Microsoft 365 business customers are running out of places to hide from Copilot

Just when you thought Microsoft had run out of Windows apps to stuff with Copilot, it's cramming the AI into your taskbar companions - People, Files, and Calendar are next. The Microsoft 365 companion apps - lightweight, always-on taskbar tools for browsing your People, Files, and Calendar data - are the latest to get the …

[kmorwath]

"so don't expect to find them on a personal "

Should have been "so don't fear to find them on a personal..."

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "so don't expect to find them on a personal "

you forgot to add "yet"

[Rich 2]

So bad it’s funny

“…and suggests tailored prompts to help you connect and collaborate”

Because you’re too thick to think for yourself!!

This shit is so …..shit? …. that it’s becoming a joke. MS release a feature nobody wants. All its customers say “fuck off”, MS hears “oooo — more please!!”. Thank goodness I don’t have the headache of dealing with this crap

[elDog]

Sounds familiar

All its customers say “fuck off”, MS hears “oooo — more please!!”.

Sounds like someone we may know who insists that grown men are coming up to him with tears in their eyes...

Did they get the same training?

[Michael Strorm]

Re: Sounds familiar

With the Orange Shitstain, it's pathological narcissism that, one suspects, ends up having him believe his own bullshit- or forgetting that it ever was- simply because it came out of his mouth.

With MS, it's simply that they don't care what *you* want unless you're an extremely large customer. You'll get it shoved in your face if MS want you to use it, because it's not *meant* to be for your benefit, but theirs.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: So bad it’s funny

Maybe Enterprise IT should just deploy O&O ShutUp10++ across the enterprise.

[ecofeco]

Oh dear god

This is not going to end well.

We've seen this movie before.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Oh dear god

I was more thinking of The Last of Us with Cordyceps..

[spacecadet66]

> Just when you thought Microsoft had run out of Windows apps to stuff with Copilot, it's cramming the AI into your taskbar companions

I can definitely think of one place Microsoft can stuff and/or cram Copilot, and since I'm in a good mood, I'll even say they're allowed to use lube.

[David 132]

Definite shades of the old Penny Arcade comic-strip with pizza executives struggling to find new places to cram cheese.

Ah, here it is.

[Pascal Monett]

Wouah.

That was a stroll down memory lane. Thank you !

[ITMA]

"since I'm in a good mood, I'll even say they're allowed to use lube"

Only if it is laced with chilli pepper and glass.

[Strahd Ivarius]

I am waiting to see Copilot taking over the logon screen, with the bonus that when MS mothership is not available (around 80% of the time), Clippy will tell you "I am sorry, I am afraid you can't do that".

[herman]

Clippy on steroids

I tend to think that this will not end well, for either MS, or its users. IMHO at this time, AI tools are not quite good enough yet.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Clippy on steroids

Why would any Enterprise want MS using the Enterprise data, emails, calendars and such as training data? Especially given how bad AI is at confidentiality.

[Anonymous Coward]

Time to give MS the big finger

And sue them in the meantime for interfering with your computers without authorisation.

Stop using Orifice 365. Firewall MS off your network. Stop answering calls from MS especially salesmen.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: And sue them in the meantime...

Or at least sue after the inevitable hack of copilot gets all of your data stolen. But will it be direct from your org or through MS that your data is stolen?

[Uh, Mike]

Re: Time to give MS the big finger

Where will you go?

Apple?

[LionelB]

Re: Time to give MS the big finger

You can't sue them, because they are authorised to interfere with your computer. You authorised them. (What? You didn't read the small print?)

[original_rwg]

I can remember when one of Micros~1 security rules was "When you let someone else run a program on your computer, it's not your computer any more." Now they're running all the programs on 'your' computer. They install what they want, when they want, snoop, spy, process and digest (if they so choose) everything you try to do with 'your' computer.

The alleged uptake in Copilot use statistics will not be solely because users are making a choice to use it, but because the users are having it force fed to them.

I stopped having Micros~1 stuff at home years ago and now I've retired, I don't have to put up with their shit at work any more.

I've already seen stories where some organisations are seriously considering a future without Miicros~1 products and given the recent outages at both Azure and AWS, they'd do well to review their use of 'someone else's computer'.

[John Brown (no body)]

I have to use this shit at work...

...and I don't need Copilot ading to the shit I already have to deal with. I don't need "xxx said in Teams", "did you miss this in sharepoint?" and all the other unwanted shit I get every day. I REALLY don't need "reminder" of people in our organisation who some AI thinks I might want to contact, or tell me what they are doing. I avoid Copilot as best i can anyway because all the security training we do tells us to be careful how and where we share data. And then the company gives us (or can't block) access to Copilot where we have no idea what is happening to the possibly confidential data it's being fed. We have company policies telling us not to put confidential data into ChatGPT to create summaries or answer emails etc, and yet Copilit is constantly in our faces trying to get us to do exactly that. There seems to be no awareness of the cognitive dissonance this creates up in management and C levels.

[Antron Argaiv]

Re: I have to use this shit at work...

Thankfully retired, here, but my last year was on Win10 and I got more than annoyed by the little colored boxes containing useless (to me) "suggestions" popping up while I was trying to get work done.

I can only imagine how much more annoying the "helpful suggestions" have become. They were OK when you could disable them (I guess), but it appears that MS has "solved" that problem.

Enshittification is now not only for consumers, apparently, it's now gone corporate.

[M.V. Lipvig]

Re: I have to use this shit at work...

They have, and it's like playing Whack-A-Mole keeping it out of the way. And, Microsoft has been giving viagra, fertilization drugs, scented candles and Smokey Robinson records to the moles. And the moles have taken up polygamy.

Sadly I still work for a living, but it is SUCH a relief to turn off the M$hitbox and switch over to the minty fresh home box with no AI on it.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

What ever happened to being in charge of the hardware that you actually own? You know, "my computer, my rules".

It makes my Linux smugometer go off the scale whenever I read about this Microsoft AI shit being forced on people.

[IGotOut]

I see the headlines

Microsoft: Shareholders, look everyone is loving our AI. Look at all the users. Please make line go up.

Users: How do i fucking turn this fucking bag of wankstain shit off? No fuck off, I don't need a fucking summary of my single calendar entry you fucking bag of shit. Die bitch!

[Ken Hagan]

Re: I see the headlines

This is exactly the point. By stuffing AI into every product, the internal accounts can be fiddled to make it look like AI is making money, rather than haemorrhaging billions.

[anthonyhegedus]

Why though?

Why would you use Microsoft's AI when people actually hate using Microsoft software? None of it is fun or interesting. We use Teams, Excel, Outlook, etc., because we HAVE to, to get work done. If we want to use an AI, we'll fire up an AI when we WANT to. Note when it's in our faces because Microsoft acts like a thug.

[Pascal Monett]

Re: Why though?

The thing is, you don't have to.

The only reason you're saddled with this pile of crap is because Manglement is not capable of envisioning another solution - called Linux.

Today there is nothing Windows can do that Linux can't (not talking about gaming - and even that is starting to get close). As far as business is concerned, the only reason to go with Brokzilla is because Manglement is obsessed with the fancy Excel charts and Powerpoint presentations. And it will accept any "inconvenience" that happens because it can't think out of the box.

That's not an excuse for business resilience.

[ChoHag]

Re: Why though?

> you don't have to

The manglers control the purse strings. I use the computers they give me. I don't have to use them but I choose to get paid.

If I had it my way, DEC made an interesting line of devices that even XTerm doesn't quite get right.

[Nerf Herder]

Where the sun doesn't shine

"... the latest in a line of Redmond sticking AI into every crevice of the company's software lineup ..."

I know exactly where Micro$oft can stick their Copilot.

[M.V. Lipvig]

Re: Where the sun doesn't shine

... and that too, is called a crevice.

[Jou (Mxyzptlk)]

Forgot to mention services.msc

WSAIFabricSvc + [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Blocked] "{CB3B0003-8088-4EDE-8769-8B354AB2FF8C}"="Copilot" - on Server 2025 too. The server version gets less bombed with that crap, but there are still prepared mines in the ground. Similar to Germany: 80 years after WW2 ended we still find > 1000 unexploded bombs in the ground each year.

[Always Right Mostly]

If decades ago Apple hadn't been on the brink of death and Linux had existed my carreer path would not have included Microsoft and none of their products would be a part of my life. What a wonderful world that would have been.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Just when you thought Microsoft had run out of Windows apps to stuff with Copilot"

I didn't make the mistake of assuming that - it's been clear for a while that they are going to cram it into absolutely everything possible, and the lack of interest (now moving into outright hostility) from their customers is not going to deter them!

[Anonymous Coward]

Has anyone else noticed the way Copilot in Outlook Mobile keeps turning itself back on? Turn it off, then a few days later, the fucker is back again! Sometimes it comes back while the toggle remains off, and it's necessary to turn it on then turn it off again to make it temporarily go away.

[Anonymous Coward]

STOP using Microsoft Products - NOW.

The way AI has been introduced in operating systems is telling.

Apple and Google (*) have both implemented AI as an addition. Something creative that can be called upon to assist you whenever you chose to let it.

Linux is Linux - like everything else, hugely customisable, a wealth of options and you can take or leave it. No core integration.

Microsoft - AI pushed into every application. All your data hoovered up. Zero configuration or choice ("you WILL use it"). Constant screenshots learning how you, as a human, interact with the computer, fed back to Microsoft. Learning how businesses globally use computing devices, operating systems and applications. The goal here is clear - you and all your colleagues will be replaced, you're expendable, your salaries redirected to Microsoft.

If you care about your job and you care about your colleague's jobs, you should be doing everything in your power to move away from Microsoft products. And yes, that's easier said than done, but there's no time like the present to start.

* - I'm talking purely at the OS level. I'm aware Google are pushing Gemini at the top of search results.

[Antron Argaiv]

Re: STOP using Microsoft Products - NOW.

I've been working on restoring an SGI Iris Indigo. Got it up and running, and the 1990s IRIX OS with X-windows is a trippy experience. As is the 10BASE-T networking (through an AUI-to-RJ45 converter).

Take that, Microsoft!

(My daily driver is a Linux Mint system, the Indigo is just for fun)

[spacecadet66]

Re: STOP using Microsoft Products - NOW.

I remember how back in my first programming job--ever--I thought I was classy because I had an Indigo as my workstation.

I just realized how long ago that was. If anyone wants me I'll be drinking whiskey out of the bottle alone in a dark room.

[phil_4]

MS have spent billions on it, and we're surprised they're trying to monetise where ever and whenever they can. You can see this at it's most obvious, when you can sign up to 365, with hosted email, space, all the office apps for ~£10/month. Adding CoPilot costs £23/month... more than twice as much as all the Office app stuff.

They've yet to find the killer use case, or the obvious benefit case... so sticking it everywhere and hoping it sticks is the best they can do. And they'll keep on.

Luckily for me we don't pay the CoPilot surcharge so it's all non-functional for me.

[Anonymous Coward]

> all the office apps for ~£10/month

Depends if you're a consumer or business. Consumer - maybe.

Business - no, it doesn't work like that, because it's really "£10 per month, per user, for the insecure version". Then the protection racket starts.

"Nice business you've got there, be a shame if something happened to it, you should protect it, Defender, just £5 extra per month"

A week later....

"Nice business you've got there, be a shame if something happened to it, you should protect it. You've only got Defender P1, you're missing important features that will secure your business, here's P2, just £5 extra per month".

A week later....

Before you know it you have half a dozen defender subscriptions, E5, Intune, the Intune Suite, 365 Windows Enterprise, Sentinel, Log Analytics, Purview......

Your running at around £100-£200 per user, per month.

And then every few weeks, you'll get an email....

"Nice business you've got there ....."

There's always a new threat. Always a new subscription. Always a new package. A new feature. A new service.

And there always will be.

But think about what you're doing.. you're paying a company to secure the product that THEY ARE SELLING TO YOU. They're admitting to you that the product they are selling to you is insecure out of the box, not only that, but they're telling you that it will NEVER be secure, no matter how much money you throw at the problem, because there's always something else around the corner.

"Nice business you've got there ...."

If you're not questioning your own sanity, you should be.

/rant.

[Rol]

Place your bets

Can I get good odds on the bet that NSA's desire to snoop on everything is a much a driving force behind Microsoft's Copilot frenzy than anything remotely to do with providing a useful service to it's long suffering users?

[Paul Hovnanian]

Re: Place your bets

Reasonable odds.

Ever since Microsoft dodged that DOJ suit by agreeing to a consent decree. And soon after, entries were found in the registry looking something like NSA_KEY_... And the consent decree had to be overseen by a FISA court judge who had the knowledge (and clearance) to tell people, "Nothing to see here. Move along now."

Microsoft _appears_to_have_been_ compromised for a few decades. In much the same way John Profumo may have been with his teenage mistress. Prove it? That will be difficult. Drop him from a sensitive givernment post? Probably a good idea.

Ceaser's wife must be above reproach.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Place your bets

I'd suggest dropping MS from a high cliff, instead of giving it first a sensitive government post...

[Random as if !]

Jumped the Shark

So lots of idiots with AI in their titles, have to see this succeed, so im afraid until someone points out the emperor has no clothes, and no ROI (Unless the cyclical money tree happens outside the top 5) we are going to continue, feeling is that it will be in 6-8 months that the wheels on the bus have finally fallen off!

[ComicalEngineer]

Cyber essentials

I have been told that i have not been granted UK "Cyber Essentials" certification, one of the reasons given being that I am using a previous version of MS Office (paid for and installed on my laptop as a standalone package). Furthermore I will only be granted certification if I load the latest version of Office 365 and ensure that all security updates are installed within 14 days of issue.

May I say that there is no chance of me installing O365 or any other software including AI onto my W10 laptop or any other of my machines.

And on that basis Cyber Essentials can get stuffed.

I'm retiring in 14 months :-)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Cyber essentials

> W10 laptop

Personally I'd say that bodes worse for your security posture than using an older version of MS Office.

[X5-332960073452]

Re: Cyber essentials

ESU

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Cyber essentials

CE is a pile of shit for anyone that has more than 3 employees.

It was marketed (very well I'm sure) to politicans as a nice one stop shop to tick the cyber box.

But it's not sutable for most. The original description for CE (which was very quickly removed from the net when it got political buy in) was "suitable for SMEs of 200 employees or less using common off the shelf software".

Applying that with zero flexibility to organisations of over 100k employees with huge amounts of legacy or bespoke software was always going to be a shitshow.

[Paul Hovnanian]

Running out of places to hide

Have you tried the South Pole? -->

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah and our centralized IT is gleefully shitting out every abortion of an "update" from Micro$soft onto all users.

[Antron Argaiv]

Remembers when the Corporate edition of Windows was pretty much crap-free. Just the basics, and lovingly massaged by IT to make sure of it.

The last install I had on my corporate laptop had not only XBox stuff, but MS Store, and all sorts of other inapplicable crapware. Not to mention all the HP crapware.

[Blackjack]

Hi, it looks like you want to be sued for corporate spying, do you want any help with that?

I honesty hope a big corporation either cancels their Microsoft contract or sues them from spying on everything they do.

[Dwarf]

Wrong approach

The more they try and force things on people, the more people will say no and go elsewhere.

[Ashentaine]

It'll be a fun day when Microsoft inevitably drops Copilot support entirely with minimal warning, right after everyone that didn't/couldn't move elsewhere has finally given up and decided to get settled with using it. And you know that's going to happen, given their history.

[blu3b3rry]

That's assuming the execs don't promote Copilot to M$ CEO beforehand.

However, putting such an entity in charge of their own company just before making it EOL would be very on-brand given the way they seem to treat their workforce.

Otherwise, Copilot will inevitably be off to the same "farm" as Cortana, Clippy, Rover, and Microsoft Bob.

[Andrew Barr]

So this is where Clippy has been for the last 20-odd years

Clippy is back, but he has been using his time away to bulk up and become this AI driven monster.

We didnt like Clippy 20 years ago and we really hate Clipply, sorry Copilot now!!

[cat_mara]

Plausible deniability

I once worked for a company where a manager got the sack for leaving employee evaluations on an Exchange Public Folder that was rather more public than he realised. At least now he’d be able to offer the excuse that the AI did it