Microsoft makes Copilot in Windows 11 more useful with new capabilities and plugins

Continuing to go all-in on artificial intelligence, Microsoft has announced a series of new features for its Windows 11 AI assistant. The company has announced the capabilities for Copilot as well as introducing new plugins for even more options.

The arrival of new plugins from the like of OpenTable, Shopify and Kayak helps to transform Copilot into something even more useful than it has been so far. It means that the assistant can be used to book restaurant tables as well as suggesting menus for home dining. On top of these plugin-driven additions, Copilot is also gaining new features so it can display system information on demand, and be used to control accessibility features.

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Some of the new things for Copilot are available starting today, but for others there will be a little bit of a wait. The new OpenTable plugin for making restaurant reservations is available immediately, but Microsoft says that "over the next month, we will be adding new ways to connect and get things done from partners like Shopify, Klarna and Kayak".

Other Copilot enhancements see the assistant's tight integration into Windows 11 being put to good use. New skills mean that, from late March, it will be possible to use Copilot to change various settings and access various pieces of system information. Microsoft shares the following list:

Settings:
- Turn on/off battery saver
- Show device information
- Show system information
- Show battery information
- Open storage page

Accessibility:
- Launch Live Captions
- Launch Narrator
- Launch Screen Magnifier
- Open Voice Access page
- Open Text size page
- Open contrast themes page
- Launch Voice input

Device information
- Show available Wi-Fi network
- Display IP Address
- Show Available Storage space
- Empty Recycle Bin

Once these have rolled out, you can use these skills via a type prompt in Copilot, such as "enable battery saver" or "turn off battery saver"; Copilot will take the appropriate action and confirm completion.