Microsoft introduced its AI features in Office for businesses last November, but this was not a setback for developers; in fact, it marked the beginning of advanced and improved cross-platform AI support in the years to come. In just two months, Microsoft is already offering its Copilot services to consumers in the form of a monthly subscription, available on Windows, Android, iOS, and the web – everything you want! For $20, the company claims to enhance user experience through better performance, access to OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo, AI integration into the Office suite, and the ability to create your own GPT Copilot.
Why switch to Copilot Pro?
We know that Microsoft Copilot, also known as Bing Chat, excels at web research assistance, content creation, answering questions, and image generation. The question arises: Is it really worth investing in the additional features offered by the Pro version?
Microsoft Copilot will remain available as a free service, with the Pro version being an optional subscription that offers additional benefits. It’s important to note that the launch of the Pro version will not impose any limits on the free service and will not hinder users in any way.
While the free version is suitable for those who wish to maintain their independence and refrain from participating in the widespread AI race, it is not available in certain areas, such as the Office suite. In contrast, Copilot Pro offers subscribers priority access during peak hours, faster performance, and the ability to generate more images per day.
Let’s look at other benefits related to the additional investment in the ultimate AI experience.
A unified AI experience seamlessly connects across all your devices, linking web context to your PC and all applications, providing the right skills precisely when you need them.
For subscribers of Microsoft 365 Personal and Family, Copilot is accessible in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote on all their devices, including PC, Mac, and iPad.
The ability to create your own GPT Copilot, tailoring it to a specific subject of your choice.
Access to the latest models, such as OpenAI’s GPT-4 Turbo, is also provided. Soon, you’ll have the option to switch from one model to another, allowing you to optimize your experience based on your preferences.
The integrated image generator (formerly Bing Image Creator) now has enhanced capabilities for better image quality, a landscape image format, and increased speed, offering 100 boosts per day.
Copilot on Microsoft 365
For subscribers of Microsoft 365 Personal or Home, an additional monthly subscription allows access to all the benefits offered by Copilot in Office applications. In the Office suite, Copilot isn’t just a content creation tool; it can also guide you in using specific functions within the applications. Whether you’re hesitant to create a formula in Excel or format your Word document, Copilot will assist you, or even take care of it for you.
In PowerPoint, Copilot can generate complete slide decks. In Word, you can leverage AI assistance to rephrase paragraphs, summarize documents, or generate text. In Outlook, it helps respond to emails or compose new ones. In Excel, Copilot aids in data analysis, chart generation, and more. In OneNote, it helps draft ideas and plans, and even format and organize information in your notebooks.
However, the feature that allows Copilot to generate a PowerPoint presentation from a Word document is currently reserved for businesses. This means it will take some time for developers to make it available to the general public, as the consumer version is not yet powered by Microsoft’s Graph technology.
