New security and IT management features, along with a centralized AI assistant, headline the benefits coming to IT admins and end users in the latest Windows 11 innovations, now in preview.
Windows Copilot
Announced at Microsoft Build and now available in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23493 via the Dev channel, Windows Copilot brings an AI-powered virtual assistant to your desktop. Use it to adjust settings, take a screenshot, summarize a Web page, or take other actions on your device. With Bing Chat and first- and third-party plugins, you can focus on bringing your ideas to life, completing complex projects and collaborating instead of spending energy finding, launching and working across multiple applications. Learn more about it here.
Security & management
New app privacy settings let you allow or block access to presence sensor information and quickly turn presence sensing features on and off, like wake on approach/lock on leave.
Glanceable VPN
If your device is connected to a recognized VPN, a small shield icon will appear over the active network connection on your taskbar, keeping you focused and in your flow.
Built-in security from chip to cloud with Microsoft Pluton
Surface Pro 9 with 5G is our first device to include the next generation "root of trust" technology. Pluton is a security processor that removes the potential for a communication channel to be attacked. It protects credentials, user identities, encryption keys, and personal data by storing them securely within the Pluton processor, which is isolated from the rest of the system.
Surface Pro 9 with 5G
Pluton design technology incorporates learnings from delivering hardware root-of-trust-enabled devices to hundreds of millions of PCs. It is now being used to provide a chip-to-cloud security vision to bring even more security innovation to the future of Windows PCs. Visit this link to read more: https://aka.ms/pluton.
Bringing security alerts to the Start menu
It's not always obvious when you need to take action to protect your files. With account badging[1], you’ll get an alert on your Start menu when your account needs attention, making it even easier to ensure your information and PC are protected.
Expanded language support for audio & video
Enabled with the Windows 11 2022 Update, live captions help everyone by letting you read along while listening or viewing podcasts, presentations, video calls – anything that sends audio through the speakers on your device. Now the AI-powered feature is expanding to 10 additional languages.[2]
Live captions appear when audio is played and work best on high-quality devices like Surface devices with Studio Mics. And on Surface Pro 9 with 5G, the AI processing happens on the device itself – thanks to the built-in neural processing unit (NPU) – so live captions can function offline too!
Try it out by joining the Windows Insider program for free and running Windows 11 preview build 22557 or later. Live captions are expected to be released to all Windows 11 users soon. To learn more, see Use live captions to better understand audio - Microsoft Support.
More you can do with an NPU
When we released Surface Pro 9 with 5G last Fall, we highlighted how users could take advantage of the built-in NPU that powers Windows Studio effects for camera and audio enhancements like automatic framing, eye contact and voice focus. Now, as shown in Microsoft Build 2023, developers can use the NPU on Surface Pro 9 with 5G to run their own AI models via the ONNX runtime. To learn more, see:
- Unlocking the end-to-end Windows AI developer experience using ONNX runtime and Olive - Windows Developer Blog
- Bringing the power of AI to Windows 11 - unlocking a new era of productivity for customers and developers with Windows Copilot and Dev Home - Windows Developer Blog
Complete device management
Over the past year, we’ve partnered with teams across Microsoft to deliver centralized management solutions that continue to evolve with new features. You may already use Windows Autopilot and the Surface Management Portal. But if you haven’t tried Windows Autopatch, check it out, especially if you're upgrading devices from Windows 10.
Windows Autopatch
Launched last November for enterprises with Microsoft 365 E3/E5 licenses, Windows Autopatch automates updates for Windows, Microsoft 365 apps, Microsoft Edge, and Microsoft Teams. Now you can use the cloud service to automate updates to Windows 11 Enterprise. Admins can configure updates to specific Autopatch groups and stagger incremental rollouts with phased deployment within a ring or across rings. To learn more, see What's New in Windows Autopatch: May 2023 - Microsoft Community Hub.
Learn more
For a quick read on these and other innovations coming from Windows 11, check out:
- Announcing new Windows 11 innovation, with features for secure, efficient IT management and intuitive user experience.
- Bringing the power of AI to Windows 11 - unlocking a new era of productivity for customers and developers with Windows Copilot and Dev Home - Windows Developer Blog
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[1] Available in the June 2023 optional non-security preview release.
[2] Live captions in Windows 11 preview build 22557 or later available in 10 languages, including simplified and traditional Chinese, Danish, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.
