Microsoft clearly has more than a few kinks to work out in its new AI-powered Bing chat before it’s ready for primetime, but that isn’t stopping the company from expanding the feature throughout its ecosystem at a surprisingly rapid pace. Just a week after bringing the new Bing to mobile devices, Microsoft has now put its AI-powered Bing directly into the taskbar.
Use the new Bing AI chat from your taskbar
The latest Windows 11 update adds a typable search box to the taskbar with the same generative AI technology as the new Bing search in the Edge browser and on smartphones. If you’re already in the Bing preview, all you have to do is install the latest Windows 11 update to access the new search box. If you aren’t currently in the preview, you can sign up for the waitlist by heading to Bing.com/new and tapping the big “Join the waitlist” button.
“We’ve been inspired by people’s stories of how they are using the new Bing,” Panos Panay, EVP and Chief Product Officer, said in a blog post. “For example, a first-generation grad student from a developing country shared how the new Bing gives him access to information and resources that were previously inaccessible and difficult to find. Stories like these energize and inspire us.”
Bing chat in the taskbar is just one of the new features available in the latest Windows 11 update. Other additions and improvements include the ability to send iMessage from your PC with Phone Link for iOS, a revamped Chat experience in the taskbar, a redesigned Quick Assist app, more widgets, tabs in Notepad, and a built-in screen recorder in Snipping Tool.
Check for the latest Windows 11 update in Settings > Windows Update on your PC.
