First, Microsoft announced that the Copilot button should no longer lead companies to the AI assistant, but to Microsoft 365. Now the next step follows. In January 2025, the Microsoft 365 app will be renamed Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Report on the change Neowin and Dr. WindowsMicrosoft presented the information in a message in the admin center. It's not just the name of the app that's new. For corporate customers, the AI assistant will be called Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat and will be available at M365Copilot.com.
How Neowin Remember, the Microsoft 365 Copilot already exists today. This is the version of the AI assistant that is directly integrated into Office apps such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
In addition to the name change, the user interface will also be adjusted. Tools such as user profile, settings and feedback are no longer available at the top of the header, but are instead moved to the toolbar at the bottom. The search field will now be displayed on the home page and all apps in the left icon list will now be arranged at the top. Microsoft presents AI functions such as Copilot Chat and Copilot Pages together so that the connection between the tools is visible.
Microsoft will roll out the changes in mid-January. What is becoming apparent: The company is still busy integrating the AI assistant adequately. The latest strategy is now to closely connect to the Microsoft 365 environment.
It has already become apparent in the last few weeks that Microsoft is working on the Copilot system. The first step was to use the copilot button. The fact that Microsoft announced these for Copilot+ PCs in January 2024 was notable. It was the first significant change to the standard Windows keyboard layout in around 30 years. Driven by the hype, Microsoft was overwhelmed with announcements and innovations. The catch: The way Microsoft had imagined it didn't work in practice.
The way the Copilot is integrated into Windows was initially adjusted several times. An interplay that affects both private users and business customers is reported Windows Latest. First of all, the Copilot should be accessible as a sidebar under Windows. This was a direct integration within the operating system where the Copilot button would have made sense. But Microsoft soon said goodbye to this solution. First, the AI assistant was developed into an app, then into a Progressive Web App (PWA), and now the path is back to a native app, at least for private users. A corresponding version is currently being distributed via the Windows Insider program.
Private users must log in to the Copilot app with a Microsoft account. But this is no longer possible for business customers, the company announced at the beginning of December. Anyone who uses a Microsoft Entra account cannot log in to the Copilot app, but will be redirected to the Copilot web app, which is available at is available. You can log in there with a Microsoft Entra account and the data protection guidelines relevant to companies apply.
The company therefore recommends that corporations reassign the copilot button in the respective organization. This will open the Copilot function in Microsoft 365 in the future – it was also the first step in the strategy that leads to name changes and adjustments to the Microsoft 365 app. For new Copilot+ PCs, the newly assigned Copilot button should be the standard configuration anyway.
Private users can also change the occupancy
For users on private PCs, it is also possible to configure the Copilot button differently. In the settings there is a selection menu in the Personalization area under the Text input tab. Microsoft 365 is already being suggested there as an alternative to Copilot.
