While Windows 11 users are still getting used to the presence of the AI-based assistant Copilot, officially introduced last year (although it has not yet arrived in Italy and the EU), Microsoft is already working on expanding its integration into the operating system.
Looks like Copilot is coming to File Explorer context menus in some way soon, the latest Canary and Dev builds include a new velocity feature called CopilotFEContextMenu, 45647150
— PhantomOcean3 ☃️ (@PhantomOfEarth) January 3, 2024
As noted by user @PhantomOfEarth on X analyzing the code of the latest Canary and Dev builds, some lines have been identified suggesting that the Redmond giant is planning to insert entries and commands related to Copilot in new areas of Windows, including the context menus of File Explorer. This is an interesting clue about the possible future of Copilot in Windows, and how Microsoft has ambitious plans to increase the presence of conversational AI in its operating system. The novelty was found in a build intended for developers, indicating that the work is clearly still in an early stage, but gives an idea of what we can expect in the future for the feature.
Will Copilot also be integrated into Windows 11 context menus?
The integration of Copilot on Windows 11 is currently still limited, with users being able to access its capabilities through a specific icon in the taskbar. In fact, however, Copilot still struggles to provide a real contribution in the daily use of the PC, being more of a specific assistant for work, especially for programmers or developers. Adding entries linked to Copilot in the context menus of File Explorer and other areas of Windows 11 would be an important step to transform it into a more versatile and useful assistant in common activities. According to Microsoft’s expressed ambitions, the company aims to enhance the AI component of Windows in view of the release of the next major Windows update, scheduled for 2024.
It is not clear at the moment which specific tasks Copilot will be able to automate directly from the context menus of File Explorer, but the options are numerous. This ranges from the ability to automatically generate names for files and folders to creating entire text documents based on the content of a folder, from extracting metadata and key information to producing comprehensive summaries of the material present. All capabilities already allowed by the large language models on which Copilot is based, and which would undoubtedly be useful during the daily file management on your computer.
While waiting to understand if and when the new entries related to Copilot introduced in the code of Windows 11 will actually be implemented and made available to the general public, Microsoft’s move seems to confirm the centrality that AI and automation will have in the company’s future plans. It is likely that in the coming months, there will continue to be news related to the increasingly close integration between Copilot and Windows. The ambitious goal is to truly transform the natural language-based assistant into an indispensable resource in the daily use of the PC, and the room for improvement compared to the current implementation is enormous.
