Microsoft has officially ended support for Windows 10, marking the end of a decade-long era for one of the world’s most widely used operating systems.

The move, which took effect on Tuesday, underscores the company’s renewed push into artificial intelligence as it seeks to drive adoption of Windows 11 through a new wave of AI-powered features.

The transition comes as Microsoft begins testing advanced AI functionalities that integrate its Copilot assistant more deeply into Windows 11. These features, currently available to participants in both the Windows Insider Program and the Copilot Labs testing group, reflect the company’s vision of turning personal computers into intelligent, interactive partners rather than passive tools.

Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s consumer marketing chief, explained during a press briefing that the updated Copilot assistant will be able to perform complex tasks involving both desktop and web applications. Users could, for example, instruct Copilot to resize photos stored locally on their PCs or to compile all available Brian Eno songs into a Spotify playlist and start playing them automatically. Such capabilities represent the kind of seamless AI integration Microsoft hopes will define the Windows experience in the years ahead.

The company’s latest AI push builds on a broader trend in the technology industry. Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI have all developed similar AI models known as “computer-use agents,” designed to carry out multi-step operations that involve typing, clicking, and interacting across different software environments. Microsoft’s own variant of this technology, called Copilot Actions, is being introduced first to enterprise users through its corporate platforms and to consumers with premium subscriptions. The company now plans to extend this innovation directly to Windows 11.

According to Microsoft, Copilot Actions will be turned off by default when it launches. However, users who enable it will find that the tool operates in a secure, self-contained environment with its own virtual desktop. Users can observe Copilot performing tasks in real time, step by step, and can take manual control at any point. Alternatively, they may continue working on other activities while the AI handles assigned tasks in the background.

“You may see the agent make mistakes or encounter challenges with complex interfaces, which is why real-world testing of this experience is so critical,” Mehdi wrote in a company blog post. “We need to apply learnings from these tests to make the experience more capable and streamlined.”

The rollout strategy reflects Microsoft’s cautious approach as it integrates AI deeper into its flagship operating system. The company aims to ensure that privacy, reliability, and usability are not compromised in the process. During the preview phase, Copilot Actions will only function in common folders such as desktop, documents, downloads, or pictures. Users will have to give explicit permission before the assistant can access other areas of their computers.

As part of the upcoming update, Microsoft will also introduce a feature in Windows 11’s File Explorer built in partnership with Manus, a Singaporean startup specializing in AI-assisted content creation. Through this integration, users will be able to right-click a file and select a new option — “Create website with Manus” — allowing Copilot to automatically generate a website using the chosen file’s content.

Additionally, Windows Insiders will gain enhanced control over Copilot Vision, which allows the assistant to analyze what’s displayed on the screen. Previously, this feature could only be activated through voice commands, but users will now be able to engage with it directly through text chat.

Microsoft is also redesigning the Copilot interface to make it more accessible. A new shortcut will appear immediately to the right of the Start button, providing users with a one-click option to launch the assistant. The updated widget will include quick-access buttons for activating Copilot Vision or initiating spoken AI conversations. Users can also summon the assistant hands-free by saying, “Hey Copilot.”

The company’s renewed focus on AI reflects both competitive and commercial pressures. In recent years, Microsoft’s Windows and devices division has struggled to generate strong growth. In the second quarter of 2025, the segment brought in $4.3 billion in revenue, up just 2.5 percent from the previous year. Integrating AI deeply into the operating system could give the company a stronger edge against rivals like Apple, whose Mac computers continue to draw creative professionals, and Google’s Chrome OS, which dominates in the education market.

Windows 11, first introduced in 2021, shifted the familiar Start button and taskbar icons from the left corner to the center of the screen — a design meant to symbolize a new beginning for the operating system. According to data from web analytics firm Statcounter, Windows 11 became more widely used than Windows 10 for the first time in July 2025. By September, Microsoft commanded 72 percent of the global operating system market share.

Yet despite its reach, Microsoft’s challenge is no longer about expanding Windows adoption but about transforming what users can do with it. The company’s heavy investment in AI, both through its OpenAI partnership and its in-house engineering, is intended to make the PC relevant again in an era increasingly dominated by mobile computing and cloud platforms.

In 1907, U.S. Steel sat on the mountaintop as America’s most capitalized company. Fifty years later, IBM took the crown, when its mainframe computers defined an age where bits began to rival bricks. In the 1980s, Jack Welch’s General Electric ruled, turning conglomerate efficiency into an art form. And today, the race of titans continues with Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia exchanging relay batons in the global market. Yet, one lesson remains timeless: moments come, and moments go.

Steel built bridges and railways, and those who forged it ruled. Then transistors came from Bell Labs as Shockley’s genius heralded the dawn of automation. When Bill Gates and his Microsoft team democratized computing, they didn’t merely create products; they redefined how business operates. Windows was not just software; it was a gateway to a new business model. And that has always been the difference between a product and a revolution: a product sells; a model transforms.

Jack Welch perfected the conglomerate as a performance machine, optimizing for efficiency, process, and scale. But we have moved into a different era, what I have called the Accelerated Society, an age when computational systems compound value and intelligence faster than human planning cycles. Artificial Intelligence sits at the center of this transformation. Yet, as I have often written, no one eats AI. The value is not in AI itself, but in what AI enables you to do, just as transistors birthed the electronics age and microprocessors powered the digital economy.

Africa’s opportunity is not in chasing the next chatbot or AI language model. It is in rethinking business models using AI as leverage. In the 1990s, Nigeria’s new generation banks did not merely install computers; they rewired the banking model. The Integrated Banking System they deployed made geography irrelevant; you could open an account in Lagos and withdraw in Kano. That was not technology; that was a new model of value creation. Nigeria’s finest banking innovator, Chairman Paschal Dozie (RIP) of Diamond Bank, transformed a nation with DIBS (diamond integrated banking system) and others copied!

Good People, as AI arrives and scales, the call is the same: do not just deploy technology, TRANSFORM with it. Let AI become the transistor of your enterprise, not the toy on your dashboard. Business models, not machines, will define Africa’s next wealth creation frontier. And those business models are Africa’s Greatest AI Opportunity!