Windows 11 preview provides more details on how AI agents will work – but this remains a controversial path for Microsoft

• A new preview build is out with further work on AI agents
• It shows how they'll function in the taskbar, though Microsoft is still experimenting with the details
• There's an ongoing negative reaction to Microsoft's current focus on AI

Windows 11's latest preview build has provided a clearer look at some of the nuts and bolts of how AI agents will work in the OS, and it introduces a number of other changes as well.

Microsoft's blog post explains what's new in preview build 26220.7523 in the Dev and Beta channels. There are several notable additions, including the mentioned AI introductions, which have once again sparked some controversy.

For starters, this new preview brings the Ask Copilot box to the taskbar for business customers – this has already arrived in testing for consumers – and Microsoft reminds us that you can invoke AI agents directly ...