Right now, Microsoft is testing a new Copilot for Windows 11, which is supposedly going to replace the current web version. However, it’s… again just an app that opens a website.
Here’s how Microsoft describes the new Copilot:
“With this update, the previous progressive web version of Copilot (PWA) has been replaced with a native version. After you install the Copilot update, when you launch Copilot, you’ll see it appear in the system tray”.
The new native Copilot still loads copilot.microsoft.com. The only real difference is that the app no longer runs on the Microsoft Edge PWA (Progressive Web App) system. But to render the Copilot interface, it still uses WebView2, the rendering engine supported by Edge.
“To our surprise, the ‘native’ part of Copilot is limited to just the title bar. The Copilot program is still 95% web-based, and the dialog interface and everything else is built on WebView. Actually, it’s worse than the progressive web app,” notes the site Windows Latest, which tested the new version.
In this new version of the Copilot app for Windows, there is one novelty, specifically a new “quick view” user interface, which can be accessed by pressing the Alt+Space keys. This new interface is just the Copilot website, but in a window with a smaller frame. It also oddly places the Copilot icon in the system tray.
“While it looks like a real ‘native’ Windows app, most features, including dialog, menu, etc., run through the internet. Actually, privacy pop-ups and other features still open in Edge”.
The new Copilot app is still in the preview stage, so Microsoft has time to turn it into something real. The company might have bigger plans for Copilot for Windows, but at least in this preview version, there’s not much new.
Sources: Windows Central, Windows Latest
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