Thought Leadership
“Mac vs. PC” was once a big rivalry in the tech industry. Then Apple switched to chips developed in-house – and overtook Windows PCs. Microsoft is now planning a comeback with AI. What does the new vision look like?
Microsoft relies on artificial intelligence to bring Windows PCs into the future. The core of the plan: The in-house AI assistant Copilot, developed with the technology behind ChatGPT, is to play the leading role. The PC architecture is subordinate to this goal. For example, a new additional chip will only take care of AI applications. This makes the computer faster and extends the battery life.
Microsoft calls the new architecture, which is intended to provide the most powerful Windows computers to date, “Copilot + PC”. And the order is no coincidence, emphasizes Head of Marketing Yusuf Mehdi. The computer is subordinate to AI – and only one of the platforms for it.
Find everything again with the “Recall” search function
A prime example of Microsoft’s vision for the PC of the future is the “Recall” search function, which allows you to find everything you have seen or done on your computer. Basically, the computer saves a screen recording every few seconds and analyzes the content using AI models. This should help if, for example, you can’t remember the name of a travel website you visited – but remember that it had a picture of palm trees and the sea. Then it should be enough to type “palm trees and sea” into the search mask to find the website again via the screenshot.
Microsoft argues that this is more in line with how human memory works. The goal in the computer industry has always been “to build computers that understand us, rather than us having to understand computers”, said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the presentation at the company’s headquarters on Monday. He feels that this vision is getting closer to a “real breakthrough”.
How helpful “Recall” will be in everyday life remains to be seen for each individual. Microsoft developers, some of whom have been living with the function for several months, praise it as life-changing. Mehdi, for example, says that he always left too many browser tabs open because he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to find the pages again. He is now breaking this habit.
At the same time, “Recall” has its limits. On AI PCs with the minimum memory of 256 gigabytes, the memory of the function will only go back about three months. After all, the many screen recordings take up a lot of space – and to increase user confidence, “Recall” will initially only work on the computer, without the cloud. This means that more than 18 months is not possible, even with a larger memory. At the same time, Mehdi assures that the range of functions will be expanded over time.
A small revolution is taking place under the hood of the first new AI PCs: They do not run on Intel processors, but on technology from chip developer Arm, which is also found in practically all smartphones. In recent years, Apple has already switched the entire model range of its Macs from Intel processors to chips developed in-house based on the Arm architecture. As a result, they outperformed Windows PCs in terms of speed and battery life.
Comparison with Apple
In Microsoft’s presentation, Apple’s consumer model MacBook Air suddenly came across as the benchmark to beat. 58 percent faster than the MacBook Air with Apple’s M3 chip! 20 percent longer battery life than a MacBook Air with 15-inch display! At the same time: Apple recently introduced the more powerful M4 chip, but has so far only installed it in the new Pro model of its iPad tablets.
Unlike Apple, Microsoft does not develop the chips itself, but relies on the work of the chip company Qualcomm. Its CEO Cristiano Amon has long said that arm technology is the future not only for smartphones, but also for the PC market. However, Microsoft is also keeping a place open for its long-standing partner Intel. When the next generation of chips with Intel’s architecture is ready, AI PCs will also be available with it. For Microsoft, it is an additional effort to support both chip worlds, but diversity is good, says Mehdi.
Microsoft has been trying to bring Windows to Arm chips for years. But the devices always delivered worse performance than Intel PCs. Now there are not only better processors, but also, thanks to Apple, more programs specially adapted to the Arm architecture and a Windows rewritten for it.
The major PC manufacturers are jumping on board the new platform, and Microsoft also presented new models of its Surface tablets and notebooks on Monday. A fundamental problem for Microsoft’s AI functions such as the “Recall” search is that the company only has extensive access to data on the PC. The smartphone platforms, for example, are controlled by Google and Apple. Mehdi points out that the Copilot app is also available there – albeit with fewer functions than on the PC.
Andrei Sokolov, dpa
