10 ms·

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

377 points by bundie 6mo ago

lemonish97 6mo ago
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.
- tosti 6mo ago
  IMHO they're just hiding the wolf in sheep clothing. Can't complain about AI if it's not called AI. Modern problems require modern solutions, you get the idea. The snark in TFA about shareholders and stakeholders hits the nail on the head.
- hootz 6mo ago
  But it's just so unnecessary. Everyone has always expected Notepad to be a simple utility as it has always been, why does it need optional AI features? It just feels like bloat.
  - Sharlin 6mo ago
    Reminder that this is the company that decided to replace Paint with something called "Paint 3D", the laggiest and bloatiest "literally nobody wanted this" drawing app I've ever seen.
    - hydrogen7800 6mo ago
      Ugh, I can no longer press win key and type "p a i enter". I now have to find the old paint manually.
      - hilariously 6mo ago
        win+r - mspaint - enter
        esafak 6mo ago
        They don't even do substring search??
        xp84 6mo ago
        Apparently there’s a proper app launcher in PowerToys.
        amlib 6mo ago
        Back in the 90s doing substring match was probably deemed way too expensive and so just calling the executable name directly was as optimized as it got... and it's beautiful :)
        hydrogen7800 6mo ago
        Thanks! Also useful for an old win10 machine I have, and probably shouldn't be using anymore, that no longer responds to clicking the start menu button...
        catlikesshrimp 6mo ago
        Don't throw it away. Install windows 8, and the last offline version of office you can find. It makes for a great distraction free workstation and a monitor for your android (scrcpy). Or, you can install and reinstall linux distros and learn the ropes. You should be fine as long as you use a proper firewall device and access only manually withelisted websites, but it is always better to keep it offline. That said, it can become your next firewall device.
        hydrogen7800 6mo ago
        I built it circa 2012 or 2013 and still have the physical win8 disc. I considered futzing with linux on it. The extent of my linux experience is via SSH to a raspberry pi kludging some docker containers for this and that. SSH/linux terminal feels like fumbling in a dark room flipping random switches until something works. >scrcpy I also have a pixel 5a whose screen doesn't work, but I think functions otherwise. Would this allow me to interface with it?
    - whynotmaybe 6mo ago
      Must be some Mandela effect but I'm sure that Paint.net was supposed to replace mspaint when it was started.
      - Sharlin 6mo ago
        It was supposed to be a third-party replacement, sure, but certainly not an official one. It started as a student project. It's just the prefix that tricks your brain to associate it with MS's own .NET branded applications.
        saghm 6mo ago
        To be fair, the .NET brand is already super convoluted (there's .NET framework, the .NET core, .NET runtime, the .NET desktop runtime, the .NET sdk, and I'm genuinely not even sure which if any of these might refer to the same thing), on top of it weirdly sounding like something internet related to a casual user.
        Sharlin 6mo ago
        Yes, "Copilot" is not the first brand that MS has tried to stick to everything while being just as confused about it as (inevitably) the consumers. Although somehow they did manage to keep .NET mostly aimed at developers - besides the actual frameworks there's Visual Studio .NET and other dev tools, but I'm actually a bit surprised that they never had "Office .NET" or "Outlook .NET" or even "Windows .NET Edition" or something like that. Maybe they still had some sane people in charge of marketing and brand management back then.
        xp84 6mo ago
        They did brand the Microsoft accounts themselves, from “Passport” to “.NET Passport” for a while. That was before they were “Windows Live IDs.”
      - cwnyth 6mo ago
        Paint.NET wasn't Microsoft's, but was an independent app: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint.NET https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint.NET
    - mlnj 6mo ago
      I remember how Skype, an awesome piece of software transformed into Lync, which worked fairly well, slowly transformed into whatever MS wanted to call it year after year, slower and more buggy than the year before.
      - kalleboo 6mo ago
        Lync started out as "Office Communicator 2007" before being renamed Lync. Then Microsoft purchased Skype and rebranded Lync as "Skype for Business" even though it was still a completely unrelated product, with just some basic interoperability slapped on. Skype-the-consumer-app lived on separately as its original product in parallel. Just another example of how Microsoft is utterly incompetent at branding - always have been and always will be.
    - Rohansi 6mo ago
      It was never replaced. Paint 3D was an entirely different app for 3D art only. It's also been gone for a few years now.
      - Sharlin 6mo ago
        It was absolutely sold as a replacement. And it's gone now because literally nobody wanted it, used it, or understood why it existed. Sure, you could still find the old Paint in a disused lavatory behind a locked door with a sign "beware of the leopard". It wasn't even installed by default, unlike the 3D version, or do I recall incorrectly? Even MS isn't so stupid as to ship two separate accessories both called "Paint" in the same OS by default!
        wlesieutre 6mo ago
        And a weird obsession with making it impossible to customize the sidebar in Explorer, so there was a “3D Objects” folder stuck there permanently unless you’re the kind of user who doesn’t mind a trip to the registry editor. What percent of users ever found that useful? I think I’m being generous to guess one in ten thousand. Absolutely braindead management running Windows development. https://www.thewindowsclub.com/remove-3d-objects-folder-winows-10 https://www.thewindowsclub.com/remove-3d-objects-folder-wino...
        Sharlin 6mo ago
        Yeah, the "3D Objects" thing is just surreal. You can't make this stuff up.
        robotnikman 6mo ago
        It was a relic from a time when it looked like 3D printing was going to be the next big thing.
        pbhjpbhj 6mo ago
        Agreed, it looked like VR was going to be big, MS & Meta were pushing it hard.
    - MisterTea 6mo ago
      I think that crown belongs to the pile of pig shit that was the Windows 10 photo viewer. My first experience with that trash fire was opening a simple 2k photo which took 15 seconds and 150 MB of memory on a six core i5 with 16GB RAM. Viewing images was pain and suffering until I gave up and re-enabled the Win 7 viewer which was thankfully still included.
    - distances 6mo ago
      Looking back, I understood with Windows XP that I wasn't in the target group. Win 95/98 had a simple but functional file search. Being naive, I was expecting some power user features in the future, like regex search. Win XP replaced the classic file search with one that had an animated dog in it. The dog search was completely, utterly useless. You would not find anything with it. It was so bad I still vividly remember my bafflement about it.
  - lynndotpy 6mo ago
    When I stopped using Windows, it was because it required so much constant upkeep and maintenance to stay usable. You had to stay on top of the latest tool that disables tracking, things like Cortana you'd want to remove, the latest toggles you have to disable, what toggles revert themselves when you update. These all exist behind different shifting UI toggles which are not accessibly automatable. And all the while, you have to hope your registry edits don't force you to a lengthy reinstall where you have to redo all of these. I could be wrong, but as far as I know there's not one "Fix Windows 11" tool maintained to do all this for you. "You have to toggle AI features off in Notepad, and they changed the name to Advanced Features now," is just another heaving brick on the pile.
    - trueno 6mo ago
      > When I stopped using Windows, it was because it required so much constant upkeep and maintenance to stay usable. i actually had to spin up a windows vm last week to fix some dumb excel workbook vba nonsense a coworker was having issues with. i laughed so hard at the amount of "debloat" powershell tools out there for windows that are basically a non-negotiable now to have a normal operating system experience. just surfing around the web and seeing people say "yeah install OS then run _ tool" like that is a normal "this is fine" thing was so entertaining. i destroyed that VM when i was done. then took a shower
      - vbezhenar 6mo ago
        You do you, but I never bothered with anything like that and just used Windows as it is. It works. Yes, it probably tracks me and sends some stuff to MS servers but I don't care. I trust them enough to run their proprietary code on my machine with the highest privileges, anyway. The problems with VM experience is because Windows seems to perform some tasks after installation or after long absence, like installing updates and stuff. That makes it slow for a while. But when you use it every day, it's not an issue.
    - supertrope 6mo ago
      That's the same reason I deleted my Facebook account.
  - tracker1 6mo ago
    I really think MS should have just resurrected the "Wordpad" app name for what the new "Nptepad" does. It would be far less annoying if they'd just done that.
    - trueno 6mo ago
      lol holy moly i totally forgot about how annoying it was when something opened in the bastard child that was wordpad. kinda crazy to me how terrible the entire windows experience is as a whole, i really think people have just lost sight of how computing should be. there's just too many cats outta the bag here that microsoft is going to cling to for dear life, they can back pedal all they want in blogs promising different, but we can already see here they're not willing to let go of the stuff they've woven into things that people hate. im gonna be blunt, windows kinda sux. this is already not a promising outlook for windows enjoyers. and it's only been what, like 2-3 weeks since they were putting out this nonsense > "You will see us be more intentional about how and where Copilot integrates across Windows, focusing on experiences that are genuinely useful and well‑crafted. As part of this, we are reducing unnecessary Copilot entry points, starting with apps like Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets and Notepad." let me guess: copilot stuff remains on by default. lol, lmao even
      - tracker1 6mo ago
        > im gonna be blunt, windows kinda sux. No argument from me... I switched my personal devices off Windows several years ago... I still use a Mac laptop, and that may even be my last Apple device. I really wish that MS would have spent far more time making Win11 consistent instead of introducing so many new features throughout... Win7 was the last version of Windows that even resembled consistent. That doesn't even go into a lot of the bloat and stuff that doesn't necessarily belong in an OS imo. Completing the UI transition should be the second priority only after long standing bugs and usability issues. The AI enshitification is horrible. I'm not even against an option for AI tooling... give me a selection dialog/wizard ONCE on account login/creation... then leave me alone.
    - delecti 6mo ago
      Based on the timelines, it seems like the WordPad EoL was going on at the same time as the plans to add crap to Notepad. They might well have killed WordPad so that they could turn Notepad into the pile of crap it became.
  - philistine 6mo ago
    I’d argue it is Microsoft’s own damn fault. They seem to have completely abandoned improving their system, in favour of dumping everything in their apps. Apple has introduced writing tools at the OS level, so you can use their LLM in TextEdit and no one complains.
    - pbhjpbhj 6mo ago
      With Apple, can you leave the LLM features turned off?
      - LetsGetTechnicl 6mo ago
        Yes you can keep Apple Intelligence turned off at the system level, which I do
    - vbezhenar 6mo ago
      I complain. I don't need AI on OS level.
      - philistine 6mo ago
        I'm sorry; I meant no one complains that AI is inside TextEdit specifically. People complain (including me!) about Apple's terrible AI strategy in general.
  - raincole 6mo ago
    > Everyone has always expected Notepad to be a simple utility as it has always been Except the youngest of the demography who don't have this expectation, and live in AI hype era since they're kids.
  - xoxxala 6mo ago
    I don't need anything more than a simple text editor. Notepad worked fine for a long time, but the bloat is real. I tried a bunch of replacement editors, but none really scratched that Notepad itch. Surprisingly, I'm now a fan of MS Edit: https://github.com/microsoft/edit https://github.com/microsoft/edit It's very simple and here's hoping they don't bloat this one out, too.
    - Neikius 6mo ago
      I like kde's Kate. A bit more than notepad but not as crazy as notepad++. More like notepad 2
- saghm 6mo ago
  If I'm understanding correctly, you have to go into "advanced" features to turn off AI? So someone who doesn't think they're an expert who needs advanced features might not ever go and look there? I'd argue that "advanced" features are something that a casual user would expect to be off by default and need to go out of their way to enable.
  - ratmeadow 6mo ago
    "advanced" in 2026 is closer to "using the app how you want to as rather than the way that will generate the corporation maximum profits"
    - dataflow 6mo ago
      This stretches back much farther than the 2020s unfortunately...
- Topfi 6mo ago
  The "AI" additions to Notepad are not limited to systems with an NPU. Why would they be, it's powered by LLMs running on Azure [0]. These sudden additions also correlated with the first CVE [1] in Notepad since its inception, so maybe their attention isn't where it should be. I for one very much mind this and many other inclusions including the metastatic takeover off Office. OneDrive also was forced upon and severely worsened functioning software, despite not being "AI", so there is precedent at least. [0] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enhance-your-writing-with-ai-in-notepad-4088b954-c97b-46dc-813f-959be01746d5#:~:text=Notepad%20in%20Windows%20includes%20Rewrite,with%20the%20assistance%20of%20GPT. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enhance-your-wri... [1] https://infosecwriteups.com/the-dumb-editor-that-got-too-smart-when-feature-bloat-leads-to-rce-0fd08d9c62cd?gi=6b82eb598d9c https://infosecwriteups.com/the-dumb-editor-that-got-too-sma...
- noir_lord 6mo ago
  Be better if there was a global "Disable AI" option easily found in the settings that is a flag everywhere. Some of us (including very much me) simply do not want Copilot/AI anything and playing whackamole with settings is annoying but we'll do it anyway and it leaves a bad taste. Since it's the software equivalent of been in a filing cabinet in the basement behind a door that has a sign saying "Beware the Leopard". In reality it's a moot point, I disable AI features and Windows is a gloried steamos box for me at this point, I do my actual computing booted into Linux and have for decades.
  - vee-kay 6mo ago
    [dead]
- jgalt212 6mo ago
  > I honestly don't mind this, as long as it's not being forced. This is indeed a step forward. With QuickBooks, there is currently no way to disable their extremely intrusive AI. I may just vibe-code a browser extension to block it. Fight fire with fire.
- throwaway613746 6mo ago
  [dead]
- razster 6mo ago
  Even with it off, you can still see that it uses a lot of resources for a basic Notepad. I've ditched Windows for work, second drive now has Windows for gaming and that is all. I can do all my work on Linux and that is fine by me.
- BizarroLand 6mo ago
  I would prefer off by default. No nags, just a simple, "We are offering you this feature, use it or don't, it's your computer".
tosti 6mo ago
https://archive.ph/M7Bv5 https://archive.ph/M7Bv5
protoster 6mo ago
> 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.
- benterix 6mo ago
  Yeah, I remember the same. Also, "Windows 11 fans" sounds like an oxymoron.
  - tosti 6mo ago
    It could relate to the amount of *pu and system fans needed to run so much bloatware :)
  - bilekas 6mo ago
    Might be considered "Windows 11 Hostages" instead given they've dropped support for using anything else.
    - bluescrn 6mo ago
      Wondering how long I can hold out on Win10...
jmclnx 6mo ago
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 :)
benterix 6mo ago
> 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".
- shevy-java 6mo ago
  Ah, you make a great point - I made almost the same comment a moment ago, because I remember that Microslop babbled about "we will listen to the community" some weeks ago. Guess it was indeed at the start of the year. So those who were skeptic were right - one can not trust Microslop. Its AI addiction is too strong already. It sold its soul to AI. There is no way back for Microslop anymore. All Win11 users will have to support AI. AI up all the things! \o/
shevy-java 6mo ago
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.
- whynotmaybe 6mo ago
  Well, they heard that we don't like copilot in notepad so they removed "copilot" from notepad. And right after that they added a brand new feature called tolipoc that will revolutionize the way you analyze your logs or modify your 17 year old cmd file! Want to create a file with the current date and time? No need to google for it, tolipoc will do it for you!
  - a1o 6mo ago
    Is the last sentence a reference to the .LOG classic notepad hack?
- pndy 6mo ago
  You prob recall this thing from 23 days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47459296 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47459296 For me there's nothing MS could do at this point that would bring me back. And as I said in that thread, it's too late for them - people are moving elsewhere, maybe not in big numbers but exodus is in progress. MS harassed their users/clients too hard and for too long; now it's time to "enjoy" fruits of their deranged actions and decisions.
- yndoendo 6mo ago
  Microsoft has jumped onto the Friedman doctrine with full force. [0] Following this doctrine takes you down only one path, Enshitification. All the major Wall Street players are doing it too; Nestle with removing real chocolate in their chocolate candy, McDonald's now costing the same as a sit down with lower quality product, car industry rejecting affordable vehicles for production. [1] [2] The only end users Microsoft concern themselves with are the _Share Holders_. They reject the developers, maintainers, and consumers as their focal user groups. This is how you get shit-ware and people leaving your platform. My major goal this year is to get our solutions running on Linux so we can fully ditch the trash fire that Windows IoT / Embedded has become. It originally was fully customizable now it is bloated with Copilot, XBox gaming, and working to force the creation of @Microsoft.com accounts versus local ones. I support local restaurants, businesses, and breweries. While Wall Street companies are last in line to receive my income, if at all. I will not spend a penny personally financially supporting large players like McDonald's, Microsoft, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Molson Coors, AB InBev ... Everything these companies say is just PR to try and win back those they lost and those that are walking away. Only trust an origination's actions because their messages are meaningless and without value. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79x7q325p3o https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79x7q325p3o [2] https://daxstreet.com/news/243275/affordable-cars-disappear-as-automakers-shift-focus-to-higher-priced-models-and-increased-profits/ https://daxstreet.com/news/243275/affordable-cars-disappear-...
xacky 6mo ago
Copilot has been reduced to "Internet Explorer" status, where it is the "AI to download another AI".
_HMCB_ 6mo ago
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.
- Shank 6mo ago
  If you turn off Apple Intelligence, it’s one switch and features like that are gone from every single location.
  - _HMCB_ 6mo ago
    I had no clue that you could switch it off. Thanks.
wing-_-nuts 6mo ago
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.
- Aardwolf 6mo ago
  I don't seem to have issues modding games like Skyrim, Fallout 4 or Factorio on Linux
  - wing-_-nuts 6mo ago
    Do you use executable mods? Downgraders, engine fixes, etc? I'm also curious what mod manager you use, because getting MO2 to work under linux is a bit janky as well.
    - joombaga 6mo ago
      I use MO2 on Linux through Steam's Proton runtime, to play TTW (Fallout NV mod). Works fine. The TTW installer did require an older Proton version though.
    - Aardwolf 6mo ago
      Probably not often I'd say, but at least there were some games I played with wine where some executables to apply mods also ran in wine and worked, I vaguely remember some fix to make something be able to use more than a few GB of ram to allow farther or better remdering, sometimes just a strange combination of things is needed to get something to work. But that's actually long ago, these days everything just works in Steam instead
kotaKat 6mo ago
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.
luxuryballs 6mo ago
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.
vee-kay 6mo ago
[dead]
oskarw85 6mo ago
[dead]
rdiddly 6mo ago
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.
- claudiug 6mo ago
  [flagged]
  - rbanffy 6mo ago
    The BDSM community felt attacked.
    - tanseydavid 6mo ago
      If the pun was not intended, it should be.
- Barbing 6mo ago
  Maybe comparing <the sum total of annoyance from reading the old name> to <the current sum total of annoyance reading the current name>, it was a positive direction overall?
  - lnenad 6mo ago
    I mean, if you were to do that, I'd wager more people are annoyed with the change than were annoyed with the original name. So no, it was a negative direction overall.
  - stronglikedan 6mo ago
    nope. to this day, it's still fucks people up and causes mistakes. it was stupid then, and it's still just as stupid. virtue signalling is always fucking stupid, and sometimes, like in this case, is flat out egregious
    - smrtinsert 6mo ago
rbanffy 6mo ago
Microsoft Live Copilot anyone?
- kjs3 6mo ago
  Needs more 'Clippy'.
  - rbanffy 6mo ago
    Live Clippy sounds very creepy.
    - catlikesshrimp 6mo ago
      Live Clippy Copilot powered by AI. All turtles to the end...
      - pndy 6mo ago
        Nah: Microsoft Windows Subsystem for Clippy Copilot Live Foundation with MSN .NET Framework version 2026
        kjs3 6mo ago
        Professional Edition
  - Izkata 6mo ago
    Anagram it: Clipoot
porridgeraisin 6mo ago
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.
jasoneckert 6mo ago
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?
- pawsocks 6mo ago
  I'm guessing the 'sparkle' icon will stick around, for better or worse
  - philistine 6mo ago
    What does pressing this button even DO? Pressing the floppy disk saves. LLMs cannot be reduced to a mere button, and that's a whole problem with Microsoft's strategy. They seem laser-focused, for financial reasons, to reduce all of AI's myriad possibilities to a single button/identity.
    - Izkata 6mo ago
      The sparkles are also in Gitlab and Jira, so it seems to have become the de-facto "Call the AI" button.
- micromacrofoot 6mo ago
  I think it's even more than that, they'll be features without AI even being mentioned
aizk 6mo ago
Microsoft is collapsing under the weight of their own bloat.
bachmeier 6mo ago
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.
- mring33621 6mo ago
  It looks like you're trying to write something! Click here to have me fuck it up for you!
- madeofpalk 6mo ago
  This is decidedly the result of a lack of strategy. Microsoft isn’t a single unified borg. Instead, all the little individual teams got their hands on these capabilities and they figured out where to shove it. At “best” there would have been the head of Windows or Office or whatever saying to all their reports “go do AI!”
  - rdedev 6mo ago
    Atleast someone at some level need to think about how the user is going to use copilot right?
    - madeofpalk 6mo ago
      Need? No. Should? Probably!
    - samrus 6mo ago
      Its shocking how they didnt. Imagine how shit the culture must be when employees arent bothering to consider how the user will use the feature, just focussing on getting it through
  - 6mo ago
NoSalt 6mo ago
LOL ... of course it is.
mring33621 6mo ago
Welcome to the new FartPilot!
gverrilla 6mo ago
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.
- fleroviumna 6mo ago
  [dead]
lovegrenoble 6mo ago
Moved to MacOS, chao Copilot...
cordwainersmith 6mo ago
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 6mo ago
Microslop? No trust.
prmoustache 6mo ago
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.
smrtinsert 6mo ago
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.
drooopy 6mo ago
They’re doomed to repeat the cycle of reinventing Clippy every few years and always failing at it.
mikaeluman 6mo ago
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.
- sedatk 6mo ago
  Good news: https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/03/23/microsoft-confirms-windows-11-will-run-faster-under-heavy-load-reduce-ram-usage-and-feel-more-responsive/ https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/03/23/microsoft-confirms-...
scotty79 6mo ago
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.
andrewdubinsky 6mo ago
Please let it be Cortana. Don't give up on her.
- Auracle 6mo ago
  For real, it was insane to drop Cortana. Halo-aside, it’s a great name for an AI assistant.
  - MengerSponge 6mo ago
    Deep lore, seems helpful, cute avatar, becomes evil? Yeah it's a perfect name for an AI assistant
    - mentos 6mo ago
      And since Cortana isn’t a widely used name like Alexa, it spares a whole generation of people named Alexa from that inconvenience.
- protocolture 6mo ago
  Subjective, but Cortana was great until they added ads.
- nosioptar 6mo ago
  Eff that, they need to bring back Clippy.
ChrisArchitect 6mo ago
Previously: Microsoft starts removing Copilot buttons from Windows 11 apps https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47722136 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47722136
ChrisArchitect 6mo ago
who of you is using Notepad for anything?
- qwerpy 6mo ago
  I built a new PC at around the same time that notepad++ was exploited so I steered clear of it for a bit. And VSCode was becoming too clunky to use as a general purpose text editor. So I tried the new notepad. The new version is also clunky and sluggish, and I didn’t want Copilot, so I switched back to notepad++ after a few days.
6DM 6mo ago
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.
SilentM68 6mo ago
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 :)
themagician 6mo ago
Please just make W11 IOT LTSC more available. Please. Pretty please?
WhiteDawn 6mo ago
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.
- rdedev 6mo ago
  My recent frustration is with Powerpoint Designer suggestions. Who asked for this? The suggestions don't make sense or look good. And then microsoft provides a helpful tip to not pop open suggestions till the next time powerpoint is opened
  - buildbot 6mo ago
    Those do super fun things to slide numbering too sometimes, so you get 2 slide sixes, and no slide eight.
    - fatata123 6mo ago
      [dead]
- AlienRobot 6mo ago
  This is why I don't believe in AI. Every time I open Google it shuffles the images/videos/shopping/maps tabs randomly. There is no UI research on the universe that would say this is a good thing. It has been happening for years. Does anyone seriously want me to believe a company that thinks that that is a good idea can make AI work? Google trends now has less features than it used to have. Search Console changes routinely, somehow never gets any actual new features. I think the funniest past was introducing an AI chatbot in Search Console that isn't able to answer most users' number 1 query: "how can I make my website get more clicks?" I actually believe if you make an AI chatbot just to tell users how to use your app, you're admitting you have no idea how to make the app usable. If the app was intuitive, by definition, nobody would need a chatbot. If the documentation was easy to read, nobody would need a chatbot. If the search results actually worked, nobody would need AI overview (which, by the day, I feel has been becoming slower and slower to load every day) On Whatsapp, I remember struggling to search for my contacts because where I expected a search box was replaced with Meta's AI text box. The funniest thing is that I remember someone who isn't good with computers telling me they asked the Whatsapp AI how to delete files in their smartphone that was full. Now this "AI" has probably become IT support for countless of its less tech savvy users, probably giving them completely wrong information sometimes. All of this AI integration feels so offensive because every software you'll ever use always has a huge list of features that users would want and have wanted for years, and what is getting added first is some shoddy AI nobody asked for. People are seeing AI integration get top priority in spite of zero demand while their own issues with the software remain ignored. It's going to make people lose trust in software.
cdrnsf 6mo ago
Turns out users don't want your AI features. But, sure, paint the dumpster fire.
kelvinjps10 6mo ago
windos copilot will become cortana. (as a useless feature of the OS)
kccqzy 6mo ago
> 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?
1970-01-01 6mo ago
Looking forward to seeing "AI for Copilot" released before someone at MS finally realizes they're idiots at marketing.
josefritzishere 6mo ago
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.
gwbas1c 6mo ago
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.
heavyset_go 6mo ago
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.
fuckinpuppers 6mo ago
So they just started pushing the Copilot name everywhere and rebranding Office as Copilot and now they’re renaming/shifting again?
avazhi 6mo ago
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).

377 points by bundie 6mo ago

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.

tosti 6mo ago
IMHO they're just hiding the wolf in sheep clothing. Can't complain about AI if it's not called AI. Modern problems require modern solutions, you get the idea. The snark in TFA about shareholders and stakeholders hits the nail on the head.
hootz 6mo ago
But it's just so unnecessary. Everyone has always expected Notepad to be a simple utility as it has always been, why does it need optional AI features? It just feels like bloat.
- Sharlin 6mo ago
  Reminder that this is the company that decided to replace Paint with something called "Paint 3D", the laggiest and bloatiest "literally nobody wanted this" drawing app I've ever seen.
  - hydrogen7800 6mo ago
    Ugh, I can no longer press win key and type "p a i enter". I now have to find the old paint manually.
    - hilariously 6mo ago
      win+r - mspaint - enter
      - esafak 6mo ago
        They don't even do substring search??
        xp84 6mo ago
        Apparently there’s a proper app launcher in PowerToys.
        amlib 6mo ago
        Back in the 90s doing substring match was probably deemed way too expensive and so just calling the executable name directly was as optimized as it got... and it's beautiful :)
      - hydrogen7800 6mo ago
        Thanks! Also useful for an old win10 machine I have, and probably shouldn't be using anymore, that no longer responds to clicking the start menu button...
        catlikesshrimp 6mo ago
        Don't throw it away. Install windows 8, and the last offline version of office you can find. It makes for a great distraction free workstation and a monitor for your android (scrcpy). Or, you can install and reinstall linux distros and learn the ropes. You should be fine as long as you use a proper firewall device and access only manually withelisted websites, but it is always better to keep it offline. That said, it can become your next firewall device.
        hydrogen7800 6mo ago
        I built it circa 2012 or 2013 and still have the physical win8 disc. I considered futzing with linux on it. The extent of my linux experience is via SSH to a raspberry pi kludging some docker containers for this and that. SSH/linux terminal feels like fumbling in a dark room flipping random switches until something works. >scrcpy I also have a pixel 5a whose screen doesn't work, but I think functions otherwise. Would this allow me to interface with it?
  - whynotmaybe 6mo ago
    Must be some Mandela effect but I'm sure that Paint.net was supposed to replace mspaint when it was started.
    - Sharlin 6mo ago
      It was supposed to be a third-party replacement, sure, but certainly not an official one. It started as a student project. It's just the prefix that tricks your brain to associate it with MS's own .NET branded applications.
      - saghm 6mo ago
        To be fair, the .NET brand is already super convoluted (there's .NET framework, the .NET core, .NET runtime, the .NET desktop runtime, the .NET sdk, and I'm genuinely not even sure which if any of these might refer to the same thing), on top of it weirdly sounding like something internet related to a casual user.
        Sharlin 6mo ago
        Yes, "Copilot" is not the first brand that MS has tried to stick to everything while being just as confused about it as (inevitably) the consumers. Although somehow they did manage to keep .NET mostly aimed at developers - besides the actual frameworks there's Visual Studio .NET and other dev tools, but I'm actually a bit surprised that they never had "Office .NET" or "Outlook .NET" or even "Windows .NET Edition" or something like that. Maybe they still had some sane people in charge of marketing and brand management back then.
        xp84 6mo ago
        They did brand the Microsoft accounts themselves, from “Passport” to “.NET Passport” for a while. That was before they were “Windows Live IDs.”
    - cwnyth 6mo ago
      Paint.NET wasn't Microsoft's, but was an independent app: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint.NET https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint.NET
  - mlnj 6mo ago
    I remember how Skype, an awesome piece of software transformed into Lync, which worked fairly well, slowly transformed into whatever MS wanted to call it year after year, slower and more buggy than the year before.
    - kalleboo 6mo ago
      Lync started out as "Office Communicator 2007" before being renamed Lync. Then Microsoft purchased Skype and rebranded Lync as "Skype for Business" even though it was still a completely unrelated product, with just some basic interoperability slapped on. Skype-the-consumer-app lived on separately as its original product in parallel. Just another example of how Microsoft is utterly incompetent at branding - always have been and always will be.
  - Rohansi 6mo ago
    It was never replaced. Paint 3D was an entirely different app for 3D art only. It's also been gone for a few years now.
    - Sharlin 6mo ago
      It was absolutely sold as a replacement. And it's gone now because literally nobody wanted it, used it, or understood why it existed. Sure, you could still find the old Paint in a disused lavatory behind a locked door with a sign "beware of the leopard". It wasn't even installed by default, unlike the 3D version, or do I recall incorrectly? Even MS isn't so stupid as to ship two separate accessories both called "Paint" in the same OS by default!
      - wlesieutre 6mo ago
        And a weird obsession with making it impossible to customize the sidebar in Explorer, so there was a “3D Objects” folder stuck there permanently unless you’re the kind of user who doesn’t mind a trip to the registry editor. What percent of users ever found that useful? I think I’m being generous to guess one in ten thousand. Absolutely braindead management running Windows development. https://www.thewindowsclub.com/remove-3d-objects-folder-winows-10 https://www.thewindowsclub.com/remove-3d-objects-folder-wino...
        Sharlin 6mo ago
        Yeah, the "3D Objects" thing is just surreal. You can't make this stuff up.
        robotnikman 6mo ago
        It was a relic from a time when it looked like 3D printing was going to be the next big thing.
        pbhjpbhj 6mo ago
        Agreed, it looked like VR was going to be big, MS & Meta were pushing it hard.
  - MisterTea 6mo ago
    I think that crown belongs to the pile of pig shit that was the Windows 10 photo viewer. My first experience with that trash fire was opening a simple 2k photo which took 15 seconds and 150 MB of memory on a six core i5 with 16GB RAM. Viewing images was pain and suffering until I gave up and re-enabled the Win 7 viewer which was thankfully still included.
  - distances 6mo ago
    Looking back, I understood with Windows XP that I wasn't in the target group. Win 95/98 had a simple but functional file search. Being naive, I was expecting some power user features in the future, like regex search. Win XP replaced the classic file search with one that had an animated dog in it. The dog search was completely, utterly useless. You would not find anything with it. It was so bad I still vividly remember my bafflement about it.
- lynndotpy 6mo ago
  When I stopped using Windows, it was because it required so much constant upkeep and maintenance to stay usable. You had to stay on top of the latest tool that disables tracking, things like Cortana you'd want to remove, the latest toggles you have to disable, what toggles revert themselves when you update. These all exist behind different shifting UI toggles which are not accessibly automatable. And all the while, you have to hope your registry edits don't force you to a lengthy reinstall where you have to redo all of these. I could be wrong, but as far as I know there's not one "Fix Windows 11" tool maintained to do all this for you. "You have to toggle AI features off in Notepad, and they changed the name to Advanced Features now," is just another heaving brick on the pile.
  - trueno 6mo ago
    > When I stopped using Windows, it was because it required so much constant upkeep and maintenance to stay usable. i actually had to spin up a windows vm last week to fix some dumb excel workbook vba nonsense a coworker was having issues with. i laughed so hard at the amount of "debloat" powershell tools out there for windows that are basically a non-negotiable now to have a normal operating system experience. just surfing around the web and seeing people say "yeah install OS then run _ tool" like that is a normal "this is fine" thing was so entertaining. i destroyed that VM when i was done. then took a shower
    - vbezhenar 6mo ago
      You do you, but I never bothered with anything like that and just used Windows as it is. It works. Yes, it probably tracks me and sends some stuff to MS servers but I don't care. I trust them enough to run their proprietary code on my machine with the highest privileges, anyway. The problems with VM experience is because Windows seems to perform some tasks after installation or after long absence, like installing updates and stuff. That makes it slow for a while. But when you use it every day, it's not an issue.
  - supertrope 6mo ago
    That's the same reason I deleted my Facebook account.
- tracker1 6mo ago
  I really think MS should have just resurrected the "Wordpad" app name for what the new "Nptepad" does. It would be far less annoying if they'd just done that.
  - trueno 6mo ago
    lol holy moly i totally forgot about how annoying it was when something opened in the bastard child that was wordpad. kinda crazy to me how terrible the entire windows experience is as a whole, i really think people have just lost sight of how computing should be. there's just too many cats outta the bag here that microsoft is going to cling to for dear life, they can back pedal all they want in blogs promising different, but we can already see here they're not willing to let go of the stuff they've woven into things that people hate. im gonna be blunt, windows kinda sux. this is already not a promising outlook for windows enjoyers. and it's only been what, like 2-3 weeks since they were putting out this nonsense > "You will see us be more intentional about how and where Copilot integrates across Windows, focusing on experiences that are genuinely useful and well‑crafted. As part of this, we are reducing unnecessary Copilot entry points, starting with apps like Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets and Notepad." let me guess: copilot stuff remains on by default. lol, lmao even
    - tracker1 6mo ago
      > im gonna be blunt, windows kinda sux. No argument from me... I switched my personal devices off Windows several years ago... I still use a Mac laptop, and that may even be my last Apple device. I really wish that MS would have spent far more time making Win11 consistent instead of introducing so many new features throughout... Win7 was the last version of Windows that even resembled consistent. That doesn't even go into a lot of the bloat and stuff that doesn't necessarily belong in an OS imo. Completing the UI transition should be the second priority only after long standing bugs and usability issues. The AI enshitification is horrible. I'm not even against an option for AI tooling... give me a selection dialog/wizard ONCE on account login/creation... then leave me alone.
  - delecti 6mo ago
    Based on the timelines, it seems like the WordPad EoL was going on at the same time as the plans to add crap to Notepad. They might well have killed WordPad so that they could turn Notepad into the pile of crap it became.
- philistine 6mo ago
  I’d argue it is Microsoft’s own damn fault. They seem to have completely abandoned improving their system, in favour of dumping everything in their apps. Apple has introduced writing tools at the OS level, so you can use their LLM in TextEdit and no one complains.
  - pbhjpbhj 6mo ago
    With Apple, can you leave the LLM features turned off?
    - LetsGetTechnicl 6mo ago
      Yes you can keep Apple Intelligence turned off at the system level, which I do
  - vbezhenar 6mo ago
    I complain. I don't need AI on OS level.
    - philistine 6mo ago
      I'm sorry; I meant no one complains that AI is inside TextEdit specifically. People complain (including me!) about Apple's terrible AI strategy in general.
- raincole 6mo ago
  > Everyone has always expected Notepad to be a simple utility as it has always been Except the youngest of the demography who don't have this expectation, and live in AI hype era since they're kids.
- xoxxala 6mo ago
  I don't need anything more than a simple text editor. Notepad worked fine for a long time, but the bloat is real. I tried a bunch of replacement editors, but none really scratched that Notepad itch. Surprisingly, I'm now a fan of MS Edit: https://github.com/microsoft/edit https://github.com/microsoft/edit It's very simple and here's hoping they don't bloat this one out, too.
  - Neikius 6mo ago
    I like kde's Kate. A bit more than notepad but not as crazy as notepad++. More like notepad 2
saghm 6mo ago
If I'm understanding correctly, you have to go into "advanced" features to turn off AI? So someone who doesn't think they're an expert who needs advanced features might not ever go and look there? I'd argue that "advanced" features are something that a casual user would expect to be off by default and need to go out of their way to enable.
- ratmeadow 6mo ago
  "advanced" in 2026 is closer to "using the app how you want to as rather than the way that will generate the corporation maximum profits"
  - dataflow 6mo ago
    This stretches back much farther than the 2020s unfortunately...
Topfi 6mo ago
The "AI" additions to Notepad are not limited to systems with an NPU. Why would they be, it's powered by LLMs running on Azure [0]. These sudden additions also correlated with the first CVE [1] in Notepad since its inception, so maybe their attention isn't where it should be. I for one very much mind this and many other inclusions including the metastatic takeover off Office. OneDrive also was forced upon and severely worsened functioning software, despite not being "AI", so there is precedent at least. [0] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enhance-your-writing-with-ai-in-notepad-4088b954-c97b-46dc-813f-959be01746d5#:~:text=Notepad%20in%20Windows%20includes%20Rewrite,with%20the%20assistance%20of%20GPT. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enhance-your-wri... [1] https://infosecwriteups.com/the-dumb-editor-that-got-too-smart-when-feature-bloat-leads-to-rce-0fd08d9c62cd?gi=6b82eb598d9c https://infosecwriteups.com/the-dumb-editor-that-got-too-sma...
noir_lord 6mo ago
Be better if there was a global "Disable AI" option easily found in the settings that is a flag everywhere. Some of us (including very much me) simply do not want Copilot/AI anything and playing whackamole with settings is annoying but we'll do it anyway and it leaves a bad taste. Since it's the software equivalent of been in a filing cabinet in the basement behind a door that has a sign saying "Beware the Leopard". In reality it's a moot point, I disable AI features and Windows is a gloried steamos box for me at this point, I do my actual computing booted into Linux and have for decades.
- vee-kay 6mo ago
  [dead]
jgalt212 6mo ago
> I honestly don't mind this, as long as it's not being forced. This is indeed a step forward. With QuickBooks, there is currently no way to disable their extremely intrusive AI. I may just vibe-code a browser extension to block it. Fight fire with fire.
throwaway613746 6mo ago
[dead]
razster 6mo ago
Even with it off, you can still see that it uses a lot of resources for a basic Notepad. I've ditched Windows for work, second drive now has Windows for gaming and that is all. I can do all my work on Linux and that is fine by me.
BizarroLand 6mo ago
I would prefer off by default. No nags, just a simple, "We are offering you this feature, use it or don't, it's your computer".

tosti 6mo ago

https://archive.ph/M7Bv5 https://archive.ph/M7Bv5

protoster 6mo ago

> 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.

benterix 6mo ago
Yeah, I remember the same. Also, "Windows 11 fans" sounds like an oxymoron.
- tosti 6mo ago
  It could relate to the amount of *pu and system fans needed to run so much bloatware :)
- bilekas 6mo ago
  Might be considered "Windows 11 Hostages" instead given they've dropped support for using anything else.
  - bluescrn 6mo ago
    Wondering how long I can hold out on Win10...

jmclnx 6mo ago

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 :)

benterix 6mo ago

> 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".

shevy-java 6mo ago
Ah, you make a great point - I made almost the same comment a moment ago, because I remember that Microslop babbled about "we will listen to the community" some weeks ago. Guess it was indeed at the start of the year. So those who were skeptic were right - one can not trust Microslop. Its AI addiction is too strong already. It sold its soul to AI. There is no way back for Microslop anymore. All Win11 users will have to support AI. AI up all the things! \o/

shevy-java 6mo ago

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.

whynotmaybe 6mo ago
Well, they heard that we don't like copilot in notepad so they removed "copilot" from notepad. And right after that they added a brand new feature called tolipoc that will revolutionize the way you analyze your logs or modify your 17 year old cmd file! Want to create a file with the current date and time? No need to google for it, tolipoc will do it for you!
- a1o 6mo ago
  Is the last sentence a reference to the .LOG classic notepad hack?
pndy 6mo ago
You prob recall this thing from 23 days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47459296 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47459296 For me there's nothing MS could do at this point that would bring me back. And as I said in that thread, it's too late for them - people are moving elsewhere, maybe not in big numbers but exodus is in progress. MS harassed their users/clients too hard and for too long; now it's time to "enjoy" fruits of their deranged actions and decisions.
yndoendo 6mo ago
Microsoft has jumped onto the Friedman doctrine with full force. [0] Following this doctrine takes you down only one path, Enshitification. All the major Wall Street players are doing it too; Nestle with removing real chocolate in their chocolate candy, McDonald's now costing the same as a sit down with lower quality product, car industry rejecting affordable vehicles for production. [1] [2] The only end users Microsoft concern themselves with are the _Share Holders_. They reject the developers, maintainers, and consumers as their focal user groups. This is how you get shit-ware and people leaving your platform. My major goal this year is to get our solutions running on Linux so we can fully ditch the trash fire that Windows IoT / Embedded has become. It originally was fully customizable now it is bloated with Copilot, XBox gaming, and working to force the creation of @Microsoft.com accounts versus local ones. I support local restaurants, businesses, and breweries. While Wall Street companies are last in line to receive my income, if at all. I will not spend a penny personally financially supporting large players like McDonald's, Microsoft, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Molson Coors, AB InBev ... Everything these companies say is just PR to try and win back those they lost and those that are walking away. Only trust an origination's actions because their messages are meaningless and without value. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79x7q325p3o https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79x7q325p3o [2] https://daxstreet.com/news/243275/affordable-cars-disappear-as-automakers-shift-focus-to-higher-priced-models-and-increased-profits/ https://daxstreet.com/news/243275/affordable-cars-disappear-...

xacky 6mo ago

Copilot has been reduced to "Internet Explorer" status, where it is the "AI to download another AI".

_HMCB_ 6mo ago

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.

Shank 6mo ago
If you turn off Apple Intelligence, it’s one switch and features like that are gone from every single location.
- _HMCB_ 6mo ago
  I had no clue that you could switch it off. Thanks.

wing-_-nuts 6mo ago

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.

Aardwolf 6mo ago
I don't seem to have issues modding games like Skyrim, Fallout 4 or Factorio on Linux
- wing-_-nuts 6mo ago
  Do you use executable mods? Downgraders, engine fixes, etc? I'm also curious what mod manager you use, because getting MO2 to work under linux is a bit janky as well.
  - joombaga 6mo ago
    I use MO2 on Linux through Steam's Proton runtime, to play TTW (Fallout NV mod). Works fine. The TTW installer did require an older Proton version though.
  - Aardwolf 6mo ago
    Probably not often I'd say, but at least there were some games I played with wine where some executables to apply mods also ran in wine and worked, I vaguely remember some fix to make something be able to use more than a few GB of ram to allow farther or better remdering, sometimes just a strange combination of things is needed to get something to work. But that's actually long ago, these days everything just works in Steam instead

kotaKat 6mo ago

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.

luxuryballs 6mo ago

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.

vee-kay 6mo ago

[dead]

oskarw85 6mo ago

[dead]

rdiddly 6mo ago

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.

claudiug 6mo ago
[flagged]
- rbanffy 6mo ago
  The BDSM community felt attacked.
  - tanseydavid 6mo ago
    If the pun was not intended, it should be.
Barbing 6mo ago
Maybe comparing <the sum total of annoyance from reading the old name> to <the current sum total of annoyance reading the current name>, it was a positive direction overall?
- lnenad 6mo ago
  I mean, if you were to do that, I'd wager more people are annoyed with the change than were annoyed with the original name. So no, it was a negative direction overall.
- stronglikedan 6mo ago
  nope. to this day, it's still fucks people up and causes mistakes. it was stupid then, and it's still just as stupid. virtue signalling is always fucking stupid, and sometimes, like in this case, is flat out egregious
  - smrtinsert 6mo ago

rbanffy 6mo ago

Microsoft Live Copilot anyone?

kjs3 6mo ago
Needs more 'Clippy'.
- rbanffy 6mo ago
  Live Clippy sounds very creepy.
  - catlikesshrimp 6mo ago
    Live Clippy Copilot powered by AI. All turtles to the end...
    - pndy 6mo ago
      Nah: Microsoft Windows Subsystem for Clippy Copilot Live Foundation with MSN .NET Framework version 2026
      - kjs3 6mo ago
        Professional Edition
- Izkata 6mo ago
  Anagram it: Clipoot

porridgeraisin 6mo ago

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.

jasoneckert 6mo ago

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?

pawsocks 6mo ago
I'm guessing the 'sparkle' icon will stick around, for better or worse
- philistine 6mo ago
  What does pressing this button even DO? Pressing the floppy disk saves. LLMs cannot be reduced to a mere button, and that's a whole problem with Microsoft's strategy. They seem laser-focused, for financial reasons, to reduce all of AI's myriad possibilities to a single button/identity.
  - Izkata 6mo ago
    The sparkles are also in Gitlab and Jira, so it seems to have become the de-facto "Call the AI" button.
micromacrofoot 6mo ago
I think it's even more than that, they'll be features without AI even being mentioned

aizk 6mo ago

Microsoft is collapsing under the weight of their own bloat.

bachmeier 6mo ago

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.

mring33621 6mo ago
It looks like you're trying to write something! Click here to have me fuck it up for you!
madeofpalk 6mo ago
This is decidedly the result of a lack of strategy. Microsoft isn’t a single unified borg. Instead, all the little individual teams got their hands on these capabilities and they figured out where to shove it. At “best” there would have been the head of Windows or Office or whatever saying to all their reports “go do AI!”
- rdedev 6mo ago
  Atleast someone at some level need to think about how the user is going to use copilot right?
  - madeofpalk 6mo ago
    Need? No. Should? Probably!
  - samrus 6mo ago
    Its shocking how they didnt. Imagine how shit the culture must be when employees arent bothering to consider how the user will use the feature, just focussing on getting it through
- 6mo ago

NoSalt 6mo ago

LOL ... of course it is.

mring33621 6mo ago

Welcome to the new FartPilot!

gverrilla 6mo ago

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.

fleroviumna 6mo ago
[dead]

lovegrenoble 6mo ago

Moved to MacOS, chao Copilot...

cordwainersmith 6mo ago

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 6mo ago

Microslop? No trust.

prmoustache 6mo ago

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.

smrtinsert 6mo ago

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.

drooopy 6mo ago

They’re doomed to repeat the cycle of reinventing Clippy every few years and always failing at it.

mikaeluman 6mo ago

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.

sedatk 6mo ago
Good news: https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/03/23/microsoft-confirms-windows-11-will-run-faster-under-heavy-load-reduce-ram-usage-and-feel-more-responsive/ https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/03/23/microsoft-confirms-...

scotty79 6mo ago

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.

andrewdubinsky 6mo ago

Please let it be Cortana. Don't give up on her.

Auracle 6mo ago
For real, it was insane to drop Cortana. Halo-aside, it’s a great name for an AI assistant.
- MengerSponge 6mo ago
  Deep lore, seems helpful, cute avatar, becomes evil? Yeah it's a perfect name for an AI assistant
  - mentos 6mo ago
    And since Cortana isn’t a widely used name like Alexa, it spares a whole generation of people named Alexa from that inconvenience.
protocolture 6mo ago
Subjective, but Cortana was great until they added ads.
nosioptar 6mo ago
Eff that, they need to bring back Clippy.

ChrisArchitect 6mo ago

Previously: Microsoft starts removing Copilot buttons from Windows 11 apps https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47722136 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47722136

ChrisArchitect 6mo ago

who of you is using Notepad for anything?

qwerpy 6mo ago
I built a new PC at around the same time that notepad++ was exploited so I steered clear of it for a bit. And VSCode was becoming too clunky to use as a general purpose text editor. So I tried the new notepad. The new version is also clunky and sluggish, and I didn’t want Copilot, so I switched back to notepad++ after a few days.

6DM 6mo ago

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.

SilentM68 6mo ago

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 :)

themagician 6mo ago

Please just make W11 IOT LTSC more available. Please. Pretty please?

WhiteDawn 6mo ago

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.

rdedev 6mo ago
My recent frustration is with Powerpoint Designer suggestions. Who asked for this? The suggestions don't make sense or look good. And then microsoft provides a helpful tip to not pop open suggestions till the next time powerpoint is opened
- buildbot 6mo ago
  Those do super fun things to slide numbering too sometimes, so you get 2 slide sixes, and no slide eight.
  - fatata123 6mo ago
    [dead]
AlienRobot 6mo ago
This is why I don't believe in AI. Every time I open Google it shuffles the images/videos/shopping/maps tabs randomly. There is no UI research on the universe that would say this is a good thing. It has been happening for years. Does anyone seriously want me to believe a company that thinks that that is a good idea can make AI work? Google trends now has less features than it used to have. Search Console changes routinely, somehow never gets any actual new features. I think the funniest past was introducing an AI chatbot in Search Console that isn't able to answer most users' number 1 query: "how can I make my website get more clicks?" I actually believe if you make an AI chatbot just to tell users how to use your app, you're admitting you have no idea how to make the app usable. If the app was intuitive, by definition, nobody would need a chatbot. If the documentation was easy to read, nobody would need a chatbot. If the search results actually worked, nobody would need AI overview (which, by the day, I feel has been becoming slower and slower to load every day) On Whatsapp, I remember struggling to search for my contacts because where I expected a search box was replaced with Meta's AI text box. The funniest thing is that I remember someone who isn't good with computers telling me they asked the Whatsapp AI how to delete files in their smartphone that was full. Now this "AI" has probably become IT support for countless of its less tech savvy users, probably giving them completely wrong information sometimes. All of this AI integration feels so offensive because every software you'll ever use always has a huge list of features that users would want and have wanted for years, and what is getting added first is some shoddy AI nobody asked for. People are seeing AI integration get top priority in spite of zero demand while their own issues with the software remain ignored. It's going to make people lose trust in software.

cdrnsf 6mo ago

Turns out users don't want your AI features. But, sure, paint the dumpster fire.

kelvinjps10 6mo ago

windos copilot will become cortana. (as a useless feature of the OS)

kccqzy 6mo ago

> 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?

1970-01-01 6mo ago

Looking forward to seeing "AI for Copilot" released before someone at MS finally realizes they're idiots at marketing.

josefritzishere 6mo ago

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.

gwbas1c 6mo ago

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.

heavyset_go 6mo ago

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.

fuckinpuppers 6mo ago

So they just started pushing the Copilot name everywhere and rebranding Office as Copilot and now they’re renaming/shifting again?

avazhi 6mo ago

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).