this post was submitted on 07 May 2025

607 points (98.7% liked)

Technology

69972 readers

3820 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

Follow the lemmy.world rules.
Only tech related news or articles.
Be excellent to each other!
Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
Politics threads may be removed.
No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

607

Windows Is Adding AI Agents That Can Change Your Settings (www.cnet.com)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

258 comments fedilink hide all child comments

"We set out to solve one of the most common frustrations we hear — finding and changing settings on your PC — using the power of AI agents," Navjot Virk, corporate vice president of Windows Experiences at Microsoft, said in a blog post on Tuesday. "An agent uses on-device AI to understand your intent and with your permission, automate and execute tasks."

(page 3) 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] [email protected] 17 points 6 days ago (2 children)

They really are trying to drive away their user base huh

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 days ago

Oh no you don't

[deletes wuaueng.dll because windows update has turned itself back on like 5 times]

[–] [email protected] 56 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Maybe if you didn't split settings into that half-baked settings app, then leave control panel in place with the remaining settings, but make control panel increasingly difficult to get to, we wouldn't need a stupid AI agent to help us change settings.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 days ago (6 children)

Yes! I really feel all this copilot bullshit is to hide the fact they released windows 11 broken as fuck and here 2.5 years later it's still a pile of shit. It's just fucked. I have to use it daily for work and clients and it's done nothing but prepare me to install W10 LTSC this summer or move to Linux. Problem with Linux is a have an Nvidia GPU and don't like having to fuck with that, otherwise Zorin it will be. Windows 11 pushes me everyday to hate it more and more. Seriously. Daily fucking updates for broken shit and shoving AI down our throats. Fuck windows.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I'm dualbooting CachyOS with windows, no issues with my rtx 4070 super.

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago

I'm in a similar situation, though I've already got a dual boot set up so it's just a matter of only using Windows when I just absolutely have to.

Earlier today, I tried to zip a directory on Windows 11 with the context menu, and it wouldn't do it! It's a feature that's been in Windows forever and is even in Ubuntu, but somehow over at Microsoft they've managed to break it. Incredible.

load more comments (4 replies)

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Is Microsoft trying to kill itself?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Yes

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 days ago

Hopefully

[–] [email protected] 99 points 6 days ago (4 children)

Perhaps you could just make them easier to find by putting them in one location... You could call it a "control panel".

[+] [email protected] -14 points 6 days ago (4 children)

Misses the point.

Firstly they still have the control panel.

Secondly they are slowly transitioning everything relevant from the control panel to the settings app.

Thirdly even having everything in the control panel didn’t make it easy to find exactly what you wanted.

This makes it so you can just say “set my power profile to balanced” and it would do so. That’s a nice, welcome addition.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Bullshit to all those points. If you couldnt find it in the control panel before, you sure as shit cant find it now.

Also, they've been "slowly" transitioning for over two years, wtf? We waiting for the next OS at this point?

I do NOT need voice activation, I know how to use a keyboard and mouse, the core components of input for a computer.

You want to use your voice, talk to your mom cause I'm done with her.

j/k on the mom part

[–] [email protected] -2 points 6 days ago (4 children)

If you couldnt find it in the control panel before, you sure as shit cant find it now.

Oh you've tried this new AI Agent that can change the settings for you, have you?

Bullshit to all those points.

Which points are "bullshit"? That they're slowly moving everything out of the control panel to the settings app? This is literally what they've been telling us they're doing, and what we've seen them do.

That they still have the control panel? Nope, not bullshit, it's still there.

That being able to ask Copilot to change a setting would be helpful? How is that bullshit?

I do NOT need voice activation

Good thing it's not MANDATORY then. You can keep using your mouse and keyboard. Also you don't have to use your VOICE for copilot - it's much easier to use the mouse and keyboard. That's how most people use it.

Also, they’ve been “slowly” transitioning for over two years, wtf? We waiting for the next OS at this point?

This stuff takes time unfortunately. If they change everything at once they get even more anger and pushback. This way it's just a slow and easy move away from the control panel - 1 thing here, 2 things there, and before you know it hey look! Everything is in the settings app now!

Oh good mum joke big fella! So clever and badarse.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Cant argue with a Linux user, just leave

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I'm a windows user, but I can call shit when I see shit.

load more comments (1 replies)

load more comments (3 replies)

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

I know what the point is. It sucks.

Firstly they still have the control panel.

For now

Secondly they are slowly transitioning everything relevant from the control panel to the settings app.

The settings app is half-baked dog shit.

Thirdly even having everything in the control panel didn’t make it easy to find exactly what you wanted.

It was certainly easier than the current state of things.

This makes it so you can just say “set my power profile to balanced” and it would do so. That’s a nice, welcome addition.

Sure assuming the AI understands your request and the setting you want hasn't been removed because they wanted to put everything in the settings app and the one you wanted conflicts with their data gathering and add presentation and it's not running in the background bogging down your system all the time or trying to interject itself into whatever you're trying to do without involving it.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

For now

Yes, for now. I even said as much, because Microsoft have made their plans on getting rid of it very clear and open. It's slowly being replaced by moving everything to the settings app.

The settings app is half-baked dog shit.

You could say that it's slowly getting all the features added to it, couldn't you? What is "half baked dog shit" about it?

It was certainly easier than the current state of things.

What was easier to find in the control panel than it is in settings?

Sure assuming the AI understands your request and the setting you want hasn’t been removed because they wanted to put everything in the settings app

You think that the AI would not have access and knowledge of the settings app? They made no mention of the AI Agents only being able to make changes in the control panel.

and it’s not running in the background bogging down your system all the time

You've never actually used windows 11, have you?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago (4 children)

What is “half baked dog shit” about it?

The fact that they're moving things over slowly instead of just fucking finishing it before they deploy it all at once. They've been doing this since Windows 10 came out, they have a trillion dollars. There's no excuse to have it be half assed for so long especially considering "Settings" isn't even an improvement.

What was easier to find in the control panel than it is in settings?

Literally everything? You don't have to click through 14 different menus to drill down to what you're looking for. It's all on one window in Control Panel. Just look at Devices and Printers in Control Panel vs. Devices in settings or Programs and Features vs. Apps and features the newer versions have far less information available at a glance.

You’ve never actually used windows 11, have you?

I use it every day on my work PC. It runs like ass.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

The fact that they’re moving things over slowly instead of just fucking finishing it before they deploy it all at once.

I've already been over this, as have MS many times.

There’s no excuse to have it be half assed for so long especially considering “Settings” isn’t even an improvement.

Making any change to legacy systems in Windows is a massive risk and requires a lot of work. Win32 for example isn't good and should have been removed a loooooong time ago, but here we are still with it.

Literally everything? You don’t have to click through 14 different menus to drill down to what you’re looking for.

Got any examples of this? Settings are generally at most 3 levels deep from the main settings screen.

Just look at Devices and Printers in Control Panel vs. Devices in settings

What am I looking at? The "Bluetooth & Devices" settings page is good. What's wrong with it?

It runs like ass.

It's not even debatable though - it's the most performant windows ever lol. It doesn't "run like ass" unless you're using "ass" hardware and/or software, at which point any prior windows would be running even worse.

load more comments (3 replies)

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 days ago (1 children)

They even killed wmic. It was like control panel but in the command prompt.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 days ago

That functionality is built in to powershell now, that’s why they retired that.

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] [email protected] 18 points 6 days ago (3 children)

How to make game go on Lunix

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago

Steam has some good options. And, if you can play it on the Steamdeck, it will probably work on a Linux desktop.

But, if you have specific gaming needs, please check those first. Some games just don't work, and I wouldn't want your to trade OSes (which all have their own frustrations) and then find yourself unable to game.

Preferably find someone local that already uses Linux and is willing to help you out some. LUGs (Linux User Groups) used to be a thing; maybe there's one near you. A lot of Linux users like gaming these days, though plenty of them still dual-boot.