Microsoft insists Copilot+ PCs are 'empowering the future' – reality disagrees
- Reference: 1758297727
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/09/19/microsoft_copilot_marketing_blitz/
- Source link:
Copilot+ PCs? Customers just aren't buying it – yet [1]READ MORE
Enterprise customers clearly don't agree, or at least they didn't in January, when analysts spoke of tepid sales figures. Many biz users felt the 57 percent higher average purchase price and a lack of killer apps just didn't tick the box.
When we looked again in July, the situation wasn't any better. Businesses [2]didn't care about exclusive features such as Recall . Yet Microsoft likes to try, try, and try again to convince customers it knows best.
In its latest promotional [3]post , Microsoft lists several applications that have been ported to the Windows on Arm architecture and touts the "breakthrough performance" of Copilot+ PCs.
Having spent some [4]quality time in the company of a Surface Laptop 7 with Arm and AI silicon beneath the keyboard, the only real breakthrough is likely to come from a fist through the screen when the device forgets where the cursor is or stutters through an occasional mystery slowdown.
[5]
According to Microsoft: "The introduction of Copilot+ PCs marks a significant moment for the PC industry."
[6]
[7]
This is undoubtedly true... for AI PC makers. It's not so much a benefit to users as it is for the bottom line of the hardware brands and Microsoft itself. HP, for example, [8]stated that AI PCs now account for a quarter of its sales, with their higher price tags contributing to revenue growth. Dell and Intel have similarly been [9]pushing AI-ready technology on customers.
Microsoft's Copilot+ PC post talks up the power of "enhancing productivity" and of unlocking "new experiences," yet most of the apps it lists are ports of existing tools and apps rather than anything new and innovative for which all that exotic AI silicon is absolutely needed.
[10]Microsoft thinks cloud PCs might be overkill, starts streaming just apps under Windows 365
[11]Everyone needs an AI phone. No, don't hang up, it's true
[12]Californian man so furious about forced Windows 11 upgrade that he's suing Microsoft
[13]Please tell us Reg: Why are AI PC sales slower than expected?
Letting the neural processing unit inside a Surface Laptop make the user's eyeballs appear to look into a camera during a video call might have a certain appeal – to some – but it's hardly a vital use for the technology. If it weren't for the impending end of support for many versions of Windows 10 and the stringent hardware compatibility requirements of Windows 11, it's unlikely that large numbers of users would go anywhere near an AI PC.
Microsoft also deployed the usual hyperbole around battery life for its Arm-based devices, claiming up to 15 hours of web browsing and 22 hours of local video playback. As with many battery life claims, caution is advised. We managed to get ten hours out of the device while performing productivity tasks. Not bad, but not class-leading.
[14]
Windows on Arm has been around for years. In 2018, we [15]reported on Windows on Snapdragon, which demanded a high price for something that didn't even have a native version of Office at the time. Microsoft claimed impressive battery life at that point too, but running anything that required Intel emulation was largely catastrophic for battery life.
Satya Nadella says AI is yet to find a killer app that matches the combined impact of email and Excel [16]READ MORE
Microsoft now claims the app gap is now almost a non-issue: Arm-native versions of apps represent "90 percent of total user minutes... Consumers and developers alike are excited by the possibilities Copilot+ PCs offer."
The post betrays Microsoft's unease about users eyeing Apple Macs as they bin their Windows 10 devices, complete with benchmarks (unsurprisingly) showing Copilot+ PCs running circles around MacBooks. It also makes clear another uncomfortable truth.
Windows on Arm Copilot+ PCs can run many apps users are familiar with natively, yet those same apps will work perfectly well on hardware without on-device AI technology.
Without something that absolutely must have those "on-device AI capabilities," The Reg suspects that when we next revisit those Copilot+ and AI PC figures, the big talk still won't match the sales volume. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/06/ai_copilot_pc_sales/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/28/copilot_pc_sales_grow_slowly/
[3] https://blogs.windows.com/windowsdeveloper/2025/09/18/empowering-the-future-the-expanding-arm-app-ecosystem-for-copilot-pcs/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/17/ai_arm_and_copilot_living/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aM3SgviujF4Kvpz4voBgiwAAAk0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aM3SgviujF4Kvpz4voBgiwAAAk0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aM3SgviujF4Kvpz4voBgiwAAAk0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/29/hp_ai_pc_windows_11/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/25/ai_propostion_windows_11_pc_vendors/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/18/microsoft_cloud_apps_omnissa_update/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/09/gartner_ai_phone/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/11/microsoft_sued_over_premature_windows/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/04/ai_pc_sales_analysis/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aM3SgviujF4Kvpz4voBgiwAAAk0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2018/08/31/hello_wos_windows_on_arm_now_has_a_price/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/26/microsofts_nadella_wants_to_see/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: +
No, their goal is to get it promoted to pilot, where it takes control of your life and you're just there to help.
Personally, any time I see anything to do with Copilot on my work PC (home machine is Linux), I search for how to disable it or otherwise make it go away.
Re: +
... I search for how to disable it or otherwise make it go away.
I know the feeling. Lappie was getting pretty old (10+) so got new one. When it arrived, dd'ed it and put *nix on it. Smarty pants, right? Up to the point I tried to remap those Co-peelot keys... Left now with a couple of useless, function-less keys that don't let themselves be remapped. Are very intelligent. Push them, nothing happens. Nothing. Crickets. As usual with tech lately, turns out you pay more for less. And then we are not even going into the whole "whose your daddy" question...
Re: +
Corblimey
Does anyone want this
The biggest reason for my total avoidance of anything from Microsoft on my retirement PC was their licencing nonsense. AI came a close second.
Does anyone remotely IT aware actually want this, ever-increasing, AI infection? I can see is an interest from MBA types who are just over their pride about their technical ignorance.
Re: Does anyone want this
It all has to do with stock price valuation. Shareholders expect companies to "do something" with A.I. since they believe all the world's wealth will eventually be concentrated at a few megacorps and they want in on it.
Overpriced Clippy AI PCs are a game changer.
They actually make those half-baked kiddie terminals, Chromebooks, look like a good idea. You can use your 'EOL' PC offline for real work, and use a Chromebook for online interactions/any SaaS junk you get lumbered with using.
True "AI" story.
Outfit let a lot of experienced developers go.
Then spent 1 entire week (3 different people) desperately trying to get a combination of ChatGPT and Copilot (and then Deepseek, Gemini) to setup a feed into 3rd parties systems
3rd party were also drinking the "AI" kool aid.
All they wanted to do was get the OAuth settings for a docker container from Google.
The transcripts are pure comedy gold with non existent parameters, completely bogus claims about docker, and a lot of quite dangerous scripting that needed to run as sudo.
I could have done it in 30 minutes, because I'd have to check the task.
3 people. 1 week to not do something that takes 30 minutes.
Re: True "AI" story.
At another outfit leads have to report on number of PRs and lines of code added as a metric of productivity.
Since adoption of copilot, the metric has gone up. Upper management is very happy.
But changes break things other teams work on, don't follow the guidelines and introduce bugs.
The remaining experienced devs now spend their time firefighting and explaining why they take longer to deliver.
Chatter about leaving is common.
Re: True "AI" story.
Measurement can be very difficult. A lot of that effort goes into understanding what it is you should be measuring, why and then doing it properly. It's so much easier to just measure something easy and obvious without understnding what it tells you.
Re: True "AI" story.
There is a booming business now in companies that specialize in fixing the 'code' your stupid LLM crapped out and it ran once on your dumb-ass CTO's machine for his exact data and now they want to deploy this pile of steaming feces.
So it's the usual C-level stuff: cut people who know what they're doing, tout the salary savings, then pay 3x as much in consulting fees to clean up your highly paid incompetence.
Re: True "AI" story.
This kind of crap is exactly the reason I left to start my own company. I'm fed up with all these morons running the show.
Re: True "AI" story.
I suppose the companies are staffed/started by those whom they let go.
Re: True "AI" story.
"1 week to not do something that takes 30 minutes."
And probably not even worth doing.
Marketing company
Microsoft has degenerated from a technology company to being a marketing operation where clueless managers dream up stupid ideas all day to jack up the stock price valuation.
Microsoft Recall, Notepad AI and AI PC's are just some of their half-assed ideas. I have a dire feeling more is to come floating out of their behinds in the near future.
Re: Marketing company
Drumph and Micro$oft have mastered the adage of "repeat a falsehood often enough and people will start believing it". D is ahead but M$ is catching up.
C suite AI deployment roadmap
The C suite roadmap for AI reads
1) Get AI
2) Profit
Simple really.
Re: C suite AI deployment roadmap
You may be overestimating the C suite. It's probably
1) Get AI
3) Profit
Re: C suite AI deployment roadmap
There did use to be a line in the middle, which read
2) ????
That had been added by the CFO when the CAO told him that the CSO thought something was missing, but the CIO reported back that the CTO said he couldn't understand; so the PA to the CEO asked the CRO to see if the CMO would take on the responsibility of removing that line item before the AGM. He was able to delete the entry but became exhausted, leading the other CMO to tell him that he needed to to take his ACU; so the task was reassigned to the CDO - who was delayed because the CTO (not the same officer) failed to review the BCH in a timely fashion and the CPO had to get a BMW PDQ. But that was involved in an RTA. Thankfully, the COO plays golf with the DCC of the BTP who used the OBN to go outside his COC and quieten things down, but still the CDO was MIA and before the CDO (no relation) could catch up on the paperwork and renumber the agenda, the CLO brought down the hammer on changes (which caused the CAIO's AI on AI to go into AOB, but that is a tale for another day).
To cut a long story short, despite the best efforts of our World Class C-suite, you will see that it was inevitable we'd have to present the proposal with what appears to be a numerical sequence shortfall.
If Qualcomm were to actually put some decent effort into supporting Linux running of those Snapdragon laptops i might actually consider buying one, but ive not interest in running Window 11 on one and until the state of Linux on them is on par with what I can get on x86, ill not be going near them.
"Businesses didn't care about exclusive features such as Recall."
They should care very much about Recall, just not in the way Microsoft wants them to.
All this AI is the great be-all and end-all of everything reminds of how the photographs of their products, a burger chain displayed on their premises was once translated/interpreted by someone into:
"We can't make anything that looks remotely like this but our marketing department can convince you to eat your own shit."
Arguably however, the best characterisation of marketing came from an episode of The Simpsons where Homer has volunteered to participate in the development and testing of some new medical products.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMLpTczJRgA
+
Ok so we had Copilot, now Copilot+... What's next? Copilot++, Copilot+++++++++ or Copilot+++ Ultimate 2 Pro Maxx Platinum?
Cogeneral?
Copresident?
Coidiot?