It’s fair to say that Windows 11’s recent endeavour into
AI hasn’t gone down well with its most passionate users. It started in 2024 with the unveiling of Windows Recall, which was met with such backlash that
Microsoft was forced to postpone it by an entire year while it addressed major security and privacy flaws.
It seems like things have been downhill since. In the last year, Microsoft has taken every opportunity to enshittify Windows 11 by
placing Copilot buttons wherever it can across in-box apps like File Explorer and Notepad, even if the implementation is poor or unnecessary.
This has soured Microsoft’s AI efforts in the eyes of many Windows users, resulting in major pushback online and adding to the overall negative sentiment around Windows 11. This seems to have all come to a head in November, when Windows president Pavan Davuluri tweeted that
Windows would evolve into an agentic OS, spawning thousands of overwhelmingly negative replies rejecting this plan.
Details around how the company is going about this remain light, but sources say Copilot integrations like those found in Notepad and Paint are under review.
This may result in Microsoft removing certain Copilot integrations from these apps, or at the very least removing the Copilot branding and pivoting to a more streamlined experience.
People familiar with Microsoft's plans say that the company moving to streamline or remove certain Copilot integrations across in-box apps like Notepad and Paint in 2026, after pushback from users.
www.windowscentral.com
