Microsoft is moving forward with its plans to turn Windows 11 into a full-fledged “AI” operating system amidst Copilot backlash.
The first big move in that direction is an experimental feature called “Agent Workspace,” which gives AI agents access to the most-used folders in your directory, such as Desktop, Music, Pictures, and Videos. It will also allow AI agents to have their own runtime, desktop, user account, and ability to always run in the background if you turn on the feature.
New agentic features in Windows 11
As soon as I installed Windows 11 Build 26220.7262, Windows Latest noticed a new toggle “Experimental agentic features” inside the “AI Components” page in the Settings app > System.
This turns on “Agent Workspace,” but it doesn’t work right now, and if you’re wondering, it’s only available to Windows Insiders in the Dev or Beta Channel.
What are AI Agents and how do they work?
Before I explain what an Agent Workplace is, you need to understand AI Agents. If you’ve ever used ChatGPT, you might have come across ‘Agents.’ AI Agents have their own interface, and they navigate just like a human.
For example, if you ask ChatGPT’s Agent to book a travel, it’ll open Chromium on Linux in an Azure container, search the query, visit different websites, navigate each page and book a flight ticket using your saved credentials. An AI Agent tries to mimic a human, and it can perform tasks on your behalf while you sit back and relax.
That’s the core idea Silicon Valley is trying to sell.
Up until now, these Agents have been limited to cloud containers with Chromium and Linux terminal access, but as Microsoft wants Windows 11 to become an “AI-native” OS, it’s adding Agent Workspace.
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