Summary
We’re in the second half of the year already, which is also roughly around the time when the new features we’ve been seeing on Windows' Insider Program actually roll out to normal people. Microsoft is starting to roll out a bunch of features you might want to check out.
Microsoft is rolling out a new suite of features for Windows 11. A lot of these are “AI” features that will likely have a lot more protagonism for those of you with Copilot+ PCs. Many have also been tested in the Insider Program for a while now, and you may check outour coverageon things like thenew Microsoft Paint featuresor thenew Snipping Tool changes. But this is a wider rollout, which means that if these features weren’t live for you yet, they should flip on with the next update to your PC within the next few days or weeks—Microsoft says they’re available from “today,” but some of these might take a while.
One of the most interesting additions is a new agent built into the Windows Settings panel. This tool allows you to make system changes by typing requests in natural language. For instance, you can type stuff like “I want to enable quiet hours” or “change my resolution to 1920×1080,” and the system will present an option to execute the command directly. There is also “Click To Do,” which provides contextual actions for on-screen text and images, which has now been expanded. New capabilities include “Practice in Reading Coach,” which provides feedback on reading fluency and pronunciation for any selected text. There’s an “Immersive Reader” option that reformats text into a distraction-free view with customizable fonts, spacing, and text-to-speech functions. And for content creation, you can highlight text and select “Draft with Copilot in Word” to generate a document draft.
The Photos app now includes a “Relight” feature that allows users to add and manipulate up to three virtual light sources in an image. You can adjust the intensity, color, and position of each light source to alter the photo’s illumination. The Paint app is adding a “sticker generator,” which creates custom stickers based on user-provided text prompts. Paint is also adding an “object select” tool that uses AI to help isolate and edit specific elements within an image.
The Snipping Tool on Copilot+ PCs is getting a “perfect screenshot” feature that intelligently resizes a selection area to match the on-screen content, reducing the need for post-capture cropping. For all Windows 11 users, the Snipping Tool now includes a color picker to identify and copy the color code of any pixel on the screen.
There’s a new “Copilot Vision on Windows” feature (opt-in, thankfully) that can see your screen and provide real-time analysis and assistance. It can answer questions about on-screen content and provide step-by-step guidance within applications. In Microsoft Edge, there’s a new “Edge Game Assist” feature that provides in-game access to guides, tips, and popular companion apps like Discord and Spotify via the Game Bar.
Finally, Microsoft announced improvements to the system recovery process. A “quick machine recovery” mechanism will use the Windows Recovery Environment to automatically detect and fix certain issues during an unexpected restart.
A lot of this is stuff we already covered, and that was otherwise already known that it was coming. It’s good to see it roll out properly, though. you’re able to check these out on your own computer from today, though, as I said before, they may take a few more days or weeks to actually make it to everyone.
