As Windows Turns 40, It’s ‘Evolving’ Into a Bloated AI Slop Machine

Microsoft’s bread-and-butter operating system, Windows, is turning the ripe age of 40 on Nov. 20. Like many folk who are busy having a midlife crisis, Windows is adopting a cringe-worthy veneer—specifically AI—in a desperate move to hide the fact the body is slowly degrading underneath.

Last Friday, Microsoft’s President of Windows and Devices, Pavan Davuluri, wrote on X that “Windows is evolving into an agentic OS.†The word “agentic†relates to products that use multiple AI models in concert to complete more complex tasks. The post resulted in a wave of angry tirades against the OS’s latest moves toward AI. Last month, Windows added several new features to the Copilot app that let users talk to their PCs. When you enable an option inside Windows 11 settings, the AI should be able to recognize what’s on your screen and make suggestions based on your queries. For example, if you ask Copilot what settings you need to enable hi-fi audio in Spotify, the AI should be able to highlight that setting for you to click.

The rollout of Microsoft’s “experimental†Copilot features has gone about as well as one could expect. The AI may be able to answer some basic questions correctly, but it’s just as confident a liar as any other chatbot around. In one of Microsoft’s own Windows advertisements, Copilot tells a user to resize text by going through the “Scale†option in settings. The problem is this will also affect the other UI elements and balloon the entire look of your screen. Readers added a Community Note to that post on X saying the better option is to go through Settings, Accessibility, and then change Text Size.

Tech made simple. Copilot on Windows 11 helps you resize text like a pro. 🔠 @uravgconsumer pic.twitter.com/4vMXIiBNv7

— Windows (@Windows) November 12, 2025

The video is full of other small cringe moments, including one where Copilot tells the user to change the scale to 150%, even though that was already the laptop’s default setting. These are similar issues to what I personally experienced on Windows’ Gaming Copilot. Microsoft’s chatbot is too often inaccurate or just plain wrong. It fails to tell you the accurate controls for games you’re actively playing and will often offer players poor advice for how to complete your in-game objectives.

Davuluri has tried to offer some response to the widely negative outlook on these changes to Windows 11. Tech author and blogger Gergely Orosz complained that software developers have little reason to be happy about these software changes. The Windows president responded with “we care deeply about developers,†adding that the team is still taking feedback about Copilot’s reliability, performance, and ease of use (or lack thereof).

“We know we have work to do on the experience, both on the everyday usability, from inconsistent dialogs to power user experiences,†Davuluri wrote on Friday. “When we meet as a team, we discuss these pain points and others in detail, because we want developers to choose Windows.â€

Hey Gergely, I am responding here, and I think this applies to a bunch of the comments that people have made. I mean, a lot of comments 🙂.

The team (and I) take in a ton of feedback. We balance what we see in our product feedback systems with what we hear directly. They don’t…

— Pavan Davuluri (@pavandavuluri) November 15, 2025

Microsoft is a day away from its annual Ignite conference, where it will likely show off even more AI capabilities within Windows. Many longtime Windows users are equal parts confused and miffed over Windows’ descent into an “agentic†lifestyle. In the meantime, Windows just feels more bloated than ever. As somebody who regularly loads new Windows PCs for review, simply going through the steps to install Windows 11 is a chore. You’re constantly bombarded with requests to sign into a Microsoft account. PCs desperately hope you’ll enable 365 or the auto-screenshotting Recall feature. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney didn’t mince words when he begged Microsoft to stop forcing him to sign in with a Windows account.

Hey Copilot, make my taskbar vertical and don’t ask me to create a Windows account ever again!

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) November 15, 2025

If Copilot could change the settings on behalf of users, that would go a long way to making the OS more user-friendly. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote on Friday that he wants to see companies create their own AI trained on their own data. In its current state, when the AI doesn’t even recognize the basics of using the operating system it’s built for, it can’t ever be users’ first choice. Microsoft keeps pushing Windows as a Mac-like ecosystem, but Windows users simply want an OS that works without constant advertisements for Microsoft’s other services. While current Copilot features remain optional, it’s only a matter of time before Microsoft forces users to confront the AI chatbot, one way or another. When that happens, more longtime Windows users could start looking for greener pastures. Maybe this is Linux’s time to shine.