Microsoft announces Recall for Windows Insiders, other AI tools in a major new Windows 11 release
Microsoft has one important announcement outlining all the new experiences coming to the new Copilot+ PCs and Windows 11, hoping to convince people to see the practical benefits of its AI-powered efforts. We’ll have to see how these developments evolve as they become more widespread and into the hands of regular users, but Microsoft still appears to be going full steam ahead to make AI tools and features commonplace (and be one of the first are to do it).
Microsoft wants to use AI to help you with everyday tasks like finding files and images, making them faster and easier. The idea is that you don’t even have to remember the exact file and app names, but you can describe the content in your own words so your device can locate it.
Copilot+ PCs are designed to integrate AI, and Microsoft claims there is significant customer demand and interest. You can get Copilot+ PCs with Windows 11 from manufacturers such as Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung and from Microsoft itself through the Surface line, with processors from manufacturers such as Qualcomm, Intel and AMD.
Microsoft also announced that these new features will be made available to the Windows Insider community for user testing and feedback, ahead of a general rollout in phases starting in October and November 2024.
Total recall
The first feature Microsoft will be previewing is Recall, which has received a lot of criticism, especially regarding its potential security implications, since its announcement. Microsoft’s vision for Recall is to help you instantly find things you’ve already seen on your PC, like a website or file, by taking screenshots of your device activity, keeping a record, and making it searchable. It will be an opt-in feature and only accessible with Windows Hello, Microsoft’s alternative sign-in feature that lets you log in with facial recognition, your fingerprint, or a PIN.
Microsoft hopes extra security measures will make people feel confident enough to trust Recall, which will require logging in via Windows Hello and apply a filter to sensitive information such as payment details.
There’s another brilliant new feature like Click to Do, designed to highlight ways you can complete tasks using different features and apps. This feature appears over images or text and suggests possible actions to consider, such as clearing the background of a photo or looking up more information on the Internet. Another is the super resolution in the Photos app, explained as the ability to enhance older, lower-resolution, better-quality photos, making them clearer and sharper.
One feature that isn’t a new feature, but instead improves on an existing one, is Windows Search, which now uses AI to retrieve only the file you’re looking for after you enter a description of the file in your own words . Microsoft adds that you don’t need to be connected to the internet to use this feature, and that it will first be available in File Explorer, followed by Windows Search itself and the Setting apps in the months that follow.
Joining an improved Windows Search, Microsoft is also giving the Paint app a boost, adding generative fill and generative erase capabilities. You can also use the Cocreator image generation tool directly in the app by describing your ideas in a prompt, maybe even adding some brush gestures, and having an image created. Moreover, you can also remove parts or add elements to your existing images, and you can use them without a subscription.
As Microsoft puts it, the number of these types of apps and “emulated experiences” will grow as more Copilot+ PCs hit the market this year and next.
Will Windows users embrace Microsoft’s vision?
Microsoft has released the most significant Windows 11 feature upgrade for this year, 24H2, bringing AI capabilities to Copilot+ PCs to enable the above features as they arrive, as well as features and changes for all PCs running Windows 11. These include the new Energy Saving Mode, improved hearing aid support, Wi-Fi 7 compatibility, HDR background support and interface-related improvements.
Microsoft wraps up its announcement with its broader vision and what it wants you to see next. It seems like you acknowledge that this may be the case feelings about Windows 11, but we will have to see what it ultimately produces next year.
Microsoft says it wants you to feel the difference as a positive new direction for Windows 11, which has certainly had its ups and downs since release. Either way, this is a big next step, so we’ll have to see how these new features are received.