Copilot+ PC Status Report: Microsoft Still Working on Support for AMD, Intel PCs

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One of the things I was hoping to hear more about at this year's Microsoft Ignite conference was the status of new software for Copilot+ PCs. Microsoft announced several new features coming to these PCs, which aim to run more AI applications locally. However, some of the things I was most interested in, including support for AMD and Intel processors, aren't quite here yet.

To recap, Microsoft announced Copilot+ PCs at its Build conference in May. The first models ran Qualcomm's Snapdragon X, including those from Microsoft and all the major PC makers. I've since tested several of these machines, including the Dell Latitude 7455, HP EliteBook Ultra G1q, Lenovo ThinkPad T14s, and Yoga Slim 7x.

The Snapdragon X was the first PC processor to include a neural processing unit (NPU) capable of running at least 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS). However, Microsoft said processors from AMD and Intel that met that requirement would also be able to run the Copilot+ PC software, including Microsoft's own applications and the underlying Copilot Runtime.

Since then, AMD has delivered its Ryzen AI HX processor, known as Strix Point, with an NPU it says can reach 55 NPU TOPS. Intel announced its second-generation Core Ultra processor, known as Lunar Lake, which it says can reach 45 NPU TOPS. (I recently tested my first laptop with Strix Point, the HP OmniBook Ultra 14.)

I had expected to see Copilot+ PC support for AMD and Intel machines at Ignite, but Melissa Grant, Senior Director of Windows Product Marketing, tells me Microsoft is making sure the features that previously shipped on Qualcomm Snapdragon machines—including support for Cocreator in Paint and Live Captions—work well on the AMD and Intel machines. She predicts they'll be released in "the next couple of weeks."

Recall Starting to Roll Out

The most intriguing and controversial feature promised for Copilot+ PCs is Recall, which lets you search for and return to any app, website, image, or document you may have used or seen just by describing its content using natural language. This works by saving snapshots of what you have done on your PC. After it was announced, there were a lot of privacy and compliance concerns about storing all that data—and a lot of pushback from security researchers—so Microsoft delayed this feature and only just started rolling it out to Snapdragon-based Copilot+ PCs on the Windows Insider program in the Development Channel.

In an Ignite session on What's New in Windows Security, Productivity, and Cloud, Navjot Vrik, CVP for Windows Experiences, said Microsoft recognizes the contributions of those who pushed back and said that Recall would be disabled by default. In addition, it will have new layers of data encryption on the snapshots. It will require your face, fingerprint, or PIN via Windows Hello to ensure that only the registered user of the machine can see the snapshots or their data.

On managed PCs, Recall will be turned off by default, and IT will be able to enable this feature through more granular management policies before it can be made available to employees and then only to those who opt-in. (Enterprises will not be able to access employee Recall data.) It's "one of the most secure designs we have ever built, raising the bar for data protection," Vrik says.

Among the specific changes is a new icon that provides quick access to Recall actions, including a visual cue to remind you when snapshots are being analyzed and saved. You can click the icon to pause saving snapshots or view more status information. In addition, consumers can delete any snapshot in Recall they don't want and tell Recall to ignore that app or website going forward. The system is designed to detect sensitive information like credit card details, passwords, and personal identification numbers and not save snapshots when they're detected.

New Copilot+ Features

At Ignite, Microsoft announced several new features for Copilot+ machines. I was most interested in improvements to Windows Search, which will allow natural language search to search not only the exact text you're looking for but also related concepts; it will also search images. This is slated to launch for the Windows Insider Program on Snapdragon-based Copilot+ PCs early next year before rolling out more broadly.

A bit later, Microsoft 365 Copilot customers will also be able to search local files and OneDrive in what Microsoft is calling federated semantic search. Later, the company plans to add this ability to search settings and to the Windows search box.

Another big new feature is called "Click to Do," which suggests AI actions based on the content on your screen. You use a keyboard command or the snipping tool to select something on the screen, and this feature will suggest actions, such as summarizing or rewriting the content or getting recommendations for other tools. In an Ignite session, Microsoft executives said this is all done privately on the system and that the information is never saved.

Other features include Teams Super Resolution, which enhances incoming video from participants with weak internet connections, and a Narrator feature.

Today, all the Copilot+ PCs include Live Captions, which can translate videos on screen from over 40 languages into English, and Windows Studio Effects, which provides various visual and audio enhancements during video calls.

These features are also enabled as application programming interfaces (APIs) in the Copilot Runtime, meaning that organizations and third-party developers can use them.

Other Windows Enterprise Features

At the Windows session at Ignite, Pavan Davuluri, Corporate Vice President, Windows + Devices, and other executives discussed a number of new Windows features. They started by discussing the Windows Resiliency Initiative, including a new Quick Machine Recovery to enable IT administrators to execute targeted fixes from Windows Update, even if the machines are unable to boot. This is a direct reaction to the outages organizations faced after a failed Crowdstrike update back in July.

Other related items include increased testing, safe deployment practices, and a new method of antivirus processing outside of kernel mode. These are expected to go into private preview in July 2025.

Microsoft is also planning changes to its Smart App Control and App Control for Business so administrators can ensure that only verified apps run on the device. Windows Hello authentication has been extended to passkeys.

I was particularly happy to see a Hotpatch feature for Windows 11 Enterprise, in which security updates are downloaded in the background and become effective immediately upon installation. Davuluri said 65% of the patches could be installed without requiring restarts. Another new feature is Windows Backup for Entra ID, which backs up settings and preferences like backgrounds and icon size and should reduce the time it takes IT administrators to set up new machines.

Windows 365 PCs and Link

All of these changes also apply to Windows 365, Microsoft's "Cloud PCs" that run in the cloud and are accessed through a Windows application. This already works on Windows PCs, iPads, and Macs, and at the show, Microsoft announced that a Preview version is now available for Android in the Google Play store.

To use these cloud PCs, Microsoft announced Windows 365 Link, a thin client device designed just for that purpose. The device itself is admin-less and passwordless, will boot in seconds, wake from sleep, and provide local processing for Teams and other video-conferencing applications. Effectively, you would turn it on, launch the Windows app, and sign into a Windows 365 PC using Microsoft Entra ID and the Microsoft Authenticator app or a USB security key.

It's a very small and fanless design but with a good complement of ports, including Windows 365 Link has three USB-A 3.2 ports, one USB-C 3.2 port, one HDMI port, one DisplayPort, a 3.5mm headphone jack, an Ethernet port, a Kensington lock port, and a port for the power cord. It also supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

Windows 365 Link is due to launch in April at a suggested price of $349.