The Copilot panel in Windows 11 has seen a lot of tinkering lately, and a newer change that has been applied is one to change the way it appears by default, which is now accompanied by a prompt from Microsoft explaining why.
This was spotted by regular leaker Leopeva64 on where it is always next to your active window).
Microsoft added a prompt to inform the user that the Windows Copilot panel is now wider and opens as an overlay by default. The prompt also mentions that there is a button to enable side-by-side viewing: https://t.co /hkjzTtarOT pic.twitter.com/D8r3uzPoOtFebruary 4, 2024
Leopeva64 explains that the Copilot interface has been open this way for a while, but a new addition is a prompt that Microsoft has added to explain why.
The ‘What’s new’ popup tells us that the recent change to make the panel wider so there’s “more room to chat” was due to feedback from Windows 11 users requesting additional real estate asked. However, it also notes that there is a button at the top of the panel that you can click to switch back to the more compact side-by-side layout, if you wish.
Analysis: Co-pilot expansion
It’s helpful to have an explanation of the recent move to change the default settings for how the AI opens, and by all accounts this points to Windows 11 users preferring a larger Copilot panel. (Or at least some of them, and we can assume the majority, at least from those who provided feedback to Microsoft through Copilot’s interface).
Especially those who use Copilot a lot in Windows 11 and perform longer sessions of searches, may like that the AI assistant gets more screen space by default.
The truth is, we can expect to see a lot more from Copilot in the future, in one form or another. By that we mean that Microsoft is already testing to have the AI Assistant appear when Windows 11 first boots (in a limited way so far). Additionally, there are indications that Copilot may be integrated into other parts of the Windows 11 interface (such as File Explorer). We can consider further possibilities, such as the ability to connect Copilot elsewhere (it is currently located on the right side of the screen).
What we definitely don’t want to see are nudges or advertisements to use Copilot, but unfortunately – yet somewhat predictably – this has also been noticed in testing (to promote Copilot Pro, the supercharged paid version of the AI, we should clarify).