Windows 11 users, get ready to see Copilot popping up in your Start menu (well, maybe)

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Windows 11 could see Copilot coming to the Start menu in some form, if a clue spotted in preview builds of the operating system is anything to go on.

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Copilot is likely to infiltrate more parts of the Windows 11 interface, let's face it, and the Start menu is a prime target (Image Credit: Microsoft)

Windows Latest, the source of a good many leaks related to Windows 11, has been doing some digging in previews of the incoming 24H2 update, and uncovered some hidden code.

Specifically, the tech site found a 'CotextualCopilotActionsOnStartRecommended' string which suggests that, well, Copilot could be integrated in the Start menu in some way.

We don't know how, and for now, this is just a snippet of a clue lurking in the background of Windows 11. So, it may never happen, though knowing how keen Microsoft is to get AI into every corner of the OS, there's a fair chance it might.

If Copilot is indeed going to be built into the Start menu, how might that work? Windows Latest has a couple of theories on that, one of which is that Copilot could pop up suggested actions that are drawn from your past search queries in the menu.

Or, and this one's probably more likely, Copilot could be used in the 'Recommended' panel of the Start menu to drive better recommendations, or suggest actions you can take with the AI assistant based on recently used files, for example.

Or maybe both of the above, but whatever the case, what we'd really like to see with the Start menu is less in the way of 'recommendations' that are just thinly veiled adverts. Genuinely useful suggestions might be a different matter - if Copilot can conjure those, mind, and this potential aspect of the AI can avoid being driven more by Microsoft's monetization desires.

Just an early glimpse

While this code may be present under the hood in Windows 11 24H2, it's just a small piece of groundwork right now, and we obviously wouldn't expect this Copilot functionality to turn up later this year - it will doubtless be something Microsoft is considering for further down the line. We wouldn't be surprised to see it manifest on the Start menu eventually, though.

Copilot, and AI in general within Windows 11, feels like it's in a bit of an odd place at the moment. The much-touted features whereby the AI can manipulate Windows settings appear to have stalled, at least for now, and then there's the biggest piece of the AI puzzle of all - Recall - which was yanked from testing and is currently being reworked. The results of the latter will be interesting to say the least, given all the controversy around it thus far.

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