data lives within the Graph, in Copilot’s reach. With Copilot Studio, you can provide Copilot access to the trove of information that lies within your CRM, ERP, and other line of business systems.

Microsoft indicated that Copilot Studio works with "any system of record, from SAP, to Workday, to Service Now, to your own proprietary line of business solutions."

Copilot Studio users can also use it to access Azure AI Studio, which is designed for use by "professional developers with the ability to run Azure OpenAI on your data and leverage custom language models."

The ability to use Copilot Studio to customize Copilot for Microsoft 365 is at the public preview stage right now. The ability for organizations to create "a custom copilot" using Copilot Studio is at the GA stage.

IT Tools
The Microsoft 365 Admin Center now has a new "Copilot for Microsoft 365 Usage report," which is at the GA stage. Organizations can use this report to gauge their Copilot readiness.

Microsoft also promised that it is beefing up its Adoption Score tool to show generative AI-based "content summarization and creation" use across an organization. This information will be available under Adoption Score's "AI assistance category."

A new Microsoft Copilot Dashboard, "powered by Viva," is another tool for IT pros. The Microsoft Copilot Dashboard provides stats on Copilot use across apps and is currently at the public preview stage. Microsoft Copilot Dashboard will be "coming to the Viva Insights app in Teams and on the web in December 2023."

Microsoft also announced Copilot in Microsoft 365 Admin Center, which is used for managing Edge for Business, which is Microsoft's scheme for separating business Microsoft Edge browsing data from personal browsing data. Copilot in Microsoft 365 Admin Center is "currently available in private preview."

Microsoft also described a "Copilot for Microsoft 365 admin" offering, also in private preview, that's designed to help IT pros with Microsoft 365 tooling and configurations, plus Microsoft Edge and Windows Update management. It seems to be the same thing as described above.