Earlier today, Microsoft published a new "Windows in the Cloud podcast" video on its official Windows IT Pro YouTube channel. It featured Pavan Davuluri, leader of Microsoft’s Windows and Devices business, as the guest, who was interviewed by the host Christiaan Brinkhoff, who is a AI Product Manager at Redmond.
During the talk, which was about "exploring the past, present, and future of Windows," Davuluri shared his vision of what the future version of Windows will be like.
He expects that voice input is going to become a major thing going forward, which is unlike what most Windows people are used to; typically Windows PC users get around using a keyboard and mouse, but that will be evolving in the future Microsoft desktop OS.
He says: "I think we will see computing become more ambient, more pervasive, continue to span form factors, and certainly become more multi-modal in the arc of time ... I think experience diversity is the next space where we will continue to see voice becoming more important."
Davuluri also added how AI features like Copilot Vision, which are able to "look at your screen", will help Microsoft achieve that goal of Windows becoming "more ambient, more pervasive, more multi-modal" such that your PC will be able to "semantically understand you":
"Fundamentally, the concept that your computer can actually look at your screen and is context aware is going to become an important modality for us going forward. ... you"ll be able to speak to your computer while you"re writing, inking, or interacting with another person. You should be able to have a computer semantically understand your intent to interact with it."
Although the statements were prefaced in the first-person as if to indicate that whatever was being said may or may not be representative of Microsoft"s official vision, it is probably fair to say that the idea should mostly align with what the company as a whole wants to do with the next major Windows version.
In fact, this AI-enabled Windows experience is something that Microsoft has had in its mind for a very long time, as early as January 2023; if you recall, former senior Microsoft exec Panos Panay had shared a similar vision for the OS during AMD"s CES 2023 keynote presentation.