Over the past two years,Windows 11 It brings major updates to most built-in apps, including the system tray, start menu, settings app, and taskbar, which continue to evolve with each update. However,Most of these changes have not been applied to Windows 10, which is still the most widely used version of Windows on the planet.Notable exceptions include the redesigned Outlook app and the continued development of Microsoft Edge.
today,MicrosoftThe company announced an important change:New AI-driven features in Windows 11 Copilot, will be ported to Windows 10 and will be available in the Windows Insider Release Preview channel of Windows 10.This version of Copilot will initially be available as a preview for Home and Pro editions of Windows 10. It's not yet available for "managed" versions of Windows 10 -- including Enterprise and Education editions, as well as Pro PCs that are joined to a domain or managed by an IT department.
Microsoft wrote in another blog post:We have received feedback on Copilot (Preview) for WindowsExcellentWe hope to expand this value to more people"For this reason, we are reviewing our approach to Windows 10 and will make additional investments to ensure everyone can get the most out of their Windows PC."maximumvalue, including Copilot (preview) in Windows.”
The Windows 10 version of Copilot requires a PC with at least 4GB of RAM and a 720p display to runAll Windows 11 PCs meet these requirements, so Microsoft has not previously defined theselowestThe feature will first roll out to users in North America and "parts of Asia and South America," before rolling out to other countries "gradually."
Microsoft’s blog post is light on the actual capabilities of Copilot for Windows 10. The Windows 11 version can change various system settings and work with documents stored on your PC; the screenshots Microsoft shared of the Windows 10 version focus primarily on Bing Chat-style, ChatGPT-powered text generation.
The Windows 10 November Preview Update that includes Copilot also has some other small changes, including a long list of bug fixes. It also includes the Windows 11 "Get it as soon as possible"up to dateUpdates" toggle switch in Windows Update will automatically install preview updates instead of doing it manually.
althoughThis is the first update Microsoft has released since Windows 11 replaced Windows 10 at the end of 2021.maximumUpdate, but it doesn't change the broader support timeline for Windows 10.Version 22H2 is the last major update the operating system will receive, with security updates scheduled to end on October 14, 2025, less than two years from now. Microsoft representatives avoided answering questions about the continued high usage of Windows 10 and the number of PCs that cannot be upgraded, saying only that Windows 11 adoption has exceeded Microsoft's internal goals.
While some of these PCs will be able to upgrade to Windows 11 to continue getting security updates, stricter system requirements for the newer operating system are leaving a large number of Windows 10 PCs behind. It's unclear exactly how many of these PCs there are, but Windows 11 adoption has slowed in recent months, while Windows 10 remains by far the most widely used version of the operating system.
Even though Windows 10's end of support date is approaching, it's not hard to see why Microsoft would extend Copilot support to the older operating system.Windows 10 still accounts for more than two-thirds of active Windows installations, according to Statcounter data on US PCs and devices worldwide.Those users can access some AI features through a version of Copilot built into Microsoft Edge, but Edge only has about 10% desktop browser market share in the United States.
Expanding Copilot to Windows 10 is a way to make the service accessible to many users who might not otherwise have access to it.This has been Microsoft's strategy through 2023: Use its AI efforts as broadly as possible, building them into as many products as possible, as quickly as possible..