As it releases new artificial intelligence updates for Windows 11 and encourages customers to phase out Windows 10, Microsoft is urging consumers to communicate with their laptops.
Even though millions of people still use Windows 10 on their home PCs, Microsoft discontinued its free security support for the operating system this week.
The software giant introduced new features for Windows 11 on Thursday to encourage users to upgrade, the majority of which further integrate Copilot, the company’s AI chatbot, into the laptop experience.
One of the features is a voice mode that lets users speak to their computer by saying “Hey, Copilot” rather than typing or using a touchpad.
Ten years after releasing Windows 10, Microsoft released Windows 11, its successor, in 2021.
However, Windows 10 is still widely used worldwide, especially by those with outdated PCs that are unable to upgrade to Windows 11.
Microsoft has been under pressure from consumer organizations for months to continue providing technical help for an estimated hundreds of millions of devices that will no longer receive automated security updates.
According to Brenna Stevens of the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group, which fought for local repair businesses, students, and others, “users face the choice between exposing themselves to cyberattacks or discarding their old computers and buying new ones with the end of Windows 10.”
People can pay more for a year of extended security support through October 2026, according to Microsoft.
Users who can synchronize with Microsoft’s cloud service, such as those in the European Union and the United States, will be eligible for that extended support at no cost.
However, the majority of people who encounter unsupported devices are likely to either discard them or continue using them despite the vulnerabilities, which “create both a security problem and an environmental problem,” producing massive amounts of toxic electronic waste, according to Nathan Proctor, the leader of PIRG’s Right to Repair campaign.
When it comes to computer replacement, both Microsoft and PIRG advise against disposing of outdated devices in landfills.
Microsoft’s statements on Windows 11 on Thursday did not center on such issues.
Speaking with a laptop will be “as transformative as the mouse and keyboard” in defining the PC experience, according to Yusuf Mehdi, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Microsoft’s consumer division.
According to Microsoft, Copilot Vision, an AI tool that can evaluate and provide feedback on documents, video games, and other activities taking place on the screen, will now be available to all Windows 11 users.
Mehdi admitted that getting used to human-computer communication in collaborative workspaces would require some getting used to.
Mehdi said, “People have to figure out when to use it, what’s the right way, and how to make it happen, just like when the mouse came out.”
The upgrades represent Microsoft’s most recent effort to attract users to its suite of generative AI tools by using its popular Windows operating system as a doorway.
The computer behemoth faces fierce competition from companies like Anthropic and OpenAI, as well as Apple and Google, in the AI services market.
According to Mehdi, Recall, a screen-tracking function on certain Windows PCs that provides Copilot with a “photographic memory” of a user’s virtual activities, is “not a replacement for the updates.”
The notion was criticized by privacy and security experts, and it took a year before it began to roll out.
Last year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella characterized it as a step toward machines that “instantly see us, hear, and reason about our intent and our surroundings.”
