De-Enshittify Windows 11: Microsoft Copilot and AI ⭐

Note: This is an early peek at a chapter from my next book, De-Enshittify Windows 11. This book will be available for purchase soon. --Paul

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Windows 11 was born in enshittification, but the rise of Copilot and Microsoft's AI ambitions has only made matters worse.

The problems here are many, but key among them are the speed at which AI moves, in this case driving constant change in Windows 11, and how we as users and customers can separate the good from the bad. Though many have a visceral reaction to AI for whatever reasons, there are truly useful AI-based features in Windows 11. And some that are not so useful, of course.
? The problems with Copilot and AI in Windows 11
When Microsoft first announced Windows 11 in mid-2021, it seemed that the company was going to reverse one of the more controversial examples of enshittification in Windows 10 by switching from a biannual feature update—that is, a major version upgrade—schedule to releasing just one feature update each year. Windows 11 would also continue to receive monthly security updates, which seemed reasonable.

But it was lie. Yes, Microsoft would technically only issue one feature update each year, but it would also deliver new features to Windows 11 every single month via a rebranding of Windows as a Service (WaaS) as "continuous innovation". This allowed Microsoft to escalate the introduction of new features dramatically while eroding the quality of the platform and leading to monthly chaos.

And then it got worse.

In early 2023, Microsoft triggered the AI era when it announced what would later be called Copilot in a special event that February. This was a major new strategy for the company and a fundamental shift from its previous focus on cloud computing. Windows, like the rest of Microsoft, would need to get on board. Among other things, it planned to integrate a Copilot app in Windows 11 that would debut in that year's feature update, called Windows 11 version 23H2.

Microsoft needed to get Copilot deeply embedded across its ecosystem as quickly as possible, but it faced one major logistical hurdle: The enterprise customers who represent the majority of the Windows userbase demand and are given more lenient upgrade policies which allow them, among other things, to delay or even skip feature updates. And it was clear that these customers would simply skip Windows 11 version 23H2, delaying the deployment of Copilot in Windows 11 for most customers for at least a year.

Given the speed at which AI moves and the rapid gains made by the competition, Microsoft couldn't afford that delay. And so it did something unprecedented in the history of Windows: It shipped almost all the new features in Windows 11 version 23H2 in a normal monthly security update for Windows 11 versions 21H2 and 22H2 one month ahead of the release of that feature update. This meant that all customers, including those in the enterprise that would delay or skip 23H2, got the integrated...