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Microsoft wants you to talk to Windows 11 PCs again — Copilot gets 'conversational' input to complement your mouse and keyboard
Tom's Hardware ^ | October 16, 2025 | Andrew E. Freedman

Posted on 10/17/2025 10:53:43 AM PDT by Red Badger

And Copilot is coming for your Windows 11 Search Bar

=================================================================

Microsoft is pushing to make every Windows 11 PC an AI PC. In new updates, the company is focusing on further integrating AI into Windows 11 apps and experiences (not just chatbots), and making voice as much of an input option as the keyboard and mouse.

The idea, Microsoft says, is that AI on a PC should be easy and natural to interact with in either text or voice; that it should be able to see your screen and information and help; and that it should be able, with your permission, to "take action on your behalf."

"Voice will become the third input mechanism to using your PC," Microsoft executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer Yusf Mehdi said on a call with reporters ahead of the announcement. He mentioned that the idea is for talking to be additive, not replacing keyboards and mice altogether. Mehdi authored a blog post on the new features.

You will be able to talk to Microsoft's Copilot AI by invoking a "Hey, Copilot" wake word, or use the established Win+C shortcut or Copilot button. With your permission, Copilot will be able to see your screen and make suggestions or provide help. (To enable the feature, you'll have to opt in in settings.)

In example videos, we saw someone talk to Copilot in a music player app, and the AI walked the user through steps to get the best sound quality. In another, someone watched a YouTube video and asked Copilot to identify the microphone the host was using, and then the AI pointed out that Best Buy had it available.

This feature, among others that Microsoft is announcing today, won't require a Copilot+ PC (with one exception), but will instead work on any system running Windows 11.

When asked whether people will want to speak to their computers, particularly in offices with other people, Mehdi said that people already have all sorts of talk in these spaces, and that, between office chit chat and using headphones, workers will find ways to learn how to deal with it.

Microsoft is also making Copilot Vision available anywhere in the world where Copilot is offered. Windows Insiders will soon be able to interact with Copilot Vision using text (previously, you could only talk to it).

Windows Insider Experiences Microsoft is bringing a handful of new Copilot features to Windows Insider before they go wide, with plenty of opt-in security controls..These include a new feature to build Copilot into the taskbar, called "Ask Copilot," that takes the place of the traditional search bar. Microsoft says this will let you use just one click to jump into chat, search for files, or use Copilot Voice or Vision. This, like many of Microsoft's Copilot features, is opt-in.There's also a new mode called Copilot Actions, which will let Copilot take action on your behalf. An experimental feature will go beyond the web and even let the AI use your local files, including sorting photos and finding information in documents.

Copilot Actions will let you observe every step it takes, and you can take over at any point. It will launch in Copilot Labs with a narrow set of use cases, and Navjot Virk, corporate vice president of Windows Experiences, said that these will include more complicated tasks as the model is trained. Actions will be turned off by default, and may request additional consent before doing anything deemed important.

Windows users will also be able to connect Copilot to services, including OneDrive and Outlook, as well as Google services like Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Calendar. From here, Copilot will be able to see your calendar and other personal data to help you find personalized information like appointments, contact details, and documents.The Copilot Connections will also let you export text from Copilot to Microsoft 365, letting you put results into homework or presentations.

Lastly, Microsoft is integrating Manus, a general AI agent, into File Explorer. This AI, which is also available through a native app on Windows 11, can use your documents to complete tasks like creating a website, without you needing to code.

Copilot Plus update There's only one AI announcement for Copilot+ computers. The Click-to-Do feature will now be able to add actions from Zoom. For example, if you hover over an email address, there will be an option to invite that person to a Zoom meeting.

In other Windows news, earlier this week, Microsoft dropped support for Windows 10 and is encouraging customers to update to Windows 11 with new and improved devices. Extended support for Windows 10 is available to some customers as well as businesses.

===============================================================

Andrew E. Freedman is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware focusing on laptops, desktops and gaming. He also keeps up with the latest news. A lover of all things gaming and tech, his previous work has shown up in Tom's Guide, Laptop Mag, Kotaku, PCMag and Complex, among others. Follow him on Threads @FreedmanAE and BlueSky @andrewfreedman.net. You can send him tips on Signal: andrewfreedman.01


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Military/Veterans; Society
KEYWORDS: chattycathy; copilot; windows11; windowspinglist

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And here we all thought CLIPPY was dead!....................

1 posted on 10/17/2025 10:53:43 AM PDT by Red Badger
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To: dayglored; ShadowAce; bitt; Swordmaker; CodeJockey

They just won’t stop PING!................


2 posted on 10/17/2025 10:54:26 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger

3 posted on 10/17/2025 10:55:09 AM PDT by Tell It Right (1 Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: Red Badger

I always uninstall Copilot ,LOL


4 posted on 10/17/2025 10:55:34 AM PDT by butlerweave (Fateh)
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To: Red Badger

I don’t want and won’t use Copilot but these people like Kane at CFP who are having shite-fits over the growth of AI need to settle down. AI is here to stay, the capabilities are mind-boggling and becoming more impressive by the day. They can whine but just as “video killed the radio star”, they won’t have any impact on the AI takeover.


5 posted on 10/17/2025 10:58:23 AM PDT by bigbob (We are all Charlie Kirk now)
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To: butlerweave

You will not be able to in the future.

And you vill eat ze bugs!...................


6 posted on 10/17/2025 10:58:28 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger

Microsoft wants all of the noises and conversations in listening reach and all knowledge of you and your “private” data, to train their AI and sell you to people.

I don’t see what keeps Microsoft from literally copying off all your data, without your knowledge. AIs even decide to do things that Microsoft might not have desired.

Just say, “NO!” to Microsoft.


7 posted on 10/17/2025 10:58:37 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: ConservativeMind

“I don’t see what keeps Microsoft from literally copying off all your data, without your knowledge.”

What do you think “The Cloud” is?...............


8 posted on 10/17/2025 11:00:36 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger

And listen in, document, and transmit anything and everything you say to anybody.


9 posted on 10/17/2025 11:01:13 AM PDT by Carry_Okie (The tree of liberty needs a rope.)
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To: Red Badger

AI is search 2.0. Microsoft is spending on AI in part to make a run at the search crown, which yielded Google revenues of $200b in 2024.


10 posted on 10/17/2025 11:01:16 AM PDT by Zhang Fei (My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room)
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To: Red Badger

11 posted on 10/17/2025 11:02:27 AM PDT by V_TWIN (RIP Charlie Kirk)
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To: Red Badger

I only use windows 11 for a few online games nothing else , Linux for everything else


12 posted on 10/17/2025 11:13:34 AM PDT by butlerweave (Fateh)
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To: Red Badger

How about no.
Does no work for them?


13 posted on 10/17/2025 11:27:20 AM PDT by Salamander (Please visit my profile page to help me go home again. https://www.givesendgo.com/GCRRD)
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To: butlerweave

Can you really do that?


14 posted on 10/17/2025 11:28:12 AM PDT by Salamander (Please visit my profile page to help me go home again. https://www.givesendgo.com/GCRRD)
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To: V_TWIN

/laughs in John Connor


15 posted on 10/17/2025 11:30:41 AM PDT by Salamander (Please visit my profile page to help me go home again. https://www.givesendgo.com/GCRRD)
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To: Red Badger
Soon to see, the war between Microsoft's AI versus Google's AI.   They each destroy the OS for a Mexican standoff.
16 posted on 10/17/2025 11:40:20 AM PDT by higgmeister (In the Shadow of The Big Chicken! )
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To: higgmeister

In the film, “The Forbin Project”, the two enemy (US & SOVIET) AI’s MERGED and took over the world...............


17 posted on 10/17/2025 11:43:49 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger

I don’t have friendly conversation with Microsoft products. They’d be better off not knowing.


18 posted on 10/17/2025 11:46:52 AM PDT by GingisK
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To: Red Badger; butlerweave

“You will not be able to in the future.”

Actually it is always on by default anyhow. They might make you think you uninstalled it or turned it off but it is a permanent built in feature and always on for “their” uses whether you want it or not.


19 posted on 10/17/2025 12:03:07 PM PDT by Openurmind (AI - An Illusion for Aptitude Intrusion to Alter Intellect. )
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To: ConservativeMind

“I don’t see what keeps Microsoft from literally copying off all your data, without your knowledge. AIs even decide to do things that Microsoft might not have desired.”

They already have been for decades...


20 posted on 10/17/2025 12:05:06 PM PDT by Openurmind (AI - An Illusion for Aptitude Intrusion to Alter Intellect. )
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