After an insane amount of flip-flopping, Microsoft is finally bringing a native Copilot app to Windows 11. The app, currently limited to Insider channels, will enjoy a broad rollout in the coming weeks or months.
Microsoft Copilot was once a deeply-integrated part of the Windows 11 operating system. Then, Microsoft turned it into a bland web wrapper. A few months later, the company re-jigged Copilot again and claimed that it was finally a native Windows app, which simply wasn’t true. It was still just a web wrapper, and it ate up memory while running in the background, which is very problematic behavior for an app that starts at boot.
Today, Windows Insiders can test an all-new version of Copilot. It’s the fourth or fifth version of the Copilot app (I can’t summon the effort to do the math), and finally, it’s native XAML. In theory, the new app should provide a smoother and more responsive experience than the old Copilot web wrapper, and it should chew through less RAM, though we haven’t had a chance to judge the app’s real-world performance.
Additionally, this new app features the same flashy, attractive design as the Copilot for macOS app. It’s filled with colorful gradients, glassy dimensional elements, and shadows—kind of like a glammed-up version of the ChatGPT desktop app. The deep Windows integration also unlocks some unique functionality, such as the ability to ask questions about your PC’s hardware or your current version of Windows, though we haven’t tested whether the app can alter system settings (a genuinely useful feature that was removed from Windows Copilot at some point).
I should take this moment to point out that the macOS version of Copilot, which is about a week old at the time of writing, is a native Mac app. Mac customers got a native Copilot experience before the Windows crowd. This is an odd example of Microsoft’s unpredictable multi-platform incongruency. The company will occasionally offer new stuff on Mac or iPhone before serving customers on Windows or Android, but it’s usually Office stuff. Copilot is supposed to be a redefining Windows feature, so you’d think that Windows would be the absolute priority.
Related
7 Reasons I Use ChatGPT for Search Instead of Google
Move over Google, there’s a much better way to search the internet.
Anyways, the new Copilot app appears to retain most of its core functionality. It saves old chats, it supports voice mode, you can spin up new chats through the Alt + Space hotkey (or Copilot key on select PCs), and there’s an option to prevent the app from starting at boot. But I don’t see the “Think Deeper” button in Microsoft’s screenshots, and the feature isn’t mentioned in the company’s app announcement. I’ve reached out to Microsoft for clarification. For reference, the macOS Copilot app does support Think Deeper mode, it’s the Windows version that I’m not sure about. I’ll update this article if or when Microsoft provides an answer.
Microsoft’s new Windows-native Copilot app (version 1.25023.101.0) is rolling out to all Insider Channels today. This is a gradual rollout, meaning that some Insiders will receive the app update sooner than others. Note that the app update is distributed through the Microsoft Store and may not require a Windows firmware update. A broad rollout to all Windows users will occur at a later date, presumably within the next few weeks. If you insist on testing the app today, you’ll need to join the Windows Insider program first.
Source: Microsoft
