The digital assistant based on artificial intelligence Windows Copilot is one of the tools on which Microsoft intends to focus more. In addition to the paid version Copilot for Microsoft 365, which streamlines work through the automatic production of documents, emails, the creation of video conference summaries, Windows 11 introduced a free version of the tool. The latter builds on what was done previously with Bing Chat and its integration with the Edge browser. Windows Copilot it is a chatbot that answers user questions, a tool for generating images and a mechanism for quickly searching and activating operating system features.
Microsoft also brings Copilot to Windows 10
Compared to Windows 10, Windows 11’s user base is still quite limited. 500 million users for Windows 11 represent a value below Microsoft’s expectations, especially if we consider the adoption rate that characterized Windows 10 just a few months after the publication of the first final version.
The Redmond company would therefore have decided to extend Windows Copilot also to Windows 10: Users of the operating system, supported at least until mid-October 2025, will get the digital assistant with an update distributed through Windows Update. Even because Windows 10 22H2 it’s the last one feature update that Microsoft has released for the popular operating system: there will be neither a 23H2 nor a 24H2 update in the case of Windows 10.
The Windows 10 update will add theCopilot icon in the taskbar, exactly as is happening in the case of Windows 11 installations. By clicking this icon or, alternatively, by pressing the key combination Windows+C, a vertical sidebar will appear for direct interaction with the AI-based assistant. The Copilot bar appears regardless of what applications are running and what windows are open on your screen.
Because Copilot is also coming to Windows 10
For Microsoft, Copilot is destined to become a powerful marketing lever and a tool around which to build advanced products and services. It is no secret that the company led by Satya Nadella plans to develop a real one ecosystem around Copilot.
Developers will be asked to create plugin for Copilot, useful for extending its functionality. These add-ons will obviously be available on the Microsoft Storepossibly also for a fee.
And to create an ecosystem, “numbers” matter a lot. Thus, by bringing Copilot to Windows 10, Microsoft can easily claim that the digital assistant is used by 1.4 billion users. Those of Windows 11 plus those of Windows 10.
In Europe and Europe, Copilot cannot yet be used
The numbers are also, at least for the moment, even smaller because Copilot has not yet been able to make its debut in European Union countries. Using a simple expedient, it is still possible to try Copilot in Europe and use it (almost) as if it were the version officially supported by Microsoft.
Copilot is not yet available in Europe due to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), legislation that protects consumers of digital goods and obliges developers to open their platforms to interactions with competing products and services.
Microsoft has said that it is working to bring Copilot to Europe in full compliance with the requirements set by the DMA, and that it will try to do so by March 2024. The specific details of the changes that Microsoft will make to align with the DMA are not known.
Copilot in Windows 10: a sign of the possible extension of support beyond the end of 2025?
For the moment, as the page confirms Search for information on the life cycle of products and servicesnone are foreseen extended support extension for the various editions of Windows 10, beyond the month of October 2025. Without prejudice to any “changes of course” by Microsoft, therefore, October 14, 2025 will be the last day on which the company will publicly release some security updates per Windows.
The arrival of Copilot in Windows 10 could be a sign that Redmond is really thinking about one extension. The Windows 10 user base is very large and Windows 11 has not yet taken off: it could therefore be dangerous to set aside an operating system that will presumably keep its market shares stable between now and the end of 2025.
According to sources close to the company, Microsoft would therefore really be wondering about the opportunity to extend the Windows 10 support beyond 2025. Discussions on the topic are reportedly ongoing internally but, at the moment, a final decision has not yet been made.
On the other hand, at the end of extended support, the program will still start ESU (Extended Security Update) which will make the security patches for Windows 10 available to eligible companies, upon stipulation of a subscription contract, even after October 2025. Given the success of Windows 10 and the adoption by a vast number of companies and users private individuals, it might make sense to maintain this operating system for a longer period by handing over the responsibility of taking up the legacy of Windows 10 directly to Windows 12.
A script already seen. Windows 11 could remain a “intermediate” operating system with which experiments were carried out in view of the launch of a subsequent one major release more convincing. Windows 12precisely.
