With the expected roll-out of its major Windows 11 24H2 update at the end of the year, Microsoft promises to put artificial intelligence at the heart of its famous operating system. The idea is to simplify system management, as well as the day-to-day use of most of its accompanying programs.

Central to this update will be the latest developments for Microsoft's Copilot, provided it finally complies with European legislation on digital markets (DMA). Indeed, until further notice, Europeans will be left without Copilot, the AI-powered intelligent assistant with which it is possible to interact or customize a computer's operating system.

The assistant can be useful for working on various documents (rewriting, summarizing or simply explaining them) and can answer practical questions. It can be accessed directly from the taskbar, and soon via a dedicated button on future PCs.

Meanwhile, many "historic" applications are set to disappear from Windows, including Wordpad, as well as Calendar, Contacts and Mail, now integrated into the new version of Outlook. It's goodbye too to Cortana, Microsoft's voice assistant, rendered obsolete by Copilot. In addition, access to an Android phone will be simplified, and the smartphone will even be able to serve as a webcam if required.

Microsoft says that this update will integrate a new power-saving mode, regardless of the type of computer used (laptop or desktop). Finally, this major update promises to support WiFi 7 as well as USB 4.

This major update effectively acts as an unofficial Windows 12, with its many developments centered around artificial intelligence. Windows 11 24H2 is expected by the end of the year. Testers in the Windows Insider program can already access a "Release Preview," a version of the OS that is virtually definitive and very close to the one that will eventually be deployed.

Note that the new family of Copilot+ PCs will benefit from the latest processors (Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and Plus), plus exclusive AI-driven features. These include Recall, which will make it easier and more intuitive to find a document, email or even a website, as the system regularly saves a series of images of what is displayed on the screen.

Cocreator, for its part, is a function integrated into Paint and Photos that makes it easy to create or modify images. Here, AI can, for example, modify the background or any element of a photo, but also generate entirely new images, which can be refined to your liking.

In addition to Microsoft with its Surface range, leading computer manufacturers like Lenovo, Dell, Acer, Asus, HP and Samsung, have already unveiled their first Copilot+ PCs, due to be available this summer.

 - AFP Relaxnews