Windows Experience Blog

CES 2026: Showcasing new Windows 11 PC innovations across the ecosystem

Steve Clarke, Editor — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 19:57:56 +0000

CES has always been where the future of technology steps onto the global stage and the proving ground for the next era of innovation. This year at CES, it was clear: AI has moved from concept to mainstream, and the Windows ecosystem is advancing the future of computing. Partners unveiled new generations of silicon processors, a wide array of AI PCs, and AI-powered experiences that highlight not just incremental progress, but meaningful innovation across the entire compute stack that supports how people work and live every day. Together, these announcements reflect the deep collaboration across the Windows ecosystem and how it’s accelerating industry-wide transformation, delivering greater performance, driving more efficiency, and offering new designs and form factors for every customer. Let’s take a look at a selection of the key announcements from our partners at CES 2026.

Introducing new Windows 11 and Copilot+ PCs

Acer announced a series of Copilot+ PCs, including the Acer Swift 16 AI thin-and-light laptop and the Predator Helios Neo 16S AI gaming laptop, both powered by the latest Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors. The Acer Swift 16 AI features the world’s largest^[1] haptic touchpad, up to 120 Hz 3K OLED touch displays and larger keys with per-key backlighting in a sleek 14.9 mm thin chassis. The Predator Helios Neo 16S AI is equipped with up to a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop GPU housed in an 18.9 mm slim metal chassis, fusing durability with a premium aesthetic design. [caption id="attachment_180156" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Acer Swift 16 AI[/caption] ASUS introduced the Zenbook DUO - Multitaskers often juggle devices, monitors and dongles, which add complexity when working on the go. The ASUS Zenbook DUO solves this by integrating two 14-inch OLED touchscreens into a single, streamlined device. A built‑in kickstand and detachable Bluetooth keyboard enable laptop, dual‑screen, desktop and content‑sharing modes without extra hardware. Under its strong yet light Ceraluminum chassis, the upgraded 99Wh battery powers all‑day workflows, while an Intel Core Ultra processor with a 50 trillion operations per second (TOPS) NPU delivers raw AI processing power for on-device Copilot+ PC experiences, real time language translation, AI driven content creation and instant document insights, while maximizing privacy and uptime. A scratch‑ and smudge‑resistant coating preserves the signature Zenbook look, and bright, anti‑glare OLED panels deliver vivid visuals anywhere. The Zenbook DUO redefines what a dual‑screen laptop can be with unmatched AI acceleration. [caption id="attachment_180157" align="alignnone" width="1024"] ASUS Zenbook DUO[/caption] ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) is also proud to announce the launch of the all-new ROG Zephyrus Duo, the world’s first 16-inch dual-screen OLED gaming laptop. This Copilot+ PC is powered by the latest Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processor and paired with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU running at 135W TGP, enabling flagship gaming and content creation. The Zephyrus Duo offers five dedicated operation modes to enhance workflows. This ultra-premium machine is housed in a CNC-milled aluminum chassis with a stunning Stellar Grey color and comes complete with a detachable magnetic keyboard to keep users gaming and creating wherever life takes them. [caption id="attachment_180158" align="alignnone" width="768"] ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo[/caption] Dell is revamping its XPS brand with redesigned XPS 14 and XPS 16 laptops, featuring sleek aluminum builds, stunning displays and industry-leading battery life, with plans to expand the lineup later this year, including the return of the XPS 13. Alienware introduces anti-glare OLED displays on its 16 Area-51 and Aurora 16X laptops, alongside new Intel processors. Alienware is also bringing new AMD processors to its Area-51 Desktop and is teasing an ultra-slim gaming laptop and an entry-level model to broaden its appeal. Dell also debuted two groundbreaking monitors: the UltraSharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor, the world’s first 52-inch 6K display, and the UltraSharp 32 4K QD-OLED Monitor, designed for professionals demanding top-tier performance and color accuracy.

“With our latest XPS and Alienware devices, we’re not just meeting expectations — we’re shattering them. The thinnest XPS laptops ever. Ultra-powerful Alienware systems with unmatched display experiences. These aren’t just devices; they’re tools for gamers, creators and professionals who demand more. Paired with Windows 11, our devices don’t just keep up — they push you to new heights of competing and creating.” — Kevin Terwilliger, Head of Product, Commercial, Consumer & Gaming PCs, Dell Technologies.

[caption id="attachment_180159" align="alignnone" width="1000"] Dell XPS[/caption] HP announced Copilot+ PCs built for leaders shaping the future of work in the AI era, earning CES 2026 Innovation Award recognition for the HP EliteBook X G2 Series and the world’s first full AI PC built into a keyboard — the HP EliteBoard G1a Next Gen AI PC.^[2] The entire HP OmniBook lineup has been refreshed to help consumers work smarter, look sharper and lead better, adding OLED screen options and a range of new sizes and processors to power the work of everyday life. Ideal for forward-thinkers who demand pro-grade experiences on the go, the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 with Snapdragon X2 Elite delivers up to 85 TOPS NPU for concurrent AI apps^[3],[4] in a design that blends performance and portability without compromise. For at-home creators, theHP OmniStudio X 27 All-in-One (AIO) unleashes a new era of speed and multitasking with a next-gen Intel Core Ultra 7 processor^[3],[5] and professional-grade viewing on the first Neo:LED AIO PC with dual 100% color coverage.^[6] The HyperX OMEN MAX 16 is the first gaming laptop introduced under HP's new HyperX gaming ecosystem, debuting as the world’s most powerful gaming laptop with fully internal cooling^[7] for breakthrough performance optimized by OMEN AI. [caption id="attachment_180160" align="alignnone" width="1024"] HP EliteBook X G2[/caption]

“HP’s Work Relationship Index shows expectations rising faster than fulfillment, and professionals are feeling that strain every day. The EliteBook X G2 Series uses AI to adapt to how people work, with security by default and ultra-light mobility, helping leaders stay effective wherever work happens.” — Guayente Sanmartin, Senior Vice President and Division President, Commercial Systems & Displays Solutions (HP Inc.)

Lenovo introduced several new Copilot+ PCs powered by Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors, including the ThinkPad X9 15p Aura Edition and the thinnest, lightest, most powerful ThinkPad X1 Carbon ever, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 Aura Edition. They also unveiled innovations like the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 7 Auto Twist with an intelligent rotating hinge and the Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition, which brings exceptional performance, premium display quality and enhanced creative capabilities, as well as a range of Legion gaming devices. Together, these devices showcase the strong partnership between Lenovo, Intel, AMD and Microsoft to deliver more powerful, elegant and AI forward Windows experiences. [caption id="attachment_180161" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1[/caption] Samsung’s Galaxy Book6 series are its most advanced AI ready PCs yet, powered by the latest Intel Core Ultra processors with integrated NPUs for fast, secure on-device AI. The lineup includes Galaxy Book6, Galaxy Book6 Pro and Galaxy Book6 Ultra, all featuring slimmer premium designs, long battery life and vibrant AMOLED displays. The Galaxy Book6 Ultra adds NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics for accelerated creative and AI workloads, making it the most powerful device in the family. Enhanced cooling, WiFi 7 connectivity, built in ports and Samsung Knox security round out a portfolio designed for productivity, mobility and seamless multidevice control. [caption id="attachment_180162" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Samsung Mobile Galaxy Book6[/caption]

Next generation silicon for AI PCs

AMD introduced its new Ryzen AI 400 Mobile Series, delivering top tier Copilot+ PC performance for gaming, content creation and productivity, alongside an expanded Ryzen AI Max 300 Series for AI developers and workstation-class workloads. AMD also announced additions to the Ryzen 9000 desktop lineup, offering leading performance for gamers and creators.

“The PC is being redefined by AI, and AMD is leading that transformation,” said Jack Huynh, senior vice president and general manager, AMD Computing and Graphics Group. “Across consumer, commercial and enthusiast systems, we’re delivering platforms that bring high-performance computing, leadership AI, immersive graphics and a growing software ecosystem that empowers developers and creators, so intelligence is built in, performance and efficiency scale seamlessly, and innovation extends to every form factor. Our full-stack approach is coming to life, enabling smarter, faster and more immersive experiences for users, today and tomorrow.”

Intel introduced its Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors — the first compute platform built on Intel 18A — the most advanced semiconductor process ever developed and manufactured in the United States. Built for consumers, businesses and the edge, Series 3 processors redefine computing and offer enhanced performance, battery life and advanced graphics capabilities. Consumer laptop pre-orders are now available, with global system availability beginning Jan. 27 via OEM partners and retailers.

“Powering more than 200 designs from global OEM partners, Intel Core Ultra Series 3 will be the most broadly adopted and globally available AI PC platform Intel has ever delivered,” said Jim Johnson, senior vice president and general manager, Client Computing Group, Intel. “With Series 3, we are laser focused on improving power efficiency, adding more CPU performance, a bigger GPU in a class of its own, and more AI compute and app compatibility. This enables our partner ecosystem to build smarter, more efficient devices, and end users to gain next-gen AI enabled experiences anywhere.”

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. launched the Snapdragon X2 Plus, marking an exciting milestone for the Windows ecosystem as it expands Copilot+ PCs across even more form factors. These devices are purpose built to unlock richer AI experiences with 80 TOPS NPU while delivering exceptional power and efficiency and longer battery life. With Snapdragon X2 Plus, X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme processors, our partners are introducing laptops that are sleek, thin and light, designed to bring leading performance efficiency and advanced NPU driven capabilities to a wider range of Windows users.

“Snapdragon X2 Elite strengthens our leadership in the PC industry, providing legendary leaps in performance, AI processing and battery life to enable the experiences that consumers deserve,” said Kedar Kondap, senior vice president and general manager, compute and gaming, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “We continue to push the boundaries of technological innovation, introduce breakthrough products that set new industry standards and redefine what’s possible for PCs.”

Delivering more choice and value for every customer

Our partners are delivering exciting new innovations which reflect a shared commitment across the ecosystem to bring together performance, longer battery life, AI experiences and thoughtful design — built on the openness and choice that defines Windows. We’re excited for customers to experience the best of Windows from our partners, and if you’re looking for a new Windows 11 PC, there’s never been a better time to explore the wide range of devices available and find the one that best fits the way you work, play and create. Footnotes: [1] Touchpad claim based on Acer’s internal market analysis as of Dec. 15, 2025, comparing Acer Swift 16 AI with 26 commercially available notebooks equipped with haptic touchpads from Asus, Apple, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft and MSI. [2] Based on HP’s analysis of commercially available desktop-class PCs with integrated AI acceleration (NPU ≥ 40 TOPS) and full PC components embedded within a keyboard chassis, as of January 2026. “World’s First” refers to the HP Elite G1a keyboard being the only device to combine a high-performance NPU, enterprise-grade CPU, memory, storage and I/O ports within a standalone keyboard form factor. AI keyboard PC is defined as a fully functional personal computer integrated within a keyboard chassis, featuring an operating system, storage, CPU and dedicated AI acceleration hardware (e.g., NPU or AI-optimized chipset). [3] Based on HP’s internal analysis and publicly available information as of January 2026. Claim was validated under these criteria: in January 2026, any notebook with Windows Home or MacOS with the inclusion of a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) capable of performing up to 85 trillion of operations per second (TOPS) for AI acceleration that could enable concurrent AI workloads. NPU performance and AI workload concurrency depend on system configuration, software optimization and usage conditions. Up to 85 TOPS NPU performance can only be achieved on Snapdragon X2 Elite 18-core (X2E-90-100) and Snapdragon X2 Elite 12-core (X2E-84-100) processors. [4] Features and software that require an NPU may require software purchase, subscription or enablement by a software or platform provider, and third-party software may have specific configuration or compatibility requirements. Potential NPU inferencing performance varies by use, configuration and other factors. [5] World Bank. 2025. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099071923113511279/pdf/P17730205fbe2002709043043e4d4f7efee.pdf. [6] Based on HP internal analysis of all All-in-One PCs in the market as of December 2025. Neo:LED is an advanced display technology delivering richer colors and deeper blacks, covering 100% Adobe RGB and 100% DCI-P3 color spaces. This content is supported by third-party data sources. Product details, specifications and availability may vary. For additional information about Neo:LED, visit LG Display Website. [7] Based on HP internal testing. All performance specifications represent the typical specifications provided by HP's component manufacturers; actual performance may vary either higher or lower. Most powerful is based on designed Total Platform Power. Total GPU power of 175 watts plus total thermal power of 125 watts. Utilizes integrated OMEN Tempest Cooling Pro technology. Does not require external cooling technology to achieve Total Platform Power of 300 watts.

Xbox Developer_Direct broadcast returns Jan. 22

Athima Chansanchai, Writer — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 17:29:56 +0000

To start off the celebration of Xbox’s 25^th anniversary, the fourth installment of the Developer_Direct broadcast airs Jan. 22. Game creators will once again deliver an inside look at games coming this year and the studios working to bring them to life. Playground Games will show a first extended look at Fable and the debut of gameplay for Forza Horizon 6. A new title also emerges from one of Japan’s most beloved studios, Beast of Reincarnation from Game Freak. Find out more at Xbox Wire.

Tips on getting started with your new ROG Xbox Ally

Athima Chansanchai, Writer — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 17:17:47 +0000

It’s the holiday season, and perhaps you’re planning to give (or receive!) a ROG Xbox Ally or ROG Xbox Ally X. To help get you playing as quickly as possible, Xbox Wire has updated its guide to the best ways to get started with your brand-new han

The post Tips on getting started with your new ROG Xbox Ally appeared first on Windows Experience Blog.

Your PC, your personality: New themes in Store for you

Giorgio Sardo — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 17:00:04 +0000

Forty years ago, Windows set out to empower people to make technology their own. Today, that journey continues with new ways for you to express who you are every time you turn on your PC. We are beginning to rollout a new Themes department in the Microsoft Store on Windows, where visitors can quickly find curated and trending themes to customize their Windows devices with a single click. We’ve heard from so many of you that you want your PC to feel like your own. Maybe you’re a gamer who wants to celebrate the latest release, a fan who finds joy in seeing beloved characters each morning, a designer searching for an artfully composed background that sparks creativity every time you log in, or someone who simply wants their desktop to feel fresh and uplifting. The desire to make your device truly yours is universal. Applying a new look is simple: just one click, and your Windows device reflects your personality. The new Themes department in the Microsoft Store on Windows hosts over 400 themes, over 35 of which are new to the store, each a collection of wallpapers and accent colors which can change over time, making it easier than ever to personalize your device. Excited about Sea of Thieves? We’ve got a Theme for that. National Park fans, we’ve got you covered with World National Parks. More of a dreamer? Check out Ethereal Escapes by PicsArt. Looking to make your desktop whimsy? Apply Geometric Tales today. If you’re running on vibes, Microsoft Design has captured a variety. With so many to explore, there’s truly something for everyone - no matter your style, mood or inspiration. And it doesn’t stop there. Managing your themes is effortless. Visit Windows Settings to view, switch or organize your collection, ensuring your PC always feels fresh and uniquely yours. Here is a sampling of some of the themes in the Microsoft Store on Windows: Luminous Flow Theme | Microsoft Store Mountain Dwellings Theme | Microsoft Store Dreamscapes Theme | Microsoft Store Sea of Thieves Official Theme | Microsoft Store Blooming Dimensions Theme | Microsoft Store Neon Dreams Theme | Microsoft Store World of Warships Official Theme | Microsoft Store Opaline Theme | Microsoft Store Razer Axon Official Theme | Microsoft Store Personalization isn't limited to themes either. The Microsoft Store on Windows has an assortment of apps that offer fun ways to customize your PC like TranslucentTB, Lively Wallpaper and Seelen UI.

Looking ahead

Our vision is to make personalization natural and accessible for every Windows user. The new Themes department is just the beginning step toward making every device a true reflection of its owner. We look forward to hearing your feedback - please submit it via Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store. Are you interested in contributing your own theme? We’d love to hear from you: Microsoft Store Theme Publisher Interest Form

Windows PC gaming in 2025: Handheld innovation, Arm progress and DirectX advances

Steve Clarke, Editor — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 18:00:17 +0000

For decades, Windows has been the platform for PC gaming: open, flexible and built with players in mind. From the days of classics like Diablo to today’s cutting-edge experiences powered by DirectX and AI-driven graphics, Windows has partnered with developers, creators, OEMs and silicon innovators to push hardware and software forward. That collaboration continues to deliver new ways to play, whether on powerful desktops or purpose-built handheld devices. In 2025, Windows 11 gaming became faster, more portable and more visually immersive. We introduced a purpose-built handheld experience with the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, expanded gaming capabilities for Windows-powered Arm laptops and shipped DirectX advances that boosted ray tracing performance by up to 2.3× on supported hardware, paving the way for neural rendering. Together with the gaming community, our commitment is to make Windows the best place to game—no matter where you play—by continuing to innovate and deliver experiences that enable players everywhere. Here’s a closer look at the innovations that shaped this year.

Handheld innovation

The freedom of Windows, combined with the power of Xbox and deep partnership with ASUS and AMD, brought the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X powered by AMD Ryzen Z2 Series processors. These collaborations elevated handheld gaming, where performance, power efficiency, input latency and access to your games are critical. This partnership has made gaming on Windows better across all devices, and many of this year's innovations stem directly from those efforts.

Xbox full screen experience (FSE) for handhelds

Shipping with the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds, Xbox full screen experience is a controller-first, optimized gaming experience. It creates a console-like home that puts your games at the center of the experience, while minimizing background activity and deferring non-essential tasks. The result is smoother frame pacing and more consistent performance when every watt counts. Today, the full screen experience is available on the ROG Xbox Ally, ROG Xbox Ally X and other Windows 11 handhelds currently in market.

Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD)

As a player, there is nothing more exciting than starting a new game for the very first time. Advanced Shader Delivery on the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds gets you into the fun faster by delivering precompiled shaders at install time, eliminating most of the wait time and stuttering when you launch a game for the first time. The numbers speak for themselves: in Avowed, first-run load time dropped by over 80% and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 dropped by over 95%. Dozens of titles on the Xbox PC app now support ASD, with more on the way—thanks to the collaboration between AMD and Microsoft. For developers, ASD is supported in the Agility SDK, giving studios tools to prepare and validate precompiled shader bundles within their existing game development routines, opening up ASD to even more games.

System-level performance

The ROG Xbox Ally also pushed us to deliver console-style performance on Windows 11, treating responsiveness as a system-wide priority optimized end-to-end in partnership with game developers. In 2025, this included:

Tuned power management and CPU frequency profiles for the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, improving efficiency without sacrificing performance

More efficient unified memory behavior on Ryzen APUs, reducing frame-time variance and memory contention

Lower CPU overhead across controller input, RGB lighting services, graphics drivers and background processes

Much of this shipped jointly with AMD and ASUS. AMD shipped driver optimizations, improved UMA performance, reduced CPU overhead in the graphics stack and provided game-specific fixes through driver releases. These improvements began with handhelds but now benefit the broader Windows ecosystem.

Windows on Arm

In 2025, we focused on laying the foundation for a broader, more diverse Windows gaming experience on Arm. This included enabling local game installs through the Xbox PC app, expanding compatibility and performance in the Prism emulator and delivering native anti-cheat solutions from partners including Easy Anti-Cheat.

Local gameplay with Xbox PC app (Insiders)

In August, we enabled Windows Insiders on Arm devices to download and play supported titles directly from the Xbox PC app, including the majority of games included in Xbox Game Pass. This means local play for a much larger number of titles without relying on cloud streaming.

Expanded Prism compatibility

Prism, the emulator that runs x86/x64 software on Arm, now supports AVX and AVX2 extensions to the x86 instruction set. Because modern games increasingly rely on these extensions, this significantly expands both compatibility and performance for emulated games.

Native anti-cheat support

Anti-cheat has long been a barrier to competitive gaming on Arm. This year, Easy Anti-Cheat added Windows on Arm support through collaboration between Epic, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and Microsoft—joining BattlEye, Denuvo and XIGNCODE3. Many widely used anti-cheat systems and their games now support Arm, including Fortnite. These anti-cheat providers, across Arm and x64 alike, are strengthened by Windows security features like Virtualization-Based Security (VBS), Secure Boot, TPM 2.0 and remote attestation, which establish a hardware-rooted, verifiable trusted state. Leading titles leverage these protections to make it harder for unauthorized code to take hold and to validate that PCs are configured for trust. As more games adopt these standards, players benefit from fairer matches across the entire Windows ecosystem.

DirectX and audio leadership

DirectX has powered PC gaming for over thirty years. 2025 marked 25 years since DirectX 8 introduced programmable shaders and 10 years since DirectX 12 brought low-level GPU control. This year, we shipped new capabilities that improve ray tracing and set the stage for the future of neural rendering. We also continued advancing Windows' leadership in gaming audio, from spatial sound to next-generation wireless technology.

DirectX Raytracing 1.2 (DXR 1.2)

DXR 1.2 introduced two key features:

Opacity Micromaps accelerate ray traversal through alpha-tested geometry like foliage and fences.

Shader Execution Reordering lets the GPU regroup similar rays for better coherence and utilization.

On compatible hardware, these features can deliver up to 2.3× performance gains in supported scenarios, making advanced ray tracing more practical in real games.

Neural rendering (preview)

We’re building the foundation for integrating efficient ML models directly into the rendering pipeline, enabling tasks like denoising, upscaling and material enhancement. These capabilities are available in preview today through cooperative vectors in Shader Model 6.9, and we’re expanding toward a broader linear algebra feature set to reach more audiences in the future.

Bluetooth LE Audio

Since adding support for the modern LE Audio standard to Windows 11 in 2023, we've improved audio quality and expanded accessibility for gamers.

Super wideband stereo launched earlier this year to deliver high-quality game audio with full stereo spatial effects even while chatting—no more choosing between sound quality and communication.

Lower-latency audio reduces the delay between on-screen action and what you hear compared to Bluetooth Classic A2DP audio, ensuring audible cues can be heard and with time to react.

Hearing device support makes gaming more accessible by streaming high-quality and low-latency audio directly to hearing aids or cochlear implants.

What's next for PC gaming with Windows 11

The enhancements and improvements we introduced this year are shaping the future of gaming. We’re building experiences designed to empower players to play what they want, with whom they want, wherever they want—and we’re excited to deliver even more in the year ahead.

Xbox full screen experience (FSE) for Windows 11 form factors, available in preview today

FSE started on handhelds. It is now expanding beyond handhelds and will be coming to even more Windows devices. Currently available in preview, Windows and Xbox Insiders can try it on Windows 11 PCs: desktops, laptops and 2-in-1s. The experience delivers a controller-first interface for navigation, intuitive game launching and minimized distractions on any PC. It’s a gaming-first, full-screen environment where players can easily browse and launch titles from across their game library—including most popular PC storefronts. We’re excited to hear your feedback, so please keep them coming.

Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD) expansion

ASD preloads game shaders during download, allowing select games to launch faster, run smoother and use less battery on the first play. We're continuing to add ASD support to more games on the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, and we've begun early integration work to support additional hardware and storefronts.

Auto Super Resolution (Auto SR) preview

Auto SR is our OS-level AI upscaling feature: delivering sharper visuals and smoother framerates in DirectX games running at lower resolution, with no developer work required. Auto SR first shipped on Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon X processors, and in early 2026 we're bringing a public preview to the ROG Xbox Ally X, running on AMD's Ryzen AI NPU.

Performance fundamentals

We’re committed to making Windows the best place to play, and we will continue refining system behaviors that matter most to gaming: background workload management, power and scheduling improvements, graphics stack optimizations, and updated drivers.

Explore what’s next

Update to the latest Windows 11 build, join the Windows and Xbox Insider programs for early access to full screen experience on PC, and look for ASD-enabled games for faster first-run load times. Auto SR arrives on the ROG Xbox Ally X early next year. And if you’re heading to GDC in March, keep an eye on the schedule—we look forward to sharing more as we continue to shape the future of PC gaming.

Biggest new third-party launch for Xbox Game Pass 2025: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Athima Chansanchai, Writer — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 17:02:08 +0000

Sandfall Interactive’s debut role-playing game, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, is the biggest new third-party launch on Xbox Game Pass in 2025, based on number of unique users in the first 30 days it was available. Sandfall Interactive creative director Guillaume Broche says Game Pass allowed them to reach a much wider audience. Set in a whimsical fantasia that belies dark secrets, the game follows the eponymous Expedition on a doomed mission to save their city from the mysterious Paintress, a godlike being that has obliterated the city’s eldest cohort every single year for decades following a cataclysm. If you haven’t yet joined the Expedition, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, handhelds (such as the new ROG Xbox Ally) and Xbox Cloud. It’s an Xbox Play Anywhere title and available with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Read more about it on Xbox Wire.

2025 – A year in recap – Windows Accessibility

Akheel Firoz — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:00:02 +0000

On this International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we reflect on how our products are evolving based on feedback and insights from the disability community and want to highlight some of the progress from the last year.

Nothing about us, without us

The Windows Accessibility team adheres to the disability community’s guiding principle, “nothing about us without us.” In the spirit of putting people at the center of the design process guided by Microsoft Inclusive Design, working with and getting insights from our advisory boards for the blind, mobility and hard of hearing communities is critical to creating meaningful and effective features that empower every single user. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxTajh3CCrE

Fluid Dictation on Windows enables you to dictate with ease

Fluid Dictation, a feature designed to make voice-based text authoring seamless and intuitive for everyone, intelligently corrects grammar, punctuation and spelling in real time as you speak. This means your spoken words are instantly transformed into polished, accurate text, reducing the need for tedious manual corrections or complex voice commands. In addition, Fluid Dictation can leverage your custom vocabulary defined within Voice Access, so specialized terms and names are recognized correctly. Powered by on-device AI on Copilot+ PCs without the need to connect to the internet, this capability can be leveraged across both first- and third-party apps on Windows—whether you’re drafting emails, taking notes or collaborating in your favorite applications. With Fluid Dictation, we want you to focus on your ideas, and not the mechanics of text entry by minimizing errors and streamlining corrections when typing with your voice. To try it out, enable Fluid Dictation in the manage options menu under Voice Access settings and interact with any text editing surface of your choice. Here’s a guide to help you get started. This feature is also available for Windows Insiders for Voice Typing. Simply press Windows + H and get started.

Voice Access: Understanding everyone better

Voice input is a spectrum; not everyone’s way of communicating using their voice is the same. We’re evolving the way Voice Access understands you to make your experience seamless.

Wait time before acting: Everyone speaks at their own pace and with the wait time before acting setting, people can configure a delay before a command is executed. This provides greater flexibility for individuals with varying speech patterns, enabling more accurate recognition whether speaking slowly or quickly. To set this up, navigate to Voice Access settings > Wait time before acting, and choose the option that best fits your preferences.
Custom word dictionary: We have introduced the ability for you to add your own words to the dictionary in Voice Access. Adding your own words, including difficult to pronounce words, to the dictionary in Voice Access will help improve dictation accuracy. It increases the probability of recognizing these words more accurately. The feature will be available in all the currently supported Voice Access languages. Manually add a word anywhere in your workflow by using the “Add to Vocabulary” command or directly from Voice Access settings > Add to vocabulary.
Flexible and natural commanding: We released more flexible and natural command execution in Voice Access on Copilot+ PCs. Voice access now understands multiple variations of an existing command. You can say:
- “Can you open Edge application”
- “Switch to Microsoft Edge”
- “Please open the Edge browser”

And Voice Access will recognize your intent and execute the command accordingly.

Improved speech pattern recognition: Voice Access now offers enhanced recognition for speech patterns, especially those associated with Parkinson’s, reducing errors and making dictation and navigation smoother.
Chinese and Japanese Support: Voice Access now supports Chinese and Japanese, expanding accessibility for more users. You can now navigate, dictate and interact with Windows using voice commands in Chinese and Japanese.

More natural and expressive voices for Narrator and Magnifier

Narrator and Magnifier, in collaboration with Azure AI, now provide the option to use new state of the art, delightful human sounding voices. These voice options are designed to sound more human-like to help reduce cognitive load by mimicking the subtleties of human conversation through natural pauses, emphasis and emotional tone. To try out these natural voices, navigate to voice options in Narrator or Magnifier settings, select the HD voice option, download the voice model and you’re all set for more engaging screen reading and read-aloud experience.

Efficient document creation with Narrator and Word

We’re excited to share that creating and reading documents in Microsoft Word is now smoother and more intuitive for people using Narrator. Recent updates address your valuable feedback and enhance the overall experience across drafting and reviewing text to navigating lists, tables and comments so you stay focused on your work without interruptions. You’ll now find it easier to read and write with confidence. Narrator provides more natural, streamlined announcements when reading tabular data, footnotes and formatting changes. Engaging with comments is now easier and requires fewer keystrokes. You can efficiently read comment text and its associated content without losing your place in the document. Proofing has also become more seamless. Spelling and grammar feedback is now announced in a clearer, more concise way, with automatic speech-rate adjustments and improved keyboard shortcuts that make correcting errors faster and less disruptive. Finally, we’ve made meaningful improvements to Copilot usability with Narrator, ensuring a more accessible experience when working alongside AI.

Focus on fundamentals, powered by your feedback

Ensuring consistency and reliability across assistive technologies on Windows is the foundation of our experiences. We prioritize addressing critical and functional issues shared through your feedback and our engagements with our advisory boards. Through these efforts, we ensure that you can continue to focus on what’s important to you without distractions.

On Narrator, your feedback has helped shaped improvements such as:

Screen Curtain: When activated completely blacks out your display to enhance privacy and focus, ensuring only the user hears what’s on the screen through Narrator. Press Caps + Ctrl + C when Narrator is running to enable Screen Curtain.
Richer image descriptions: On Copilot+ PCs, Narrator leverages AI to provide rich detailed descriptions of images, charts and graphs. Press Narrator key + Ctrl + D to get a contextual description of the image, detailing people, objects, colors, text and numbers from the image.
Speech Recap and live transcription: Need to save, share or review what Narrator said last? You can press Narrator key + Alt + X to open Speech Recap and view the last 500 spoken strings. If you’re an Assistive Technology (AT) trainer, Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TSVI) who supports students in class or for professionals who are hard of hearing and want to use Narrator, you can quickly access spoken content, follow along with live transcription and copy what Narrator last said—all with simple keyboard shortcuts.

Join us on the journey

Thank you to all our Windows customers for trying out these new features, providing your feedback and helping us create better experiences for all, especially those who try out our Windows Insider builds to give feedback earlier in the release process. Consistency and reliability across assistive technologies on Windows is the foundation of the experience. We will continue to prioritize critical and functional issues shared through your feedback and our engagements with our advisory boards. There is still a lot more to come, so join us on this journey by trying Windows 11 and continuing to share your valuable feedback. Just press the Windows logo key + F to launch the Feedback hub to share what you like, dislike or just wish the product could do! If you are a customer with a disability and need technical assistance with Windows or any other Microsoft product, please reach out to the Disability Answer Desk via phone, chat or American Sign Language (via videophone).

Year recap

Assistive Technology	Description	Links
Voice Access and Voice Typing	AI-powered dictation that cleans up your speech automatically across Voice Access and Voice Typing, conversational commands that “just work,” personalized vocab, adjustable command timing, profanity control, and expanded support for Chinese and Japanese.	[Fluid Dictation]* • [Natural Language Commands]* • [Custom Dictionary] • [Wait Time] • [Profanity Filter] • [Language Support]
Narrator	Get richer image descriptions, smoother Word reading, privacy tools like Screen Curtain, Speech Recap for quick review, and a new Braille Viewer and HD voices that sound natural, expressive and easier to follow.	[Image Descriptions] • [Word Improvements] • [Speech Recap] • [Screen Curtain] • [Braille Viewer] • [HD Voices]
Magnifier	Faster, clearer navigation with one-click zoom controls and HD voices for a more natural and engaging read-aloud experience.	[1 Click Zoom Toggle] • [Reset Zoom] • [HD Voices]

Features marked with an asterisk (*) are available only on Copilot+ PCs.

Unwrap joy this season with this year’s Microsoft holiday sweaters

The Windows Team — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 16:31:18 +0000

Designed for joy

This holiday season, Microsoft will deliver a touch more joy with three unique holiday sweater designs – each celebrating a different chapter of Microsoft’s history. From Zune, to Xbox, to our Artifact Sweater, these limited-edition designs capture the spirit of Microsoft’s journey throughout the years. The Microsoft Artifact Sweater features vibrant cuffs and a collage of retro icons such as Clippy and Paint which celebrates the beloved tools that have shaped our digital lives. Be sure to check out the full list of featured icons on the Artifact Sweater here:

Pixel cursor
MSN
Clippy
Minesweeper
Internet Explorer
Microsoft 3.1 Paintbrush
Windows 3.1 Notepad
Windows Reversi
Microsoft Memo
Windows computer
Windows CD-ROM drive
Minesweeper emoji
Windows printer
Windows 3 logo
Windows recycle bin
Windows folder
Windows regional setting
MS-DOS
Copilot
Minecraft Creeper
Microsoft 50th Anniversary emblem

Where to get yours

Starting today, all three #MicrosoftUglySweater designs will be available in limited quantities through the Microsoft Company Store, Redmond Company Store in Seattle and Microsoft Experience Center NYC. Don’t miss your chance to own these nostalgic pieces and spark conversations this holiday season.

Xbox full screen gaming experience now available for Windows 11 handhelds and in preview for PCs

Athima Chansanchai, Writer — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 17:29:33 +0000

If you have a Windows 11 gaming handheld, you can try out the Xbox full screen experience, now available for a smoother, more seamless way to play. Designed to minimize friction and get players into their games faster, this update helps deliver a console-like experience on handheld devices. That experience is also now available in preview for more Windows 11 PC form factors, such as laptops, desktops and tablets, tailored for the PC experience. Find out more on Xbox Wire.

Ignite 2025: Windows at the frontier of work

Pavan Davuluri, President, Windows + Devices — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 16:03:17 +0000

Welcome to the new frontier

Every year at Microsoft Ignite, we are reminded of the extraordinary community that powers the world’s organizations. Whether you’re an IT professional, developer or business decision-maker, your work drives how people connect, create and achieve. This week marks 40 years of Windows—a legacy of innovation that has shaped work for decades. Now, we’re building on that foundation to reimagine Windows for what’s next. Last year at Ignite, we introduced the “Era of AI.” This year, we’re evolving Windows to empower people to easily, securely and confidently leverage the full power of AI. Whether it’s incorporating AI tools in their workflow or choosing to use AI agents to perform tasks on their behalf, Windows is becoming the canvas for AI—embedding intelligence into the system, silicon and hardware, so organizations can move from experimentation to execution at scale. And, with leading AI innovation from first and third party partners on Windows, Windows remains an open platform, offering customers choice and control. The world’s most ambitious organizations—what we call Frontier Firms—are already embracing AI in their daily workflows. They blend human ingenuity with intelligent systems to deliver real outcomes. Our ambition: make Windows the platform that empowers every organization to lead with confidence, speed and innovation. With security, identity, management and AI built in—not bolted on—Windows and Microsoft 365 provide a trusted, integrated foundation for AI-driven work at enterprise scale. You choose what AI tools to enable for who and when, offering greater flexibility and control to deploy as you and your teams are ready. This is all built on the foundation that your organizations expect from Windows—improved reliability, performance and fundamentals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbpfbL3_C3g Prerelease AI interactions shown; subject to change. Sequences shortened for demonstration purposes. This aligns with our announcements that we’re previewing at Ignite this yearⁱ:

Evolving the Windows platform: With native agent infrastructure, Windows provides secure agent connectors (preview) and a dedicated agent workspace (preview) to help agents operate safely on devices and in the cloud. This integration isn’t just about adding agents; it’s about making them part of the OS experience. By embedding agent capabilities into core Windows services, Copilot and other agents are able to orchestrate tasks across apps, files and system functions while the operating system is built to help ensure user security, consent and control. Windows 365 for Agents (preview) extends this foundation to the cloud, enabling computer-using agents to work on secure, scalable Cloud PCs. When enabled, this lets agent makers focus on innovation, not infrastructure.
Bringing agents into your flow: Windows is now your canvas for AI and agents with Ask Copilot (preview) and Agents on the taskbar (preview). By putting Microsoft 365 Copilot, AI agents and search on the taskbar—in your flow of work—Windows makes AI assistance easier than ever to use. You can invoke any agents your organization makes available to you — first or third party, with a quick prompt and then monitor their progress using familiar UX patterns like hover, badges and notifications, allowing you to move on to other tasks while your agents are working for you.
Cloud-powered flexibility: Windows 365 has expanded to meet the needs of every organization and employee, introducing embedded AI, enhanced Frontline support, Windows 365 Reserve (generally available) and a migration API that simplifies moving from Azure VM to Windows 365 Cloud PCs.
More secure and resilient: Post-Quantum Cryptography (generally available), Zero Trust DNS (generally available), passkey manager integration with Windows Hello (generally available), Windows Cloud IO Protection (preview), Intune management of Windows Recovery (preview coming mid-2026), Point-in-time restore (preview) and more strengthen the security and resiliency of your organizations.

These innovations are already transforming how organizations work and deliver measurable benefits today, not just promises for tomorrow. One example is Levi Strauss & Co, a brand with over 170 years of heritage, leading one of the most ambitious digital transformations with a full stack of Microsoft solutions including: Windows 11, Surface Copilot+ PCs, Copilot Agents, Windows 365 and Windows 365 Link devices, and Microsoft Intune. Read more about their journey. And it’s not just companies; our partners are seeing impact too. Manus AI is leveraging Windows 365 for Agents to power next-generation experiences: “Windows 365 for Agents provides the secure, scalable and always-available compute foundation that Manus AI needs to thrive,” said Xiao Hong, CEO of Manus AI. “By harnessing the power of the Cloud PC, our general AI agent can operate with greater agility, responsiveness and reach—empowering users to access intelligent assistance wherever they work.” https://youtu.be/rv7kq4CFpko

Intelligence and governance at scale

Over our 40 years together, Windows has continually developed to meet people’s needs at work. Now we are evolving into an operating system for people and agents, one designed for intelligence and governance at scale. Traditional computing has been a series of steps, keystrokes and mouse clicks. With agents on Windows, you simply express your desired outcome, and agents handle the complexity. And because every organization approaches AI differently, Windows gives you the choice and control to decide how agents fit into your workflow so when you use them, you can do so with confidence and transparency. To deliver agentic experiences at scale, you need an operating system designed for it, not a patchwork of apps and middleware. Today’s ecosystem is fragmented:

Users need consistent controls and better discoverability.
Enterprises need security and manageability to deploy agents with confidence.
Developers need tools and libraries to build and make their servers easily discoverable to agents without doing bespoke work for each platform.

Solving this isn’t about adding another layer. It requires OS-level integration for security, consent and control. Windows will have native agent infrastructure that will enable you to:

Invoke and manage agents directly from your taskbar.
Manage your digital workforce with built-in governance.
Allow agents to raise questions and provide updates through secure notifications.

And now, we’re introducing new foundational OS capabilities, coming soon in preview, that enable agents with your permission and control to act on your behalf, safely and effectively, and to help you achieve your goals.

Agent connectors, now in preview, are powered by Model Context Protocol (native support for MCP announced at Microsoft Build 2025), and provide a standardized framework for any AI agents, first or third party, to connect to apps and tools to complete tasks for you.
Agent workspace (preview) provides a contained, policy-controlled and auditable environment where agents can interact with software with their own identity much like humans do, performing tasks on your behalf in parallel without disrupting your primary session.
Windows 365 for Agents (preview) extends agentic capabilities to the cloud, so businesses can accelerate AI adoption and scale AI workloads without compromising compliance or productivity.

These innovations are built directly into Windows 11 with the governance and security controls you already know and trust:

Policy-driven control: IT admins can define guardrails for consent, control and auditability across agentic workflows.
Enterprise integration: Centralized management through Intune and Entra helps ensure that AI agents operate within organizational security, compliance and governance standards.
Secure by Design: OS primitives enforce containment and compliance, making agentic interactions more secure than traditional apps.

With this foundation, Windows delivers agentic innovation at scale—secure, auditable and ready for enterprise deployment, and we are already collaborating with numerous agent builders and application developers utilizing the agentic platform on Windows to create advanced AI solutions with MCP. Manus is an AI-powered general productivity agent that helps users with varied tasks such as creating websites, organizing files and generating content through simple prompts and secure integrations. Manus leverages MCP on Windows, enables users to build a website in minutes—directly from content stored on their PC—without uploading files or switching apps. The agent uses the File Explorer connector to fetch content and execute tasks entirely within the Windows security model. Beyond website creation, Manus can organize files, generate content and manage information through simple prompts and explicit user approval. This demonstrates the core value of MCP on Windows: enabling agents to act intelligently while keeping enterprise data protected and workflows more seamless. https://youtu.be/oWtm_dgtbAc Claude by Anthropic is an AI productivity agent on platforms including Windows that helps users handle multi-step tasks efficiently. By connecting to File Explorer—with user consent—Claude can quickly find relevant documents like meeting notes and status updates, then generate summaries or reports in minutes. In a typical use case, Claude gathers all necessary files and produces an executive summary of a project, which can be sent directly through Outlook. This process saves time and maintains user privacy and control, showing how intelligent agents can streamline everyday work. https://youtu.be/oNAEW6N0aRg Learn more here: Ignite 2025: Furthering Windows as the premier platform for developers, governed by security.

Making Copilot a dynamic hub for agents on Windows

The new Ask Copilot on the taskbar (preview) provides a unified entry point that fluidly connects Microsoft 365 Copilot, agents and search. This makes Copilot and agents feel like a natural part of how you use your PC, turning everyday interactions into moments of productivity and impact.

One-click access to Copilot from your taskbar: This opt-in experience is the most integrated and natural way to engage with Copilot through voice or text in the way that works best for you. Commercial users will have all the power of their Work IQ as contextual information that they can reference in their Copilot chats and with Microsoft 365 AI Agents.
Invoke agents: You’ll be able to invoke agents directly from Ask Copilot on the taskbar using the tools button or by typing "@."
Streamlined search experience: Lightning-fast results in a refreshed design makes finding apps, files and settings easier.

Agents on the taskbar make agents more visible and accessible across Windows

As Windows evolves into a canvas for AI, agents are deeply integrated across the OS, extending the same contracts that apps use today to new surfaces and scenarios. With Agents on the taskbar, agents will become as easy to use and common as applications on Windows. You will be able to invoke, monitor and manage Copilot and AI agents like Microsoft 365 Researcher directly from the Windows taskbar. This unified agentic experience makes AI agents more visible, accessible and interactive across Windows. After initiating an agent task, either directly from the Microsoft 365 Copilot app or Ask Copilot on the taskbar, the agent will show as an icon with status badging and a hover card for progress and context. From there, you can easily monitor the progress of agents without disrupting your work, making the taskbar a dynamic hub that helps you accomplish more with less effort—bringing intelligent productivity into the flow of work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C37UQU6L6_o Prerelease AI interactions shown; subject to change. Sequences shortened for demonstration purposes.

Delivering AI that matters with new capabilities for Microsoft 365 Copilot on Windows, Edge for Business and Copilot+ PCs

Voice in Microsoft 365 Copilot helps users quickly capture ideas for brainstorming, drafting responses or preparing meetings. Simply say “Hey Copilot” (available in Frontier in the coming weeks) or press the Copilot key to open the quick view input box to activate voice. This allows you to tap into Copilot without any interruption of switching apps and windows. Start a back-and-forth conversation with Copilot, receiving real-time spoken responses based on both web and work data. Copilot is available right from your taskbar, and now highly contextual help extends to other Windows surfaces like File Explorer—where it can take contextual actions like summarizing files, creating briefs and even drafting emails with Microsoft 365 Copilot. Microsoft Edge for Business is trusted by top customers for most of their browsing minutes. And now, Microsoft is redefining the enterprise browser for the AI era—introducing AI browsing with Copilot Mode (private preview). This new experience transforms workflows, while delivering enterprise-grade security, compliance and controls at every level. AI is integrated directly into core browsing tasks, delivering agentic, proactive and contextual intelligence that supports daily work. With features like Agent mode, a Copilot-inspired New Tab page and additional new AI features—such as multi-tab reasoning—located outside of Copilot Mode, your workforce can move faster, reduce friction and stay focused on what matters most. And because Edge for Business is deeply integrated with the Microsoft Graph, these AI capabilities are uniquely positioned to understand your data and workflows—delivering intelligent assistance exactly where work happens. When you are on a Copilot+ PC, you get even more value, Copilot+ PC customers are more satisfied than on any other Windows deviceⁱⁱ. With better battery life, faster performance and exclusive experiences powered by the 40 TOPS NPU, employees who use Copilot+ PCs are saving on average five hours per weekⁱⁱⁱ. Quickly search across local and cloud files by simply describing what you’re looking for with the improved Windows Search (preview) and Microsoft 365 integration. And Click to Do just got more capable with expanded AI actions, like turning any table on your screen into an Excel table (preview).

What’s new: AI in Windows 11 and Copilot+ PCs:

Writing assistance (preview): Rewrite and compose capabilities for any text box in any app, plus offline support on Copilot+ PCs.
Outlook summary (preview): AI-generated summaries in Outlook.
Word auto alt-text (preview): Automatic alt-text for images in Office documents for accessibility.
Fluid dictation^iv (preview): AI-powered voice feature that turns speech into polished text, correcting grammar, punctuation and filler words in real time.

Work anywhere: Cloud-powered flexibility

Of course, productivity doesn't stop at the device. To meet the demands of flexible work, Windows is extending AI innovations to the cloud, delivering flexibility without compromise. With Windows 365 for Agents, agent makers can create enterprise-ready agents that run on secure, policy-controlled Cloud PCs streamed from the Microsoft Cloud. This means organizations can accelerate AI adoption and scale workloads without compromising compliance or productivity. It powers advanced AI initiatives and partner solutions as the execution platform for agents built in Microsoft Copilot Studio’s Computer Use capability, ensuring seamless actions in a full Windows environment. Researcher with Computer Use in Microsoft 365 Copilot is the first supported Microsoft solution that leverages Cloud PCs running a Linux environment, allowing users to automate website navigation and actions.

Leading builders like Manus AI, Fellou, Genspark, Simular and TinyFish are already piloting Windows 365 for Agents. For example, Manus AI is using non-domain-joined Cloud PCs to deliver intelligent PowerPoint creation and editing, citing Windows 365 for Agents as the secure, scalable foundation enabling agility and reach.

Customers have been asking for more ways to take advantage of the flexibility and security of Cloud PCs. To meet that need, we’re introducing Windows 365 Cloud Apps and User Experience Sync (both generally available) to Windows 365 Frontline. These capabilities let IT admins deliver line of business apps without streaming the full desktop, reducing overhead while maintaining the same security and compliance benefits of Windows 365. With User Experience Sync, application settings and configurations persist for each user across sessions, ensuring a consistent experience and simplifying management—even in frontline scenarios where efficiency and reliability are critical. New Windows 365 AI-enabled Cloud PCs (preview) include some of the unique AI experiences of Copilot+ PCs, like improved Windows search which helps you find your content using descriptive words and Click to Do which provides helpful shortcuts with relevant actions to take on text and images. IT admins can prompt Microsoft Security Copilot in Intune to ask questions about their Windows 365 Cloud PCs, and to support performance and license optimization. This delivers a unified AI experience across end-user and IT workflows: Microsoft 365 Copilot runs on Cloud PCs, Windows 365 for Agents, AI-enabled Cloud PCs and Copilot in Intune for admin capabilities.

Additional announcements for Windows in the cloud:

Regional Host Pools: Remove cross-region dependencies in the connectivity platform, coming soon.
Microsoft Hosted Network (MHN): Enable multi-region Cloud PC distribution to reduce single-region dependencies, coming soon (Windows 365 only).
Multipath (generally available): Delivers seamless failover and boost connection by using multiple simultaneous network paths.
External identities (B2B) support (generally available): Secured B2B logins for contractors and partners, simplifying collaboration without sacrificing compliance.
Windows Cloud I/O protection (public preview): Newest capabilities add advanced input protection against keylogging malware and keystroke injection attacks.

To make it even easier to onboard to Windows 365, a new migration API (generally available) enables customers and partners to build custom tools that simplify and streamline the move from Azure Virtual Desktop and other Azure VMs to Cloud PCs. And as organizations make that transition, we’re also expanding the device portfolio to give users more choice in how they experience Cloud PCs. Windows 365 Link, the first Cloud PC device from Microsoft, is now generally available in 13 countries and expanding to Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Singapore and Spain starting in February 2026. And looking ahead, we’re partnering with major commercial PC OEMs to further scale into a portfolio of Windows 365 Cloud PC devices and will have more details to come in early 2026.

Key updates for Windows 365 Link:

Support for pairing Bluetooth® devices during Cloud PC device out-of-box experience, making setup faster for desk-based or frontline workers (generally available early 2026).
Support for tenant branding: IT can set a custom wallpaper, logo and name on Cloud PC device sign-in screens (generally available early 2026).
Bare metal recovery: IT can restore Cloud PC devices using a bare metal recovery image, providing one more way for devices to be recovered in case IT needs to join them to another tenant (generally available early 2026).
Webex by Cisco (preview coming first half of 2026) and Zoom are actively working to enable high-fidelity meetings on Cloud PC devices.

Security and resilience at every layer

Flexibility and intelligence only matter if they're secured. That's why Windows continues strengthening its foundation with new layers of protection for every organization. Businesses face relentless threats, from cyberattacks to risks like hardware failures and accidental data loss. That’s why Windows 11 is secure by design and by default, with multiple layers of defense enabled from day one. In line with the Windows Resiliency Initiative, we’ve made updates over the past year that make Windows harder to compromise and easier to recover when the unexpected happens. At Ignite, we’re introducing innovations that help protect against future threats, simplify recovery and modernize security tools—all while reducing complexity for IT.

Resilience when it matters most

Even the most secure organizations can face unexpected incidents. Windows is evolving to help stop incidents before they start, simplify management when they occur and enable rapid recovery. Our commitment to prevention is ongoing—every Windows update brings new security and resiliency improvements. We’re also taking big steps to help third party driver code run with less risk. As we have shared, the Windows Endpoint Security Platform (WESP) API (now in private preview) will give partners a safer way to build security tools outside kernel mode, reducing the risk of crashes and improving stability. But our work to help partners move code out of the kernel doesn’t end with security tools. We are working with the whole Windows driver partner ecosystem to move third party drivers out of the kernel, or to use Windows inbox drivers written by Microsoft. We are also hardening how kernel mode drivers run, to reduce reliability risks also for driver types like graphics, which cannot be moved to user mode for performance reasons. It is becoming easier to manage incidents with Windows 365 Reserve, now generally available. It helps enable employees to stay productive even when their primary device isn’t working, using secure, cost-effective, temporary Cloud PCs. If a device is lost, stolen or compromised, IT can quickly provision a Reserve Cloud PC with all the necessary apps and policies, keeping employees productive and businesses running through disruption. Intune and Azure Portal reporting of machines running the Windows Recovery Environment will also make incident management easier. This makes it easy to find impacted machines when an incident is preventing some machines from booting. To quickly recover when incidents occur, we’re reinventing the Windows recovery tools:

Quick Machine Recovery (QMR) was released for general availability earlier this year and is soon getting increased networking capabilities and Autopatch management for enterprise level control of QMR updates.
Intune recovery is remote management of the Windows Recovery Environment—a single, scalable management plane for recovery, enabling customers to execute custom recovery scripts and to trigger recovery actions. Azure Portal will have the same ability for Windows Servers hosted in Azure VMs.
Point-in-time restore: Roll back individual or groups of devices to a previous state, before an issue started occurring, without complex troubleshooting. (Preview coming soon.)
Cloud rebuild for Windows 11 (preview): Rebuild PCs experiencing erratic behavior, reducing downtime. You’ll be able to select the Windows release and language through the Intune portal. The PC will download the install media, rebuild itself and let the user take over with the out-of-box experience where Autopilot will ensure the right MDM management is configured. The user gets apps, PC settings and their files quickly through Intune, Windows Backup for Organizations, and OneDrive.

Staying current with updates is critical for security, compliance and productivity, but it’s also one of the biggest challenges for IT. That’s why we’re also introducing Autopatch update readiness (preview), a new approach to Windows update readiness that gives IT teams greater transparency, predictability and control. With Autopatch update readiness, organizations can proactively assess update readiness across their device fleet, identify potential issues before deployment and plan rollouts with confidence. This means fewer surprises, faster adoption of new features and a more resilient, up-to-date Windows environment for everyone.

Protection built in

Windows 11 is more secure by design and by default, with layers of security enabled by default to enhance your day one protection. We continue to strengthen security layers across the Windows stack to address the complex and evolving threat landscape: Breaking today’s encryption is intentionally hard—but advances in quantum computing and algorithms will eventually make it possible. To prepare, Windows now supports Post-Quantum Cryptographic (PQC) algorithms, designed to withstand quantum attacks. Announced at Build 2025, PQC algorithm support via the Windows Cryptography API is generally available today. Microsoft has worked closely with the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and global standards bodies to shape these algorithms, and we’ll continue expanding PQC support to higher-level protocols and Windows features. Having strong encryption on-device is critical for protecting your fleet’s data. BitLocker provides that today. Next-generation Windows devices will feature hardware-accelerated BitLocker—delivering full disk encryption with stronger hardware-based key protection, and faster BitLocker provisioning for new device onboarding. This capability will be generally available on new Windows devices next year. We’re making advanced forensics easier. Sysmon functionality (generally available in early 2026) will be part of Windows, making security events available via event log, simplifying operations and giving security teams deeper insights to detect and respond to threats quickly. Phishing and password attacks remains a top threat, and at Microsoft, we are also focused on getting to a passwordless world. Sign-in is now faster, smoother and more secure with Windows Hello's visual refresh and new passkey manager integration—including Microsoft Password Manager in Edge, 1Password, Bitwarden and others. Learn more about Windows security and resiliency announcements at: Preparing for what’s next: Windows security and resiliency innovations help mitigate risks, recover faster and prepare for the era of AI.

Empowering developers and IT pros

Security and flexibility set the stage, and developers and IT pros need tools to build and manage what's next. Windows is more than an operating system; it’s a strategic platform for innovation at scale. Developers get a rich ecosystem of frameworks and APIs to create intelligent, agentic applications that integrate seamlessly with cloud services. IT professionals benefit from enterprise-grade security, streamlined management and automation capabilities that reduce complexity and accelerate deployment. Together, these capabilities enable organizations to secure, adapt and future-ready experiences—key to becoming a Frontier Firm.

Advancing endpoint management with AI

We’re bringing AI into Intune to transform endpoint management. New Security Copilot agents in Intune like the Change Review Agent, Policy Configuration Agent and Device Offboarding Agent make complex tasks easier and security stronger by turning requirements into policies, assessing changes before they impact productivity and identifying devices for removal. Intune is raising the bar for IT control with three new capabilities—all designed to keep organizations secure, agile and ready for what’s next. Admin tasks centralize high-priority actions like approval requests and security tasks, deployments enable controlled, phased rollouts across a diverse estate, and maintenance windows let IT schedule updates at the right time to minimize disruption. Learn more about what's new in Intune here.

Building AI workflows locally

The future of AI is hybrid—combining cloud intelligence with on-device innovation. With cutting-edge silicon, a modernized stack and deep OS integration, Windows 11 is becoming the most open and capable platform for local AI. At its core, Microsoft Foundry on Windows unifies model selection, optimization and deployment across CPU, GPU and NPU—powering next-generation AI experiences. Microsoft Foundry on Windows gives developers the tools to build AI experiences on-device whether they choose to use AI APIs powered by the inbox models that ship with Windows or access a rich catalog of pre-optimized open-source models in Foundry Local. We are introducing two new Windows AI APIs today in preview, Stable Diffusion XL (SDXL) for high-quality image generation and video super resolution (VSR) to upscale low-resolution streams. App content search enters public preview as an API for developers to enable fast, intelligent in-app search experiences, making it easy to find relevant content within their Windows apps. At the foundation of Microsoft Foundry on Windows is Windows ML, now generally available. Windows ML provides a unified execution layer that streamlines the deployment of custom or proprietary models across a diverse Windows hardware ecosystem. With unified execution, hardware mapping and power-aware performance—enabled through deep collaboration with AMD, Intel, NVIDIA and Qualcomm—Windows ML ensures your models run efficiently on CPU, GPU or NPU. This means developers can deliver consistent, high-performance AI experiences without rewriting code for different hardware targets. Many leading app developers are already leveraging Microsoft Foundry on Windows to deliver innovative, secure and high-performance AI experiences locally on Windows. Windows ML is driving innovation across industries with partners like Roboflow leading the way. Roboflow, a Microsoft Start Up Pegasus Program participant, provides Visual AI tools used by millions of developers and over half the Fortune 100 for computer vision applications both in the cloud and on-device. With Windows ML, Roboflow deploys the RF-DETR model for advanced detection and segmentation on edge devices, enabling tasks like cargo container tracking and manufacturing quality assurance. Infosys, a global leader in digital services and consulting, has integrated Windows ML with Infosys Agentic Foundry, part of Infosys Topaz™. By leveraging custom models tailored with business data, Infosys is transforming a cloud-based invoice classification agentic AI system. This advanced agentic application is designed to help Infosys business operations teams effortlessly understand the status of invoices from data embedded in emails. Consequently, it can quickly determine the necessary actions to move these invoices through the workflow. This integration aims to significantly enhance and expedite the end-to-end process, while ensuring sensitive data remains secure without being transmitted to the cloud. The momentum among developers and partners adopting Microsoft Foundry on Windows continues to accelerate, with innovative solutions emerging across industries.

Looking ahead: The future of Windows

As we mark 40 years of Windows, this isn’t about looking back; it’s about building the future. The next chapter starts now. The announcements at Ignite 2025 are more than just features—they establish Windows as the canvas for AI and the execution fabric for people and the future of work. Whether you’re equipping frontline workers, knowledge employees or developers, Windows is the platform that brings it all together. From empowering teams with Windows 365, enabling secure hybrid work with Copilot+ PCs, and supporting the next generation of AI-powered apps and agents, Windows delivers a foundation that’s secure, manageable and ready for what’s next.

The time is now: Become a Frontier Firm

This is your moment. The organizations that will define the next decade are those that embrace the frontier, blending human ingenuity with intelligent systems, moving faster and delivering outcomes with confidence. Windows is the canvas for AI: enabling speed, resilience and IT control. Start with assistance in the flow. Delegate work to agents with control and oversight. Stand up the execution fabric with MCP and Windows 365. Your employees will move faster, your operations will become more resilient and you will do it with IT firmly in control, protecting your data and users at scale. Thank you for your trust and partnership. We can’t wait to see what you build next. Editor's note -- Nov. 18, 2025 -- Availability information in the Windows Resiliency Initiative section was updated. Endnotes: ⁱ New capabilities announced in this blog will roll out over time. Timing and availability of some experiences may vary by market. ⁱⁱNew Technology: The Projected Total Economic Impact™ of Microsoft Copilot+ PCs. Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Microsoft, July 2025. Projected benefits for a single composite organization that has US$1 billion annual revenue and 2,000 employees with 80% using Copilot+ PCs within three years. In comparison to a mixed environment of conventional Windows 11 and Windows 10 PCs. ⁱⁱⁱ New Technology: The Projected Total Economic Impact™ of Microsoft Copilot+ PCs. Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Microsoft, July 2025. Projected benefits for a single composite organization that has US$1 billion annual revenue and 2,000 employees with 80% using Copilot+ PCs within three years. In comparison to a mixed environment of conventional Windows 11 and Windows 10 PCs. ^iv Available only on Copilot+ PCs.