Microsoft Ignite is the annual partner conference that the Redmond-based software company hosts. The mid-November 2025 conference exceeded 20,000 attendees, while estimates are that more than 10 times that many registered for online sessions (including yours truly). This event focused on demonstrating how Microsoft is implementing AI and its cloud platforms now.
The central theme with respect to Windows was Microsoft’s push towards an “Agentic OS,” in which it would gradually integrate AI agents into the taskbar and OS for proactive assistance.
Let me take a step back from all that geeky jargon and explain some things. First and foremost, OS stands for operating system – and that is all Windows is: an OS. Other operating systems include Linux and Google Chrome (on specifically built devices). AI stands for artificial intelligence. In this instance, it is the code Microsoft links to for specific questions and answers (basically the rules by which things should happen), based on their LLM (large language model) and a ton of code. Agentic is a trickier word. Most often, it refers to systems that can plan multi-step actions and adapt to changing circumstances independently. The simplest way to explain this is to remember the ESP-like qualities of Radar O’Reilly in the old MAS*H TV episodes, where he would automatically know – and state out loud – what his commander wanted done before it was even uttered.
Let’s put these various fragments together so they make some sense. Having an “agentic OS” means that Windows would know what you want to do and either help you or do it for you. I’ve worked with technology for a very long time, and I’m a child of the 1950s. Let’s go back 30 years (using the WABAC Machine – a Rocky and Bullwinkle reference) to recall that Microsoft gave us Office 97 and Clippy, a verbose (frequently maligned) assistant to help us work with Word and Excel. No one liked it!
Well, now, Microsoft plans to have a Copilot for Windows that will help you navigate settings and Windows updates and attempt to solve problems (some of which you might not even realize you have) to “fix” or “optimize” your computer.
Look, this is all really terrific, and quite frankly amazing, stuff. But most of what Microsoft is building is geared toward business users in large enterprises. When it comes to small- to medium-sized businesses and consumers, they’re implementing this stuff, and it is going to confuse the heck out of the “end users.” After an initial outcry, Microsoft agreed that it would not automatically turn on this AI support tool and would let it be up to the computer’s owner to say, “Yes, I want to let Microsoft know even more about how I use my computer, what files I have on it, who I communicate with over email, and what websites I visit.”
Ah, yes, the privacy issues. If you have an active AI agent running 24/7 on your computer as you do whatever it is you do, looking at all those activities, you’d have to be incredibly naïve to believe that you still retain your privacy. Microsoft will tell you they won’t use the data they are scooping up by the petabytes, but that’s not at all reassuring. I’m still waiting to see all the settings I must turn OFF to ensure client safety in future Windows releases.
Thanks, and safe computing!