TL;DR: One of the StackSocial editors recently tried Microsoft Copilot with Windows 11 Pro. Here’s how the AI-driven assistant elevates the popular operating system.
Have you been following the saga of Microsoft Copilot? Aside from its evolution via Bing Chat and the partnership of Microsoft and OpenAI, PC users now have an easy Copilot-Windows 11 integration to enjoy and explore. And explore it is exactly what I did.
What is Microsoft Copilot?
An AI-powered intelligent assistant, Microsoft Copilot is a chatbot, image generator, organizer, and helper that you can sign up for as a standalone tool or use seamlessly through its integration in Windows 11 Pro, Windows 11 Home, and Windows 10 Pro.
Don’t have the Windows OS needed for Copilot? You can purchase the one you prefer at a discounted price for a limited time:
- Windows 10 Pro for $40 (reg. $199)
- Microsoft Windows 11 Home for $40 (reg. $139)
- Microsoft Windows 11 Pro for $40 (reg. $199)
Testing Out Copilot Firsthand
The computer I used to test Copilot had just been updated with Windows 11, and I could access the AI tool by simply clicking an icon on the bottom toolbar.
Navigating the assistant within the Windows operating system presents a seamless AI interaction that I’m yet to find using tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E, despite running on the same OpenAI tech that powers Copilot.
Microsoft Copilot appears as a slim bar on the side of the screen when you open it, rather than taking up an entire browser window that you need to find by typing in a URL. It’s just easier.
An Appealing, Easy-to-Navigate Interface
When you open Copilot with Windows 11, it offers three different conversation styles (pictured below) and some prompts to help you get started interacting with it.
I personally love this setup because AI tools can sometimes be overwhelming, which is why guides can help you get started.
Fair warning: AI prompt engineering, once you start tinkering, can be either so satisfying or so frustrating that you lose track of time playing around with the bot.
When I saw the assistant say that it could help me “change my background image,” it reminded me of the main reasons why I’m so excited about this Windows 11-Copilot integration.
Using Copilot to Learn More About Your PC
One of the elements of using Copilot with Microsoft Windows 11 Pro that I was most interested in was using the chatbot to learn about and interact with the specific computer I was using.
This felt like the most obvious area where integrating an AI tool with your native OS would offer more than simply signing into one via a web browser. Copilot’s capabilities in this area are pretty cool.
For example, I asked Copilot how much storage the computer I was using had. It immediately broke down where I could view the storage and even opened the File Explorer app for me.
This is a simpler example of a native familiarity that could go a long way when you need to buy a new computer, or when you clean out your existing computer, to diagnose an unknown problem with your PC, and for tackling an infinite range of other scenarios.
How Do I Use Copilot With Microsoft Word?
The Windows 11-Copilot integration extends to include Microsoft 365 apps including Microsoft Word.
When it comes to knowing how to use Copilot in Word, I decided to consult this very helpful YouTube video by Stuart Ridout—a productivity coach who works with Microsoft’s AI Ecosystem Team.
The video is filled with great context and extra information, including a link to the Copilot Adoption page, which features tons of content on learning how Copilot works and how it might best serve you. It also links to prompt guides provided by Microsoft, all to help you use Copilot within Microsoft Word more effectively.
When you open a Word document, a box should appear cueing you to “draft with Copilot.” From there, you can create or source prompts to help streamline your writing.
It’s important to note that Copilot is integrated with Microsoft 365 apps, and if you’re not getting a pop-up, then you probably need to update your Microsoft apps.
If you’re interested in trying out Microsoft 365, you can save on the following subscriptions:
- Microsoft 365: 1-Year Subscription for $60 (reg. $69.99)
- Microsoft 365: 1-Year Subscription (Family/Up To 6 Users) for $93 (reg. $99.99)
Copilot With Windows 11 Pro
Using Copilot within Word is awesome, but I’m also someone who enjoys writing without the aid of AI.
Since I’m not currently a 365 subscriber, I’ll stick with an older option (like the version of Word that comes with MS Office 2019) while still utilizing Copilot with Windows.
The main attraction is the wide range of possibilities offered by the Windows 11–Copilot integration.
The more I learn about the added functionality, security, and collaborative features, the more possibilities emerge in terms of understanding how Copilot could streamline operations.
Professionals, companies, and teams interested in using Windows 11 and Copilot can also take a look at the potential applications when using these resources in tandem with compatible business software solutions.
Using Copilot on Your iPhone, Android, and Beyond
As an iPhone user, I was excited to discover that Copilot is available as a mobile app via the Apple App Store in addition to the Google Play Store.
Having downloaded it, I can appreciate having access to its chatbot and image-generation features from the comfort of my phone. Having said that, I miss the connectivity and cohesiveness I experienced when testing it out with Windows 11 Pro on a PC.
This test of the Windows 11–Copilot integration was part of a larger quest I’m on to figure out whether to buy a Mac or a PC, and I must say Copilot with Windows 11 Pro is swaying me in that direction.
If you already have an updated Windows computer, it’s definitely worth trying out Copilot. And I’d say it’s worth it enough to purchase the needed OS too. You can download Windows 11 Pro, Windows 11 Home, or Windows 10 Pro today.
This article originally appeared on StackSocial.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org. StackSocial works with a variety of merchants and brands to bring you deals worth talking about. We may earn a commission on purchases made through our links. Prices subject to change.
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10 Totally Groovy Gadgets Sold on TV in the ’60s and ’70s
If you were a kid growing up during the 1960s and 1970s, you were limited to just a few choices when it came to watching television. There were only a few networks, and with the exception of PBS, all of them made you sit through commercials. Most of the commercials advertised products of dubious value, and if you saw them enough times, they became etched into your memory.
Take a trip with us down memory lane as we remember the gadgets sold on television during those glorious decades. Many of them have been replaced by products that did the same things, only better, but they sure seemed like revolutionary steps forward when we saw them advertised on television way back when.
Shanina/ istock
The Ginsu knife promised consumers it was the last word in effective cutlery. The commercials would demonstrate its great utility by showing someone cutting through a tin can with it and then using the same knife to cut a tomato. We’re not sure that anyone ever used one to cut a tin can because who cuts tin cans? The answer may be “nobody,” but it made for an amusing and memorable commercial all the same.
ginsu knives by alexandre nakonechnyj (CC BY-NC)
Chia is a flowering plant species in the mint family. Chia Pets are terracotta figurines that sprout it within a couple of weeks of ownership, with an end result resembling animal fur. The first one ever made was introduced in 1977, and they caught on with consumers due in no small part to an utterly simplistic jingle that referred to the object as a “Ch-ch-ch-chia” pet and would not leave your head for a full 24 hours.
Scott Thompson/ istock
Mr. Microphone is a cordless microphone that allows the user to hijack nearby FM radios and start singing, telling jokes, or engaging in other amplified radio wave tomfoolery. The commercials encouraged its use as a surefire method to liven up parties and also as a way to harass passers-by from one’s car, a practice better known today as “sexual harassment.” Hey, it was the 1970s, and making unwelcome public advances was considered funny!
Dragos Condrea/ istock
Unlike some of the products on this list, the Buttoneer was a godsend. If you ever lost a button on your shirt or coat, sewing it back on was a chore, and even if you did it right, that particular button would always seem “off” somehow. The Buttoneer, meanwhile, did the job perfectly in about two seconds, resulting in a button that often outlived the rest of the ones on the original garment. The gadget was made by Avery Dennison, a company that also made price tag guns, and we feel that in both cases, whoever invented those things deserves the Nobel Prize.
Ricky Deacon/ istock
People who like fishing have their work cut out for them trying to wrangle all the gear into a convenient configuration, and the length of the average fishing pole compounds the problem. Thankfully, Popiel’s Pocket Fisherman was there to save fishing enthusiasts from this problem by offering a compact combination rod and reel that you could fit in a car’s glove compartment, per the commercial. Popiel’s Pocket Fisherman was one of several products created by a company called Ronco, who also gave us the Electric Food Dehydrator, the Cap Snaffler, and GLH-9, which was short for Great Looking Hair Formula #9, better known as hair in a spray can.
Onandter_sean/ istock
Commercials for the Miracle Painter said the gadget was a great way to paint a ceiling if you’re wearing a tuxedo, since it won’t drip on you. It promised to make the paint roller obsolete and even allow consumers to tame stucco, that most unpaintable of surfaces. Unlike a lot of products advertised on television, the thing actually worked, but while the commercials said you could paint an entire room without a drop cloth, we advise against such foolhardiness and recommend using the drop cloth anyway.
Mike Duffy/ istock
Taking care of vinyl records is a chore. Eventually, you will tire of blowing specks of dust off of it and just get used to the cracks, skips, pops, and other surface noises. The Record Vacuum promised to alter this state of affairs by providing a gadget that audiophiles could use to conveniently remove all of that stuff by loosening microdust particles in a way that looks more harmful to the record than spilling ketchup on it. If you consult the commercial on YouTube, you will find scant positive opinions in the comments about the product’s effectiveness, and one commenter said it destroyed their beloved copy of “Frampton Comes Alive!”
The Museum of Classic Chicago Television/ istock
If you’re like the rest of the civilized world and need to make a pot of coffee at home before you even consider venturing outside, you have Mr. Coffee to thank for the fact that you can do that. It was the first-ever automatic drip coffeemaker, and while paid pitchman and former New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio made the dubious claim in the commercial that it would make “the best cup of coffee you ever tasted,” we must give our utmost respect to everyone involved in inventing and popularizing this thing, as most of the other ways of making coffee at home are so labor intensive and unsatisfying that you might as well not even bother waking up.
Mr. Coffee by Angela CoffeeRank (CC BY)
If you hadn’t already destroyed the playing surface of your vinyl LPs with the Record Vacuum, you were still left with the terrible problem of finding the record you wanted to listen to in a poorly organized pile. Instead of just storing them vertically on a bookshelf with the spines facing out like a normal person, you could use the K-Tel Record Selector, which would allow you to gently browse your collection while the gadget did the thumbing through for you. It solved a nonexistent problem, but the commercial was amusing.
KtelClassics/ YouTube
The JCPenney Portable TV dates back to when, as the commercial said, a standard color television could be “trouble.” The commercial was extremely vague about what that trouble was and how the JCPenney Portable TV succeeded in addressing it, and the $419 price they were asking for it in 1972 translates to an eye-popping $3,127 in 2024 dollars, which is more than enough for any consumer to decide to avoid the purchase altogether. But how about that tint, huh?
Bionic Disco/ YouTube
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bhofack2 / iStock
Featured Image Credit: SOPA Images.
