Microsoft is pushing Copilot AI out to you

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PUBLIC DEFENDER By Brian Livingston The Microsoft Corporation is moving swiftly to make its Copilot artificial-intelligence software an integral part
[See the full post at: Microsoft is pushing Copilot AI out to you]

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fisher75, abbodi86, rc primak, windbg, Just Another Geek, lmacri

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Microsoft Copilot AI may be stopped by DOJ, FTC, EU

The U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are in discussions over which agency can probe OpenAI on antitrust grounds, including the AI firm’s partnership with Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab, Politico reported on Friday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.
Microsoft’s tie-up with the ChatGPT maker has raised antitrust scrutiny after the U.S. software giant committed to invest over $10 billion into OpenAI last year.
Earlier this month, EU antitrust regulators flagged that Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI might be reviewable under European Union merger rules, after a similar warning was placed by Britain’s antitrust regulator in December.
The FTC initiated talks with the DOJ months ago to figure out which one can review the matter, but neither agency is ready to give up jurisdiction, the report said…

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We went through this with Internet Explorer and Windows. And recently, with the Apple Watch. We’ve seen the movie, and we know how it ends.

-- rc primak

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Will Fastie

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We use GFI LanGuard at the office. Last month, I had a small problem, so I visited the GFI forum. And it was gone. GFI removed all their forums. Been replaced by AI. Huh?? At the same time, GFI decided to use AI for paid support as well. So if you want to talk to a support person, you’ll have to get past the AI bot before you can interact with an actual person.

That would be oaky-ish if that bot would act more or less like a human. Like, when posting a service request, the rule of thumb was NOT to be brief – elaborate on the problem at hand and provide as many details as possible. Now it’s the opposite – cram you problem in a couple of words otherwise me don’t know.

So in line with dumbing down the software, I guess we’re now at the stage of dumbing down support even more…

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Alex5723

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I’ve never been a fan of AI, mostly because I know how it “works” under the hood.

The best solution I know is to vote with my wallet. My personal wallet is [usually] not large enough to matter, but when I terminate my organization’s licenses/support all of the sudden the vendor badly wants to know WHY. Of course they’ll try to do everything to keep your business, but as a matter of principle I always follow through with changing vendors.

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KevSpa

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Is there any way to PREVENT Copilot from being pushed to my Windows 10 machine???

If it weren’t for the cost, I would be tempted to DEEP FREEZE my machine!!!!!

I am almost 80 years old and find it really annoying to have to change things that are working just fine FOR ME.

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rc primak, Microfix, KevSpa

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Quote from article:

Redmond reportedly even plans to build Copilot into the Notepad text editor..

Well it seems having a W10 Pro x86 version now has it’s benefits.
I much prefer Notepad++ to MS Notepad as a default text editor.
The ‘1 microsoft way’ address, says it all..

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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rc primak

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Putting Copilot into Notepad looks to me like truly a solution in search of a problem.

-- rc primak

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Coldheart9020, NaNoNyMouse, bbearren, Alex5723, Deo, Will Fastie, Microfix

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No need to sugar coat it.  Its just stupid!

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bbearren

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As a free tool, Cowriter for Notepad doesn’t sound totally useless:

The new AI feature appears in the top-right corner, and it seems that users will have different options, including “Rewrite,” “Make shorter,” “Make longer,” “Change tone,” and “Change format.” Although the options are self-explanatory, it’s unclear how the chatbot integration will work in Notepad.

The “Change tone” menu includes six different tones, including neutral, formal, casual, inspirational, humor, and even pirate. The “Change format” menu includes five different options, including default, paragraph, business, academic, and poetry.

In addition, you will be able to access Cowriter from the context menu when text is selected. Furthermore, the Notepad context menu will also include a new “Explain with Copilot” option that will allow you to send any selection of code or text directly to the chatbot.

Notepad to get Cowriter AI feature on Windows 11

 

I suspect people use Notepad for all sorts of purposes beyond readme.txt files:

What is Notepad? 9 things you can use it for!

Why Notepad Is Still Awesome for Taking Notes

 

Especially now that WordPad has been deprecated:

Microsoft is removing WordPad from Windows after nearly 30 years

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Coldheart9020

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b wrote:

I suspect people use Notepad for all sorts of purposes beyond readme.txt files

I’ve been using Notepad for decades as a scratch pad.  I use it for writing CSS and HTML.  I use it to paste pending transactions from my credit card in order to paste them into an Excel spreadsheet and my financial software.  I use it to copy/paste posts from AskWoody in order to create a concise and hopefully useful answer, such as copying content from a website to quote in my answer, as well as the URL for that content in order to include a link to the source.

I’ve never really used WordPad; I have Word.  I won’t miss WordPad, and I won’t be using Cowriter in Notepad, as it would be totally useless in any of the ways that I use Notepad.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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I’d trade Copilot for Wordpad any day!

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I’ve been reading here a long while now and can only conclude that “b” is the biggest Microsoft fanboy out there. According to you, they can do no wrong.

 

Copilot in Notepad is stupid, plain and simple. Notepad is meant to be a fast, simple, and basic text editor – nothing more.

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KS wrote:

I’ve been reading here a long while now and can only conclude that “b” is the biggest Microsoft fanboy out there. According to you, they can do no wrong.

If you view “doesn’t sound totally useless” as high praise then there’s probably little I can say to set the record straight. But I continually criticise Microsoft; mainly for their awful communication of changes, poor documentation maintenance and abysmal lack of meaningful feedback mechanism (and occasional stupid decisions).

KS wrote:

Copilot in Notepad is stupid, plain and simple. Notepad is meant to be a fast, simple, and basic text editor – nothing more.

Who decided what Notepad is meant to be? Will Cowriter for Notepad really slow it down or complicate it, especially if you choose not to use its Cowriter menu options?

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b wrote:

Who decided what Notepad is meant to be?

I’ll take a guess here and say, “Not Windows users.”  Personally, I got along just fine without the tabs.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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bbearren wrote:

b wrote:

Who decided what Notepad is meant to be?

I’ll take a guess here and say, “Not Windows users.”  Personally, I got along just fine without the tabs.

Tabs for Notepad is a top requested feature from users

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b wrote:

Tabs for Notepad is a top requested feature from users

“Microsoft rolls out revamped Notepad app to Windows 11 Insiders”

“Windows 11 Insiders” is the group that requested tabs in Notepad.  I didn’t say “Windows 11 Insiders”.  That, I believe, is a small subset of “Windows users”.

bbearren wrote:

I’ll take a guess here and say, “Not Windows users.”

When I click the red X in the top right corner of Firefox, I get this:

I can click “Close tabs” and that’s it.  When I re-open Firefox, it opens to my home page.  One must opt in to “Open previous windows and tabs”.  Not so with Notepad.  All opened tabs re-open with the same content and assumed tab titles.  Tabs must be closed one-at-a-time and click “Don’t save” on each one in order to get rid of no-longer-needed text.  Tear-away tabs don’t change that behavior.  One must opt out to get “Notepad”.

In my experience, “Notepad” was meant to be a notepad.  It’s been around since before Windows 95.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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NaNoNyMouse, Microfix, PKCano

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bbearren wrote:

“Microsoft rolls out revamped Notepad app to Windows 11 Insiders”

“Windows 11 Insiders” is the group that requested tabs in Notepad.

It doesn’t say that. Insiders get all changes first.

bbearren wrote:

I didn’t say “Windows 11 Insiders”. That, I believe, is a small subset of “Windows users”.

How small? They’re still “Windows users”, aren’t they?

But back to reality: Thousands of Windows users requested tabs in Notepad via Feedback Hub.

bbearren wrote:

Not so with Notepad. All opened tabs re-open with the same content and assumed tab titles. Tabs must be closed one-at-a-time and click “Don’t save” on each one in order to get rid of no-longer-needed text.  Tear-away tabs don’t change that behavior. One must opt out to get “Notepad”.

You’ve clearly been “testing” tabs in Notepad a fair amount for someone who “got along just fine without the tabs”.

bbearren wrote:

In my experience, “Notepad” was meant to be a notepad.

It still is.

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b wrote:

But back to reality: Thousands of Windows users requested tabs in Notepad via Feedback Hub.

Which would imply that many millions did not.

b wrote:

You’ve clearly been “testing” tabs in Notepad a fair amount for someone who “got along just fine without the tabs”.

Yes, I tested Notepad.  I probably used it a half dozen times or so before I opted out of tabs and punched the radio button for “Open in a new window” for opening files and “Open a new window” when Notepad starts.

It really doesn’t take much to decide something is more useless than useful.  I was just pleasantly surprised that Microsoft would actually let me opt out of their new feature so easily.  Getting rid of all of the unnecessary folders and features in File Explorer took longer the first time, but it’s down to just importing a .reg file now.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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At its core notepad has been nothing more than a wrapper around a basic Win32 Edit Control.

That fact determines my view of “what notepad is meant to be”.

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steeviebops, NaNoNyMouse, bbearren

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I am the pilot and don’t need a CoPilot especially from Microsoft. I think Microsoft is a bit too cozy with ChatGPT and have some sort of “deal” that gives Microsoft a leg up. I see some regulators are seeing some yellow flags with this arrangement.

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Sueska

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John S wrote:

I am the pilot and don’t need a CoPilot

Yes indeed.

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