Microsoft is turning Windows into an 'agentic OS,' starting with the taskbar (www.theverge.com)

Microsoft announced it is turning Windows 11 into an “agentic OS” by embedding AI agents directly into the taskbar and other system surfaces. New taskbar-agent features let Microsoft 365 Copilot and third‑party agents run background workflows (researching, accessing files, automating admin tasks), show live status badges, surface a compact floating interaction window, and be launched via a unified Ask Copilot entry that combines local file search with Copilot conversations. Copilot is also coming to File Explorer (one‑click summaries, Q&A about documents, draft email) and Click-to-Do on Copilot Plus PCs can convert tables into editable Excel sheets using local models, then augment them with cloud Copilot. Writing assistance with offline support, Outlook summaries, Word auto alt‑text, and Windows 365 cloud‑PC integration round out the push. Technically, Microsoft is shipping platform-level plumbing — the Model Context Protocol (MCP) — to let agents discover tools and other agents via a secure, managed on‑device registry, and each agent runs in a policy‑controlled, auditable “agent workspace” (sandboxed Windows account) for isolation and governance. The approach is hybrid: local inference on Copilot Plus PCs for privacy/latency and cloud models for heavier capabilities. The changes enable new developer scenarios but also raise security and safety considerations; Microsoft stresses opt‑in controls and adds enterprise features (hardware‑accelerated BitLocker plans, Sysmon integration, passkey manager) to help IT manage the expanded attack surface.