Fact check: False. Windows 11 is not quietly running AI on your PC and hurting gaming or streaming performance. We've written about what's actually going on, and why some X influencers are suddenly making this an issue: windowslatest.com/2026/08/30… TL;DR for those who can't read anymore: Windows 11 has a privacy page called "Text and image generation" for transparency on Copilot+ PCs with an NPU (40+ TOPS). This page also appears on regular PCs, again for the sake of transparency. The "Text and image generation" AI toggle does nothing on a regular PC. Even on Copilot+ PCs, on-device AI workloads use the NPU rather than your CPU, RAM, or GPU. Microsoft literally makes that obvious in the Settings page: Text and image generation uses on-device generative Al technologies to quickly respond to requests. Turning these settings off will not affect apps and features using cloud Al technologies. Most viral posts on X claim Windows is secretly using your RAM for AI and that you should toggle everything off. You can turn it all off if you want, but it won't make any difference on a regular PC. If you look closely at these viral posts, "Recent activity" is at zero. That alone tells you these supposed AI requests never happened on the "affected" PCs, so the claims that this feature is quietly consuming resources don't hold up. The privacy page exists so you can see whether an app is using your hardware for on-device AI. It does not monitor or block cloud-based AI. For example, ChatGPT in Chrome or Copilot in Edge works through the cloud, so that activity would not show up here. On a Copilot+ PC, if you open Paint and create an AI image using an on-device model, that activity can be logged here. Paint also warns you and asks for permission before using an AI model. It's a harmless privacy feature/page, but sure, Microsoft should have communicated better.

Microsoft is finally letting users kill Bing inside Windows 11's Search. I’ve complained about this for years because Windows Search should first behave like a PC search box, not a Bing launcher. If I search for an app, file, or setting on my device, I should not see random web results taking priority. Microsoft is testing a new toggle to turn off web results in Windows Search entirely. You’ll also be able to disable Microsoft Store listings, so Search can stay local-only if that’s what you want. Microsoft is also improving local ranking, two-character search, substring matching, and faster file discovery. That means you can search for part of a file name, not just the first few letters. This is the right direction for Windows 11. Search should be fast, local, predictable, and under your control. Not MSN, Bing, Rewards, Store suggestions, and then maybe your actual file.

Microsoft still can’t decide what Copilot should be on Windows 11. Microsoft is testing a new Copilot docking experience, and it feels like Microsoft is quietly going back to the original sidebar idea. Copilot still opens as an app by default, but there’s now a new title bar menu with custom snapping options. You can keep it as a normal app, use picture-in-picture, or dock Copilot to the left or right side of the desktop. When docked, Windows 11 resizes your workspace around Copilot. Your apps move aside, File Explorer adjusts, and Copilot stays pinned to the edge instead of floating like a separate window.

Former Microsoft executive says Microsoft missed the AI wave like the internet and mobile, as Copilot scales back in Windows 11 Microsoft’s AI strategy has a serious adoption problem, and a former Microsoft exec just said the quiet part out loud. Mat Velloso, who spent 12+ years at Microsoft and even served as Satya Nadella’s technical advisor, says Microsoft “missed the AI wave.” The numbers explain why this hits hard. Microsoft has pushed Copilot into Windows 11, Office, GitHub, and the taskbar. However, fewer than 3% of paying users actively use Copilot. Out of roughly 450 million Microsoft 365 users, only about 15 million are paid Copilot seats. The same issue exists with AI PCs. OEMs added NPUs because Microsoft pushed the category, but Windows still does not have enough truly useful NPU-first features for normal people. Microsoft is aware of the backlash, and Windows 11 is suddenly getting the fixes users wanted for years: movable taskbar, better Start controls, native UI work, driver quality improvements, and fewer pointless Copilot pushes.

Exclusive: Microsoft sources have confirmed that Windows 11’s Notepad app is getting full-fledged image support in the next big update. Microsoft has internally found that Markdown features, including the upcoming image support, have minimal impact on performance. You can always turn off Markdown support in Notepad, as Microsoft promises flexibility for users. Microsoft is adding these features to Notepad to fill the gap left by WordPad.

Frustrated Windows 11 users are calling Microsoft “Microslop,” as the company continues to add Copilot and AI features to the OS. One user has also created a Chrome extension that replaces “Microsoft” with “Microslop” across the internet. Copilot in Windows originally appeared as a sidebar-like feature. Now, Copilot is part of Paint, Notepad, Microsoft Office, and many other areas of Windows. Is Microsoft’s Copilot strategy hurting its AI race more than helping it?

Breaking: Microsoft plans to load Copilot inside File Explorer on Windows 11. References in preview builds point to “Chat with Copilot" and “Detach Copilot" in File Explorer. Right now, Copilot in File Explorer shows up only when you right-click files and the Copilot app is installed. However, now Microsoft wants Copilot to appear within File Explorer, rather than redirecting you to a separate app. This move will make Copilot feel more native in File Explorer.

Microsoft keeps nudging people off Google Chrome… then drops a Windows 11 ad with Chrome pinned on the taskbar ☠️

Microsoft is rolling out “Share with Copilot” for all app windows on the Windows 11 taskbar. When you select this toggle, Windows 11 starts sharing the selected app window with Copilot, allowing it to offer assistance. A floating toolbar appears with Copilot Voice and Vision controls, and Copilot plays an audio greeting. You can then have a voice conversation with Copilot and ask questions about what’s shown in the shared app window.

Ladies and gentlemen, the upcoming Calendar Agenda view in Windows 11 Notification Center is a... WebView2 component! 🎉 WebView2 is a Microsoft component that embeds web content (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) into Windows apps. When Windows 11 shipped in 2021, it dropped support for many Windows 10 features as part of modernization efforts, including Outlook Calendar Agenda view in the Notifications Center. Now, it's coming back, but it's going to be a WebView2.

Tested: Windows 11’s ‘faster’ File Explorer (preloaded) is still slower than Windows 10. On a 4GB RAM test machine, File Explorer used ~32.4MB of RAM without preloading. After turning on preloading, Windows quietly adds ~35MB more. So Explorer now sits at ~67.4MB in memory before you even open it. 35MB isn’t a big deal in 2025. Your browser eats that for breakfast. That's not the point of my testing. Why is the preloaded File Explorer still slower than Windows 10? I made a video to compare the two versions.

Nvidia confirms gamers could experience degraded performance in some games after applying the Windows 11 October 2025 Update. October 2025 Update is a mandatory security patch for Windows 11 25H2 / 24H2, and it cannot be skipped. It's unclear if non-Nvidia PCs are also having performance issues. If you are affected, your OS Build number would be Build 26200.6899 (25H2) / 26100.6899 (24H2) or newer. This same update also caused WinRE failure (preventing USB/mouse from working during recovery process), and blocked file previews in File Explorer for internet downloaded files, among other problems.

Microsoft is moving forward with its plans to turn Windows 11 into an AI operating system. Windows 11 is testing a new toggle in Settings > System > AI components called “Experimental agentic features.” When this is on, AI apps like Copilot can run in a special “agent workspace” with their own Windows account. In that space, the agent can click, type, scroll, open apps and work on your files in the background, while you keep using your normal desktop. By default, when the feature is enabled, agents can get read/write access to your Documents, Downloads, Desktop, Pictures, Music and Videos folders. This feature is experimental and available to testers only (not in production, and is completely optional). "We recommend that you only enable this feature if you understand the security implications..." Microsoft confirmed.

Microsoft confirmed a bug in the October 2025 Update is causing BitLocker recovery on reboot. This issue affects Windows 11 25H2, 24H2 and even Windows 10. Mostly, business users are affected. If you don't have the BitLocker recovery key (always accessible via Microsoft account), you could be locked out of your PC. BitLocker protects your data by encrypting drives, and recovery usually appears after hardware or TPM changes. Microsoft says this bug mostly hits Intel PCs with Modern Standby (the feature that keeps the PC online in low power). Recently, Microsoft also broke Windows 11 Task Manager, causing duplicate processes and performance issues in some cases.

Breaking: Microsoft confirms a bug incorrectly told supported Windows 10 users that their PC had run out of support.' If a PC is out of support, it needs to be upgraded to any supported version, which is Windows 11, of course. Affected users see the "Your version of Windows has reached the end of support" alert in the Windows Update settings. But this was a false alert. The following Windows 10 versions are affected by a false out-of-support error: 1. Windows 10 Pro, Education, Enterprise, using Extended Security Updates (ESU) and configured with an ESU product key. 2. Enterprise LTSC 2021 3. ​IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 Microsoft says it's rolling out an emergency "cloud configuration update to correct this issue" and will also include a fix in a future Windows Update.

Breaking: Microsoft confirms Windows 11's Task Manager could potentially degrade a PC's performance due to a bug where the Task Manager never quits. This issue was first confirmed in our tests, and Microsoft has finally admitted the problem. Microsoft accidentally broke the Task Manager's close button with the October 2025 optional update (Build 26200.7019 / 26100.7019), which ships with a new Start menu, colourful taskbar battery icons and more. Microsoft says the Close button never fully terminates the process of Task Manager due to a bug. If you have several instances of Task Manager running in the background, it can consume system resources and may affect device performance. "While opening and closing Task Manager a few times has minimal impact, many instances accumulated over time can slow down other applications," Microsoft confirmed. What to do? Microsoft says it's working on a fix. For now, please don't frequently open several instances of Task Manager. To close Task Manager, use the "End Task" button, not the "X" button.

Microsoft quietly updated its optional Bing Wallpaper app for Windows 11 with a new feature, "Desktop click opens Bing." This means, if you tap anywhere on the desktop, it'll open Bing dot com in your default browser with more information about the wallpaper. The Bing Wallpaper app is an optional app. It allows you to automatically change the desktop background and is frequently promoted on Microsoft's flagship website. Bing Wallpaper App's "Desktop click opens Bing" feature is turned on by default. But earlier, we noticed that a bug accidentally removed the toggle, which meant clicking on the desktop would open Bing dot com in a browser window, and you won't be able to disable the feature. This has now been fixed, and the toggle to turn off "Desktop click opens Bing" has been added back, but it's still enabled by default. Bing Wallpaper App always shows original images, but it has also been updated with a new AI images option... which is also optional (thankfully).