- Windows 11 just got a new test build in the Release Preview channel
- It comes with a fair chunk of AI features, but only one I actually want
- That's the AI agent in Settings, which is rolling out to more people - but sadly, I won't get this, as it's for Copilot+ PCs only
Windows 11 just got a new preview release, and there's quite a bit of work with AI here, including a new home page for the Recall ability and a wider deployment of the AI agent in the Settings app.
This is preview build 26100.506,1, which has been pushed out to testers in the Release Preview channel, and as you might guess, much of the fresh introductions on the AI front are for Copilot+ PCs only.
One of the most important moves is that the AI agent in Settings - which works as a natural language search to find the options you want easily - is now rolling out to Copilot+ laptops with AMD and Intel processors.
Previously, this ability was only available to Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon X (Arm) CPUs, but it's now functioning with all of these devices (though the feature still only works when your primary language is set to English in Windows 11). Sadly, I don't have a Copilot+ device, so I'm more than a bit jealous, as I feel like this is very much an AI feature worth having - and those are a rarity.
Speaking of which, still in Copilot+ PCs territory, the Recall feature - for those who've turned it on, and that won't be everyone, even though it's a core pillar of Microsoft's drive with AI - now has a new home page which is based on your recent activity.
So, this surfaces your most-used apps and websites, and will also present you with the latest snapshots taken so you can quickly get back into tasks you were previously engaged in (assuming you have snapshots set to be saved in Recall, of course). Essentially, it's a bank of useful and personalized shortcuts to get back into what you were doing in a swifter manner.
Along with this, Click to Do (AI-powered context-sensitive suggestions) now comes with a short tutorial (an interactive one, apparently). This shows how it works to offer shortcuts with images or text, a useful touch for those new to the idea.
All of this is for Copilot+ PCs, but there are some fresh AI additions coming to all Windows 11 systems. That includes AI actions in File Explorer, which are shortcuts in a similar vein to Click to Do, based around editing images or summarizing documents.
With images (JPG and PNG formats) in File Explorer - which is the app that displays the folders on your desktop - there are now four AI-related actions. That includes a Visual Search (image search on the web), and the Erase Objects ability, which is AI-powered object removal in the Photos app - plus there's the self-explanatory Blur Background option in that app, too. On top of that, Remove Background will do just that with an image in the Paint app.
In the case of summarizing documents, however, this functionality is restricted - you need a Microsoft 365 subscription to benefit from AI actions here.
Away from AI, there are quite a few other changes with this new preview build, and a whole host of minor tweaks all over the place - check out Microsoft's extensive blog post for the full details.
Other nifty non-AI changes worth noting include Windows 11 users outside of Europe getting the ability to fully customize which widgets appear on the lock screen (previously this was exclusive to the European Economic Area).
Windows Hello - the secure login system - now has a revamped interface, and a bug where facial recognition failed has been fixed (plus fingerprint login now works better after the PC wakes from sleep).
Analysis: The importance of being artificially intelligent
The agent for changing Windows 11 settings is one of the more useful applications for AI that I've seen introduced by Microsoft, so while it's good to see it coming to Copilot+ PCs that don't have an Arm processor, I'm still jealous that I'm missing out. Yes, I get it - you need that powerful NPU to make it work - but still, it doesn't feel great to not be receiving one of the genuinely laudable AI concepts that Microsoft has on the boil.
At any rate, as this is the Release Preview channel, this means the AI agent should hit the finished version of Windows 11 soon enough for those with the necessary hardware.
The rest of us can feel like we're missing out, or maybe you won't even care about this - or the other steps forward Microsoft has taken with AI here. Okay, so it's not that there wasn't anything else for normal (non-Copilot+) Windows 11 machines in this preview, but a fair chunk of the major moves were to do with AI.
And it's likely that the focus on AI features here might elicit some groans from quite a few folks - but despite that, and the relatively niche appeal of Copilot+ devices still, we can expect a lot more of Microsoft pushing this kind of tech.
Recent visions of the future of Windows from a couple of Microsoft executives have underlined the importance of AI (as well as the cloud and voice commands for input), so it's clear that this is a path Microsoft is going to be forging down with even more vigor in the coming years. In short: you'd best get used to this.
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