Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET
Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.
ZDNET's key takeaways
Copilot can be disabled, uninstalled, or blocked from returning in Windows.
Removing Copilot may improve performance and reduce resource use.
Fully eliminating Copilot requires advanced settings.
Microsoft keeps touting its Copilot AI as the greatest invention since the wheel. Toward that end, the company has been force-feeding more and more AI into Windows in the belief that everyone is yearning for an "agentic OS." Well, based on much of the user feedback, that's not quite the case.
In fact, the more Microsoft keeps promoting AI as some white knight riding in to rescue Windows users, the more that people have been pushing back. The main argument?
Also: No, Microsoft Office was not renamed Microsoft 365 Copilot - here's why you're confused
Instead of devoting so much time and energy on AI, Microsoft should concentrate on fixing the many bugs, flaws, and weaknesses that still plague Windows. Rather than being served an agentic OS, people simply want a cleaner and more reliable platform that hosts their applications and files without all the AI bells and whistles.
... continue reading