He Microsoft Copilot for Windows 10 is in the works. The virtual assistant was the big news of the latest Windows 11 updates. We saw it in the ‘Moments 4’ service pack and a few weeks later it was fully integrated into the Windows 11 23H2 major release. But Microsoft wants to bring its assistant to more PCs, and the launch for Windows 10 will happen shortly, according to Windows Central editor Zac Bowden, who is generally well-informed about what’s going on at the Redmond headquarters.

Microsoft would like most of its users to switch to Windows 11 by now. Support for Windows 10 will be extended until October 2025 (there are movements calling for an extension), but the company is no longer selling licenses for it, both at the customer level, because OEM and all new computers come with Windows 11. The implementation of features or new features for Windows 10 is no longer zero or extremely limited except for… when the interest of Microsoft advises otherwise.

That is the case that concerns us. Microsoft can’t ignore (although it would like to) that Windows 10 is still the desktop king with a huge market share, and it’s clear that it doesn’t want to waste the 1 billion PCs that use it. The company has been in existence for at least four years investing multi-millions in OpenAI which revolutionized the market by bringing ChatGPT to the mass consumer market. And he wants them to be profitable. As with its other solutions, see Office or the Edge browser, the Windows monopoly will come to the rescue.

Microsoft Copilot for Windows 10, a question of numbers

Bowden says the launch of the AI-based digital assistant for Windows 10 will happen soon via a system update. Its operation will be similar to Windows 11. Microsoft adds a Copilot button directly to the main panelwhich will open the exact same sidebar as in Windows 11. The AI ​​tool will be able to work with many Windows applications that also work in Windows 10, from the Bing search engine to the Edge browser and the rest of the internal and external applications, be it Teams, Word, Outlook or Excel.

Integrating powerful artificial intelligence like Microsoft Copilot into an operating system as important as Windows can ultimately change the way how users interact with their computers, similar to touch controls on mobile devices. The interface is expected to be the same whether you’re running Windows 10 or Windows 11. The add-ons will also be compatible across both versions, making it even easier for Windows device owners to use the AI ​​assistant.

Microsoft is trying to convince not only its direct customers, but also developers. By integrating Copilot into Windows 10 and adding that 1 billion devices, the motivation will be much stronger Third-party developers are working on add-ons and other apps for Copilotunlike competing LLMs such as ChatGPT. “The more users Copilot has, the more reasons a developer will have to work on this assistant and not on competitor assistants”says Bowden.

And it’s logical. Microsoft sees the next billion users as an untapped market for expanding its assistant, so launching Copilot for Windows 10 is an obvious move. We would like Microsoft to continue improving Windows 10 in other parts and not all the development is for Windows 11, which millions of users don’t want to use. But you already know the needs of… Microsoft. We’ll see if Windows 12 clears things up.