Microsoft Turns Windows 11 Into an Agentic OS with Voice, Vision, and Actions

Microsoft has announced a major AI update for all Windows 11 PCs that could transform it into an agentic OS. With the new update, Microsoft is aiming to make every Windows 11 PC an AI PC with Copilot at the center. First of all, Windows 11 is getting a voice-first treatment with the “Hey Copilot” wake word.

You can trigger Copilot in Windows 11 hands-free and engage with the OS using your voice. You can have a natural conversation, ask questions, and say “Goodbye” to end the interaction. Microsoft has been testing the “Hey Copilot” wake word on Windows 11 Insider Builds for quite some time now, and now it’s coming to all Windows 11 PCs.

Copilot Vision Goes Mainstream on Windows 11

Besides the voice interaction, Copilot Vision can now see your entire screen and interact with you in real-time using voice. You can share an app window or the whole desktop and ask Copilot Vision questions along the way. This could be helpful for step-by-step visual guidance on the screen.

The best part is that Copilot Vision highlights where to click on the screen, offering visual guidance throughout the interaction. You can share Office documents like Word, Excel and PowerPoint to get better insights and support along the way.

A New “Ask Copilot” Search Bar is Coming to the Windows 11 Taskbar

What is surprising is that Microsoft is planning to replace the Windows 11 search bar with a new “Ask Copilot” search bar on the Taskbar. It brings one-click access to Copilot Voice and Vision. Along with that, local search is integrated into the Copilot search bar. You can search for files, apps, and settings using Copilot search on the Taskbar.

Microsoft says Copilot doesn’t have access to personal files and it only uses Windows APIs to look for files and apps. The new “Ask Copilot” search bar is coming to Windows Insiders first.

An AI Agent to Perform Local Tasks on Windows 11

Microsoft recently rolled out an AI agent in Windows 11 Settings, but now, Windows 11 is getting a “general-purpose” AI agent that can actually perform tasks on your Windows 11 PC, and it’s not limited to the Edge browser. With Copilot Actions, you can simply describe your task and it will perform actions on your local files.

For example, you can say “move or rename local files” or “extract data from PDFs or images” or “open PowerPoint and create slides”. Copilot Action will interact with your desktop and web applications and complete the task for you.

Note that Copilot Actions perform in a virtual environment on your PC, so you can continue doing other tasks. You can monitor the progress, stop the task, and even take control midway through the task. Basically, you get an AI agent on Windows 11 and you can use it to perform various tasks on your computer.

Microsoft says it’s starting with limited use cases for testing, and it’s coming soon to Windows Insider in Copilot Labs. In addition, Copilot Connectors lets you link services like Outlook, Gmail, Calendar, Contacts, and OneDrive with Copilot. This functionality uses the MCP (Model Context Protocol) to connect external services with Copilot.

During the Microsoft Build 2025, the company announced that MCP is coming to Windows 11, and it’s finally here. You can use this feature in Copilot to find an appointment by pulling information from Outlook, checking Calendar schedule, and more.

Manus AI Agent is Coming to Windows 11 File Explorer

Microsoft is also integrating the Manus AI agent into Windows 11’s File Explorer. You can simply right-click on any document in File Explorer and perform tasks using the Manus AI agent. For instance, you can ask it to create a website using a document on your PC. It will also be available as a standalone app on Windows 11.

All in all, with these AI-centric features, Microsoft wants to make Windows 11 an AI-ready platform. And it’s not limited to Copilot+ PCs, which means all Windows 11 PCs are eligible to receive these new features.