Microsoft is previewing a brand-new Copilot app for Windows 11 that utilizes the company’s native app UI framework for a more cohesive experience. The new Copilot for Windows, which appears to be rolling out in preview for Insiders, introduces a sidebar for different chats, mica blur effects, and native context menus and buttons that ultimately makes the app more aligned with Windows 11’s design language.
The company launched its new dedicated Copilot app for Windows a couple of months ago, but the app was initially just a web view of the Microsoft Copilot website. Now, it looks like Windows is getting its own fully fledged Copilot experience, complete with a native interface that is faster to launch, smoother to use, and better to look at.
I was unhappy with the original web view version of Copilot for Windows, but this new experience is a major step up. The app is now a joy to use, and I’m actually finding myself more inclined to use the app for AI related tasks.
Also good news is the app doesn’t appear to have suffered any feature losses with the update, either. You can still use the Copilot app to chat using text with Microsoft’s AI assistant, and Copilot Voice is here too. Copilot will save all your chats in the sidebar, and you can start a new chat at any point by pressing the new chat button.
There are a couple of settings, including the option to enable or disable starting the app when Windows boots, and turning on or off the alt+spacebar shortcut for the quick access version of Copilot. These were both options present in the older web view version of the app.
Microsoft launched its new Copilot app for Mac last week, which introduced a beautiful native Copilot experience to the Mac platform. While it’s odd that the company launched this experience first on Mac, it’s good to see Windows getting the same treatment.
This new Copilot for Windows app is rolling out in preview for Insiders in all channels. The app update is version 1.25023.106.0, and you can grab it from the Microsoft Store.
