Microsoft hopes Copilot on Windows 11 will be a success and plans to add some new features. During testing, we observed that Microsoft is trying to add three new features to Copilot in Windows 11 - automatic startup at startup, the ability to unpin AI, and change pane size.
In Windows 1123H2 or Moment4, Copilot is not designed to start immediately on system boot, but this may change in the future. A new optional feature being tested in Windows 11 preview builds lets you configure Microsoft Copilot to automatically open at system startup.
This new Copilot setting is located within the personalization page, but it's unclear whether Microsoft will automatically turn on the AI on PC whether you use it or not. Currently, the default setting for "Turn Copilot on Windows startup" is off, but it is designed with wider screens in mind.
Once enabled, Copilot will automatically open every time you start your Windows PC. The change reflects Microsoft's efforts to raise awareness of Copilot and ensure that users who don't know about the feature can use it on a larger screen.
Microsoft is testing another feature that gives you more control over Windows Copilot. As shown in the screenshot above, you'll soon be able to unpin the pane, allowing other apps to open on top of the AI pane.
Currently, Copilot cannot be resized or unpinned, which means that once opened, it will always sit to the side of the Windows 11 desktop. Copilot won't disappear unless you manually close the window by clicking on the "x" or its icon, but that may soon change as Microsoft is modularizing the AI powered by Bing Chat.
Like other Windows applications, when "Unpin" mode is on, the Windows Copilot pane automatically collapses when you maximize another application.
Likewise, users can quickly resize the Copilot pane, which uses a responsive design. When resizing Copilot, the Recents and Plugins tabs will automatically appear on the right side of Copilot, similar to the web version of Bing Chat.
We found these features in public preview, but Microsoft appears to be A/B testing them with a select group. Don't know if these features will ever be released. It’s been a long road from internal testing features to public beta releases to official releases.