Microsoft giveth and Microsoft taketh away: Copilot edition
Office documents in Copilot? Absolutely! Using Copilot to make Outlook themes? Nah…
Microsoft has announced changes to its Copilot feature in Office, adding the AI assistant to the Copilot app and removing it from certain parts of Outlook. The Copilot app allows users to create Office documents, such as Word, and edit them while maintaining the Copilot conversation. However, the system's reliance on OneDrive instead of SharePoint could be a deterrent for some customers.
The new feature is currently only available to Frontier customers in Chat and Cowork. Microsoft's commitment to the technology is also questionable, as it has a history of dropping or deprecating features when its attention shifts elsewhere. An example of this is the removal of the Themes by Copilot feature in Outlook, which was introduced less than two years ago as the first instance of dynamic AI-generated theming in productivity applications.
The removal of Themes by Copilot from Outlook is due to unclear reasons, possibly low usage or a shift away from Microsoft's "Copilot All The Things" approach. This serves as a cautionary tale for users embracing Office in Copilot, as the company's priorities may change, and they may face similar fates as it moves on to The Next Big Thing.
Written by urgent.news from The Register Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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