- Windows 11 has a new preview out in the Beta channel
- It improves voice dictation using AI, and brings support for Windows Studio Effects to more webcams
- On the downside, File Explorer’s Home panel is getting an addition some might regard as clutter
Windows 11 has a new preview build which refines voice dictation in the operating system and allows for AI-based webcam tricks to be used outside of your device’s main camera – but these changes are for Copilot+ PCs only.
Windows 11’s new preview release in the Beta channel (build 26120.5790) deploys these changes and some other minor tweaks as detailed in a Microsoft blog post.
The new ability for Voice Access is called ‘fluid dictation’ and Microsoft claims it makes voice dictation in Windows 11 both “smoother and smarter”.
That includes correcting any grammatical or punctuation errors automatically, and so-called filler words are also removed (such as ‘you know’ or ‘like’ and the typical extra words that you might insert inadvertently while pausing for thought when dictating text).
The second major move here is expanding the availability of Windows Studio Effects from just the Copilot+ device’s built-in laptop camera to other webcams. This means you’ll be able to use those AI-powered effects on a connected USB webcam, or your laptop’s second camera, if it has one built into the lid (facing outwards).
In an interesting twist, this ability is rolling out to Copilot+ PCs with Intel CPUs first, and then devices with Snapdragon (Arm) and AMD chips. Normally, Snapdragon machines get everything first, but not so here.
Microsoft is also introducing new options for when you hover over files in the home page of File Explorer, including a choice to open the file in its location, and also to Ask Copilot about the file. You’ll need to be signed in to a Microsoft account for this functionality to work.
Analysis: further flexibility for Copilot+ PCs
Not everyone will want that Ask Copilot option to be added to the library of choices that appears when you hover over a file in the home page of File Explorer – some will regard this as extra clutter (and I’m in that camp, I must admit).
However, there can be no argument about the usefulness of being able to apply Windows Studio Effects to more than just the main webcam. These are AI-powered features such as the ability to blur the background, or make it seem like you are making eye contact with a video call participant (looking directly into the camera, rather than at the screen).
Bringing in AI to help enhance voice dictation should mean a fair bit less in the way of manual correction for text that you’ve dictated, and I can see that being very useful – assuming it’s accurate, and AI should help to facilitate that.
For those worried about AI processing what’s been written in terms of possible privacy concerns, Microsoft makes it clear that this feature is driven by on-device AI (small language models or SLMs), so there’s nothing sent to Microsoft’s servers in the cloud. Furthermore, any text field where passwords or the like are used has voice dictation disabled. And more broadly, you can simply turn off this capability if you don’t like the sound of it.
It’s worth mentioning again that both of these key features are for Copilot+ PCs only, so we won’t get them on normal Windows 11 computers.
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