Microsoft isn't removing Copilot from Windows 11, it's just renaming it

374 points - last Monday at 1:48 PM

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Comments

wing-_-nuts last Monday at 3:30 PM
I have windows on my desktop pc because it's easier to get executable mods (downgraders, engine fixes, etc) working on windows than linux. There's also the matter of 'kernel level anti-cheat' games not working.

But if I just judge windows vs linux, on even ground, W11 is painful. I've main'd linux on my laptop for ~ 25 years. There was a time when it was a jank experience that I put up with for better devex, but that ended in the late 00's. From that point forward, unless you were trying to get bleeding edge hardware to work, linux has been hands down better.

It's enough that I've considered giving up online play all together just to have a nicer computing experience.

WhiteDawn last Monday at 7:25 PM
Microsoft put AI, Tabs, a login portal, a 'search with bing' action and text formatting on notepad before a 'redo' button to pair with the 'undo' action.

That says everything about the current product priorities that you need to know.

lemonish97 last Monday at 2:42 PM
From the article: "Additionally, AI features in Notepad settings has been renamed to Advanced features and it allows users to toggle off AI capabilities within the app."

I honestly don't mind this, as long as it's not being forced. And I believe this feature exists only within their npu PCs.

rdiddly last Monday at 4:11 PM
So they didn't remove it, they just renamed it? Reminds me of that time we fixed racism by renaming the master branch to main.
bachmeier last Monday at 4:51 PM
I honestly don't understand Microsoft's AI strategy. It seems to be built around automating the writing process. If you ask MS 365 Copilot (as opposed to the many other Copilots) what it can do, it's deeply disappointing:

"Can you edit the Word document so the format is in line with these requirements?"

"No, but I can help you draft an implementation consistent with the requirements."

"Can you add this section to the 35 individual copies of this document in this OneDrive folder?"

"No, but I can help you draft [something]."

This is NOT the AI revolution anyone was waiting for.

drooopy last Monday at 5:22 PM
They’re doomed to repeat the cycle of reinventing Clippy every few years and always failing at it.
andrewdubinsky last Monday at 6:24 PM
Please let it be Cortana. Don't give up on her.
mikaeluman last Monday at 6:16 PM
I have been using Windows on my laptop and been annoyed by how performance have really degraded.

RAM consumption on startup is 50% (of 16Gi).

I asked claude to help me remove bloat and was horrified by all the different background services and "enhanced" and "advanced" features that are always ON.

I don't think it's fair to say "no AI in any app", however. That should depend on the value delivered in the app.

But I do wish there was some honest restraint on all these weird OS services that no one wants/uses.

benterix last Monday at 2:57 PM
> At the start of the year, Microsoft generated a lot of goodwill among Windows 11 fans when it announced its big plan to fix the operating system in 2026.

Interesting, I can't recall a single voice "Oh I'm so happy they changed their corporate strategy" but many of "I'll believe it when I see it".

kccqzy last Monday at 8:29 PM
> At this point, Microsoft is walking a tightrope. It cannot appease everyone since it also has its shareholders and investors to think about, but then there's also a rather large Windows 11 user base which really is fed up of AI experiences being shoved down its throats.

Are shareholders and investors stupid enough to think that AI hated by users is still desirable?

cordwainersmith last Monday at 5:04 PM
So they're reshuffling the branding again. At this rate they'll rename it three more times before most people figure out what it does.
lovegrenoble last Monday at 5:02 PM
Moved to MacOS, chao Copilot...
gwbas1c last Monday at 9:27 PM
Seems like it makes more sense to keep "Windows" security and bugfix only, and to do new feature development, such as AI, in a newer OS.
aizk last Monday at 4:49 PM
Microsoft is collapsing under the weight of their own bloat.
1970-01-01 last Monday at 8:31 PM
Looking forward to seeing "AI for Copilot" released before someone at MS finally realizes they're idiots at marketing.
fuckinpuppers yesterday at 9:35 AM
So they just started pushing the Copilot name everywhere and rebranding Office as Copilot and now they’re renaming/shifting again?
jasoneckert last Monday at 4:42 PM
I think we'll see this happen over time in all tools - individual AI brands replaced by generic AI icons.

The real question is this: While the floppy disk became the standard "Save" icon, what will eventually become the standard "AI functionality" icon?

_HMCB_ last Monday at 3:11 PM
Seems like what Apple does with Writing Assistant. At least in this case, it’s opt-in. You have to click. I don’t run Windows so I don’t know if this implementation is vastly superior or not.
protoster last Monday at 2:54 PM
> At the start of the year, Microsoft generated a lot of goodwill among Windows 11 fans when it announced its big plan to fix the operating system in 2026

The only thing generated was boatloads of incredulity and some laughs.

luxuryballs last Monday at 3:48 PM
I hope this is better than seeing that Copilot logo infecting every menu, I’ve had to use registry hacks to get rid of that thing.
tosti last Monday at 2:43 PM
rbanffy last Monday at 4:21 PM
Microsoft Live Copilot anyone?
porridgeraisin last Monday at 4:38 PM
The copilot executable and the edge executable are actually the same! It looks at argv[0] to decide which to show you. You can move mscopilot.exe to msedge.exe, it still opens edge. And vice versa.
jmclnx last Monday at 2:55 PM
No surprise for large companies, one company even renamed itself but its approval ratings still stayed in the basement.

A fortune 500 company I worked for renamed internal projects many times when the original failed. But they continued dumping money into those black holes. One dollar eating project was renamed 3 times and was on its way for a 4th rename when I left. That project was started between 2005 and 2010. I was not involved with it, but everyone knew it would fail.

So M/S renaming copilot ? I expect a few more renames as time goes on :)

avazhi yesterday at 11:06 AM
Inevitably 90% of these comments are Linux users telling the rest of us how much Linux has changed and how painless it now is and yet in the latest LTS of Ubuntu my 2nd monitor doesn’t wake from sleep and half the time my monitor orientations get reset on rebooting. That is to say nothing of the fact that games themselves don’t even run properly when mousing between monitors (factorio is a good example). Been dabbling with Linux for 25 years and it still feels like some CS student’s half-baked side hobby project. I’ll stick to obliterating what I can of Microsoft’s AIDS through group policy and just use MacOS the rest of the time, thanks (although MacOS has its own serious issues these days, too).
6DM last Monday at 6:47 PM
I spun up an old laptop the other day and it has Windows 10 on it. I can't believe how snappy and fast that old laptop felt in comparison to what I've been experiencing on Windows 11.

Especially when you consider that the old laptop has inferior hardware to my newer one with twice the RAM.

I just hate using windows at this point.

cdrnsf last Monday at 8:03 PM
Turns out users don't want your AI features. But, sure, paint the dumpster fire.
heavyset_go yesterday at 12:43 AM
These fuckers put a Copilot key on my laptop and didn't even both to make it emit a unique mappable event when pressed, it's a key combo in one key when you hit it.
kelvinjps10 last Monday at 8:29 PM
windos copilot will become cortana. (as a useless feature of the OS)
lovegrenoble last Monday at 5:05 PM
Microslop? No trust.
ChrisArchitect last Monday at 6:25 PM
Previously:

Microsoft starts removing Copilot buttons from Windows 11 apps

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47722136

smrtinsert last Monday at 5:21 PM
Deep copilot integration feels so intrusive. It pops up with your recent files. What if they were my bank accounts or api keys? Whoever thought that would be a good use experience should be fired.
themagician last Monday at 6:53 PM
Please just make W11 IOT LTSC more available. Please. Pretty please?
kotaKat last Monday at 3:33 PM
It's almost as if Microsoft really loves to assault and abuse its users and claim its for our own good.

I'm tired of being a victim.

ChrisArchitect last Monday at 6:25 PM
who of you is using Notepad for anything?
gverrilla last Monday at 4:56 PM
Sorry if your a windows user, but you have no escape, only Linux. Until you get the time and courage to do the move, you will continually be abused by microslop.
mring33621 last Monday at 4:53 PM
Welcome to the new FartPilot!
scotty79 last Monday at 6:23 PM
If only there was a virtual machine I could run Windows in with full hardware passthrough, I think I wouldn't ever install Windows as main system anymore.
NoSalt last Monday at 4:52 PM
LOL ... of course it is.
josefritzishere last Monday at 9:21 PM
I just want to be able to disable AI. Its just garbage. I do not want Clippy 2.0 inserting slop into my work product.
SilentM68 last Monday at 6:51 PM
I like Copilot. Don't hate any OS, Windows, MacOS or Linux. Just don't see much thought put into the design, engineering and User Experience aspect of some of these OS iterations. As far as Copilot, I can't see a way to exist without it because it keeps me off my mobile phone :)
shevy-java last Monday at 3:01 PM
Didn't Microsoft say it will listen to the community, some weeks ago? And now it looks as if Microsoft did not tell the truth. To be fair: I think Microsoft actually has no alternative option. They sold out to AI and all Win11 users will have to support the hype train. I am so glad to have switched to Linux a long time ago.
oskarw85 last Monday at 3:58 PM
[dead]
vee-kay last Monday at 3:55 PM
[dead]
xacky last Monday at 3:08 PM
Copilot has been reduced to "Internet Explorer" status, where it is the "AI to download another AI".
prmoustache last Monday at 5:18 PM
That is a smart move from them. People have AI advertising fatigue but they sure like some of the features it allows. I don't know of anyone asking their 15y nephew to edit their ex or a photobomber out of a photo anymore, they just do themselves from their smartphone. They use automatic translation everywhere, they don't even look at links in web search but read the answer provided by an LLM, they sure fall into periodic meme/trends like converting photos to Studio Ghibli like drawing a year ago or whatever is trendy today, etc.