Create Images From Sketches and 9 Other Cool Things You Can Do Only With a Copilot+ PC
The AI-capable neural processing units (NPUs) inside the chassis of Copilot+ PCs (mostly laptops at present) let you do things that other PCs simply can’t—or at least not without some cloud-based processing. The Windows 11 Copilot+ features I highlight here take advantage of this local processing capability for automated actions, image creation and enhancement, live automatic captions, and natural language search, among other things.
Don’t confuse the terms Copilot and Copilot+. Copilot (with no plus sign) is a generative AI tool you can use via desktop and mobile (Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows) apps, Office apps, and a web browser (including in Edge’s sidebar). Copilot+, meanwhile, is a branding designation for the aforementioned class of Windows PCs with NPUs and exclusive local AI features.
I’ve been using an Arm-based Surface Laptop as of late, a Copilot+ PC with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite CPU. And unlike my previous go-rounds with Windows on Arm, I haven’t encountered any snafus or disappointments. In fact, my experience has been quite positive; I’ve come to appreciate all of the local (and unique) AI features it enables throughout my time with it, which I detail below. You might not feel that every capability justifies the existence of this new class of PCs, but you should find at least something useful that would have otherwise required a connection to Microsoft’s cloud servers.
1. Click to Do: Automate Contextual Tasks
Click to Do on a Copilot+ PC (Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
Click to Do is the coolest Copilot+ exclusive feature I’ve tried thus far. Simply tapping the Windows Key and clicking or hitting Windows Key-Q cause the screen to wobble and a list of selectable items to appear. The AI tool then proposes actions for said items via a right-click context menu. It even works on text that’s part of an image. You can also use the feature via the Snipping Tool or by right-swiping on a touch-screen PC. For example, with Click to Do, you can select the text in an image, such as the one shown above, and do a search on it or open it in Excel, Notepad, or Word.
2. Windows Recall: Return to What You Were Doing
Recall on a Copilot+ PC (Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
Windows Recall generated some backlash at launch due to privacy concerns, but Microsoft has addressed these issues. For instance, Recall doesn’t work with sensitive apps or sites or those you otherwise exclude, keeps everything it does encrypted on your local device, is fully opt-in, and requires authentication to access it. What’s more, I have found it impressively helpful. It takes periodic snapshots of your activities, which you can then search or view in a timeline to get back to. I think this feature is particularly helpful for business users who engage in many activities and research projects on their PCs. I’ve often wished I had such a feature on other computers, so I could quickly get back to the documents and sites I was working on a few days ago.
3. Cocreator: Get Polished Images, Starting From Sketches
Cocreator on a Copilot+ PC (Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
Copilot+ PCs can either generate an image from scratch based on your text prompt or refine something you draw. This Cocreator feature, which turns your scribbling into art, lives within the updated Paint app on Copilot+ PCs. You can simply draw a rough sketch and enter some text that describes how you want the final image to look. Then, the AI generates a presentable illustration. You can then continue drawing to refine the image or add elements. Apple offers a nearly identical experience with its Image Playground.
A fun aspect of Cocreator is the Creativity slider. This controls how close to your original drawing the result will be. I found that a setting of about 50 was a good compromise between my awful drawing and a more recognizable, polished result. If you go above 65, you might as well just use a text prompt since the result becomes vastly different from your original drawing.
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
You can also start with a photo and ask Cocreator to give it a style or add elements. It converts any text in your image to gibberish. Cocreator works only on pictures with a maximum dimension of 2,000 pixels per side.
For this tool and the next two, you must sit through a Preparing the AI Model step upon first use. This takes just a couple of minutes. You also have to sign in to your Microsoft account.
4. Restyle: Add Image Effects on Command
Restyle Photos on a Copilot+ PC (Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
Also in the Photos app, Restyle applies AI effects to your existing photos. One of two AI-designated buttons atop the Edit window (along with Super Resolution), Restyle lets you enter text in a box to describe a new style for your picture. Suggestions include Anime, Cyberpunk, Fantasy, and Renaissance, but you can type any descriptor you want.
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Like the Cocreator tool above, you get a slider to control how creative you want the result to be. The lower you set it, the closer your image stays to the original. At settings higher than about 35, images begin to no longer resemble the original. Several of the results I got in testing were just pixelated composites without much in the way of style. I like that you can limit applying Restyle to the background or foreground only. Thus, you can leave subjects alone while putting them in a fanciful setting.
5. Super Resolution: Scale and Sharpen Your Pics
Super Resolution on a Copilot+ PC (Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
This resembles tools you find in Lightroom, Topaz Photo AI, and other pro photo software. You can resize an image between 2x and 8x, improving detail and removing artifacts in the process. I got the best results using a modest 2x or 3x setting. The tool isn’t perfect, and your image won’t appear as if it were originally tack-sharp, but the jagged edges do get better. A split-screen view lets you compare the before and after views, which I appreciate.
6. Live Captions: Translate Audio on the Fly
Live Captions on a Copilot+ PC (Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
One writer for XDA has gone so far as to call the Live Captions feature “the objectively best AI tool on Copilot+ PCs.” While that seems to me an overstatement, it is pretty cool. The feature automatically creates captions in English from 40 other languages, and it works with any audio playing on your Copilot+ PC. You just need to download a language file before you can use it.
You can move the narrow caption window from the top of the screen to the bottom or set it to appear as an overlay in the middle. The feature can only translate into English or Chinese, but can display captions in 11 widely spoken languages with some regional choices (e.g., Portuguese for Brazil and Portugal). Additional options include a profanity filter and a toggle for microphone input in the captions. The latter is useful for video calls that include people with hearing loss.
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I tested this tool while watching a foreign-language movie on YouTube without English captions. Its translations from Spanish were helpful, if not 100% perfect.
7. Studio Effects: Spiff Up Your On-Camera Image
Studio Effects on a Copilot+ PC (Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
These effects work in any app that uses your PC’s webcam. A Studio Effects button in the taskbar’s Quick Settings panel gives you access to them. The available effects include Automatic Framing, background effects (Portrait and Standard Blur), Eye Contact (with Standard and Teleprompter options), Creative Filters (such as Animated, Illustrated, and Watercolor), and Portrait Light. The coolest of these is the automatic framing; you can see the webcam view zoom in on your head and shoulders to fill the frame. The Eye Contact feature didn’t work well in testing, and background blur is all but standard in videoconferencing services, but the Creative Filters make skin look smooth.
8. Semantic Search: Find Things Easier
Semantic Search on a Copilot+ PC (Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
In three places—File Explorer, Settings, and Windows Search—you can now use natural language to find items. With this semantic search feature, you no longer need to type a filename exactly to find what you’re looking for. For example, if you have a file named browser_benchmarks.xls, you can get to it by typing something like “web testing spreadsheet.”
9. The Copilot Key: Hit It and Talk to the AI
Microsoft Copilot app (Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
Copilot+ PCs have a built-in Copilot key with the AI’s snazzy logo. (You can still get the deprecated Menu key’s functionality by simultaneously pressing the Function key.) The Copilot key simply opens the regular Copilot app, which can answer questions, compose text, or create images. It’s truly conversational, with a realistic choice of four voice personalities. (It lets you interrupt, and it won’t trip up if you have to correct yourself.)
You also get an AI-generated custom daily podcast, Copilot Daily, which covers news and other topics. I found it rather compelling. The Copilot app in Windows can’t handle changes to your PC settings any longer, such as switching between light and dark mode, but those functions were always a bit clunky, anyway.
10. NPU Optimization: Run Apps With Faster AI Features
When we tested the compatibility of more than 30 Windows applications—ones that didn’t run natively on Arm-based PCs—on a Snapdragon-based Copilot+ PC, the overwhelming majority of them ran speedily and without issues. But some apps, particularly those with AI features, can take advantage of the NPUs in Copilot PCs to speed up functions. For example, if you run the terrific DaVinci Resolve video editing software, you can take advantage of a Copilot+ PC’s native processing for AI color corrections. Skylum Luminar also uses local AI processing for photo editing. With the move to AI in all software, these benefits will only multiply over time.
About Michael Muchmore
Principal Writer, Software
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