If you own a Copilot+ PC powered by an Intel or AMD chip, good news: it’s getting a bit more capable this month as Microsoft rolls out a big Windows Copilot update.
If you own one of the best AI laptops or PCs with a Snapdragon chip inside you’ve already seen a lot of these new features, but this month you get advance access to a new Voice Access upgrade that the folks on AMD and Intel chips will be waiting months to see.
First, let’s dig into the new Copilot features coming to AMD and Intel machines. These Windows Copilot features (including Cocreator, Image Creator, Live Captions and Restyle Image) have been available in some form on supported Snapdragon-powered laptops since last year, but this week they will become available on any supported PC packing an AMD Ryzen AI 300 series or Intel Core Ultra 200V CPU.
This is a big deal because it means a lot more people are about to get full access to the core set of features Microsoft has been using to sell Copilot+ laptops. Because remember, Microsoft and partners like Dell, HP and Lenovo have been running ad campaigns promoting Copilot+ PCs as the Next Big Thing in Windows Laptops since 2024.
And believe me, some of that marketing is justified. When I tried the new AI features of Copilot+ PCs last spring I was mostly impressed, because the battery life of Snapdragon-powered Windows laptops is phenomenal and accessibility-boosting features like Live Captions are amazing.
But until now most of these Copilot+ features haven’t been available on laptops lacking Qualcomm’s Arm-based Snapdragon X chips, which means it’s been hard to enjoy the best features of Copilot+ laptops without giving up the freedom to run x86 apps (like games) on your Arm-based PC.
That changes starting this month, as soon AMD- and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs will be able to put Cocreator, Image Creator and Restyle Image to the test. These features tap the power of Copilot+ PCs’ onboard NPU (Neural Processing Unit) and use generative AI to do things like generate images or modify your own photos/artwork in Microsoft Paint and Photos.
All of these features have been available on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs for months, but folks who own one aren’t being left out in the cold with this update. In addition to the rollout of existing Copilot+ features to AMD/Intel machines, Microsoft is debuting upgraded Voice Access and Live Captions features for Copilot+ PCs packing a Snapdragon X chip.
Specifically, Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs will be the first to gain Live Captions support for Simplified Chinese as well as the first Voice Access upgrade that takes advantage of the NPU.
“Users of Voice Access on Snapdragon X Series Copilot+ PCs will be able to communicate with their PCs using more descriptive and flexible language,” reads an excerpt of Microsoft’s blog post announcing the update. “This can reduce the challenges faced when learning complex steps, commands and syntax that voice access previously required. It will be the first Voice Access update to take advantage of the NPU capabilities on Copilot+ PCs.”
However, don’t feel left out if you just bought a new Copilot+ PC that lacks a Snapdragon chip. Microsoft claims these two upgrades will also be rolling out to supported Copilot+ PCs powered by AMD and Intel chips later this year.
How to get the new features
You will need an updated Windows 11 PC with an AMD Ryzen AI 300 series, Intel Core Ultra 200V series or Qualcomm Snapdragon X series CPU in order to take advantage of these new features.
Microsoft claims these features will gradually roll out to qualifying PCs via the March 2025 Windows non-security preview update all month. If you would like to increase your odds of getting it sooner, you can simply navigate to Settings > Windows Update (the fastest way is to hit the Start button and type “windows update”, then select Windows Update settings from the results) and enable the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” option.
Then click the “Check for updates” button to see if you qualify to download and install the March 2025 feature release.
You also want to make sure you’ve updated Microsoft Paint and Microsoft Photos to their latest versions in order to take advantage of tools like Cocreator and Restyle Image.
Outlook
This is significant because Microsoft is finally giving everyone who bought an AMD- or Intel-powered Copilot+ PC access to the first major wave of Copilot+ features. So if you’ve been itching to start playing with AI-generated images and filters for your photos and MS Paint doodles, make sure your apps are updated and start hammering that Windows Update button.
But I’m not sure how much an impact these features will make on Windows 11 users because I’ve yet to be impressed by any of them save Live Captions, and those have been available for months now. They make everything I watch and do on my PC easier because I know I can pull up pretty good English captions in a pinch if I can’t make out what someone is saying, so the utility is obvious and I use them semi-regularly.
I can’t say the same for Image Creator, Cocreator or Restyle Image. You might find deeper, more satisfying ways of engaging with these AI-assisted image generators than I did, but frankly I’m starting to find that as it gets easier and easier to manipulate images with AI I’m growing ever more appreciative of unedited, authentic imagery.
Personally, I’m a lot more excited to check out how the new upgraded voice control works because I’ve found Windows 11 Voice Access has been a game-changer for how I work. I’d love to have more natural-feeling conversations with my PC that make it easier and more intuitive to use, so stay tuned for our full report on how these features work in the real world.
