- Windows 11 has a new preview out in the beta channel
- It improves voting dictated using AI and brings support to Windows Studio effects to multiple webcams
- On the downside, File Explorer’s Home Panel gets an addition that some may be considered root
Windows 11 has a new preview-building that refined the voting dictation in the operating system and allows AI-based webcam tricks to be used outside your device’s main camera-but these changes are for copilot+ PCS only.
Windows 11’s new preview release in Beta Channel (Build 26120.5790) implements these changes and some other minor adjustments as described in a Microsoft blog post.
The new ability for voice access is called ‘fluid dictation’, and Microsoft claims it makes voting tight in Windows 11 both “smoother and smarter”.
It includes correcting any grammatical or punctuation errors automatically, and so -called Fillstoford is also removed (such as ‘you know’ or ‘as’ and the typical extra words that you may have inserted unintentionally while pausing for tanks when dictating text).
The other major feature here is to extend the availability of Windows Studio effects from just Copilot+ device’s built-in portable camera to other webcams. This means you can use these AI-powered effects on a connected USB webcam or your laptop’s second camera if it has a built-in lid (facing outward).
In an interesting VRI, this ability is rolled out to Copilot+ PCs with Intel CPUs first and then units with Snapdragon (arm) and AMD chips. Usually, Snapdragon gets everything first, but not here.
Microsoft also introduces new settings for when hovering over files on the File Explorer website, including a choice to open the file in its location, and also to ask Copilot about the file. You must be signed into a Microsoft account for this functionality to work.
Analysis: Additional flexibility for Copilot+ PCS
Not everyone wants it to ask the copilot option to be added to the library with choices that appear when you hover over a file on the website for File Explorer – some will consider this as extra mess (and I’m in that camp, I have to admit).
However, there may be no argument about the utility of being able to apply Windows Studio effects to more than just the most important webcam. These are AI-driven features, such as the ability to blur the background, or make it seem like you are making eye contact with a video call participant (looking directly at the camera rather than on the screen).
To bring in AI to help improve the voting dictation should mean a bit less in the way of manual correction for text that you have dictated and I can see that being very useful – provided that is accurate and AI should help ease it.
For those who are concerned about AI treatment of what is written in terms of possible concerns about privacy, Microsoft makes it clear that this feature is driven by AI devices (small language models or SLMs), so nothing has been sent to Microsoft’s servers in the cloud. Furthermore, any text field where passwords or similar are used voting dictated deactivated. And more broadly, you can simply turn off this capacity if you don’t like the sound of it.
It is worth mentioning again that both of these key features are only for Copilot+ PCS, so we don’t get them on normal Windows 11 computers.
