With AI in the taskbar and Phone Link for iOS, first major Windows 11 upgrade of 2023 – Windows 11

In fact, Bing’s AI integration is a surprising addition, as Microsoft hasn’t previously tested it with Windows Insiders.

As seen in the video released by the company, a new Bing icon will appear inside the search box on the taskbar, allowing the user to initiate conversations with the AI. It should be noted that chat replies will not be directly available in the search menu, which is basically a way for the user to quickly start a Bing chat in Edge.

However, reading the remarks of the President of Windows, Panos Panay, “Hundreds of millions of Windows 11 users will soon be able to access this amazing new technology to search, chat, answer questions and create content right from the Windows taskbar” we can only assume that Microsoft plans to expand The new Bing Preview is very much in the future.

The Bing Chat extension to the Windows 11 taskbar comes just a week after Microsoft rolled out the same feature for Bing on mobile and Skype chats. The company is also preparing to bring AI features soon to its Office apps as well.

Apart from Bing’s AI, which undoubtedly steals the show, this new Windows update includes other interesting features. One of these concerns the first (preview) version of the Phone Link app for iOS, which means iPhone users can connect their devices to Windows. This will include access to send and receive messages (even iMessage), calls, and notifications.

Microsoft is also improving the widget system in Windows 11 to include third-party options from Meta and Spotify. The touch experience is also improved thanks to the new tablet-optimized taskbar. More specifically, users of devices like the Surface Pro will see that by detaching the keyboard, the taskbar is automatically hidden, simplified to make it more touch-friendly.

On top of that, though, Windows 11 finally gets an official screen recording tool. While Xbox Game Pass offers the ability to record apps, Snipping Tool now includes the ability to record screen activity, or part of it, to video.

Furthermore, other improvements in the update include improvements to Teams, Quick Assist (which enables remote technical support), accessibility improvements, and more.

And if all of the above didn’t convince you, we’ve saved the best for last: Windows 11’s first major update of 2023 also brings support for tabs in Notepad (yes, we mean tabs in Notepad).

Theoretically, the update should be available starting today if you manually check for new updates from Windows Update. However, according to Microsoft, the release will happen to the general public with the March 2023 monthly security update being released on March 14th.