Science
When I switched to Mac, I never thought I’d be envious of Windows, but here we are. Fifteen years later, I’m still a relatively happy MacBook user who isn’t likely to dump macOS anytime soon. I’m also jealous of what Windows 11 can offer in terms of built-in AI capabilities.
Even without AI, Windows 10 and Windows 11 are terrific platforms compared to the Windows experiences that made me move to macOS. But when you add Copilot AI to the experience, especially the features that Microsoft started bringing to Windows 11 this year, you get something that’s not possible on the Mac.
You get the computing experience of the future, where you can talk to AI via voice while you’re working on your PC. Now, you can even let Copilot see what you see on the screen, so it can get more context for your questions and provide a better assistant experience. That’s something Apple Intelligence might one day do too. I’m willing to wait until a future version of Siri can match Copilot’s abilities. But Microsoft’s achievements are undeniable here.
First, Microsoft released the “Hey Copilot” feature in May, which lets you invoke the AI by voice in Windows 11.
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With a simple “Hey, Copilot!” you’ll soon be able to start a conversation with Copilot Voice and stay in your flow when you need answers to a question or need to bounce ideas off someone. Love this example from my colleague Erica: pic.twitter.com/bJwIeHzXd9
— Yusuf Mehdi (@yusuf_i_mehdi) May 14, 2025
Seen above, the feature lets you interact with Windows 11’s built-in AI by voice while you do something else on the PC. Hey Copilot is still in testing, so it’s available to beta testers or Windows Insiders.
Then there’s Copilot Vision, a feature that lets Windows 11 users share the screen of their PCs with the chatbot. Microsoft updated the feature this week so the AI can see everything on your screen. Previously, Copilot could look at two apps at a time. Now, it can look at whatever you point it to.
With the “Desktop Share” feature, “Copilot can see what you see and talk to you about it in real time.” Microsoft explained in a blog post that you can choose to share your full desktop with the AI or just a specific browser or app window. The AI will answer questions and provide information about whatever you might be looking at: