Microsoft has shared a new video that appears to be the first in a new series of videos called “Windows 2030 Vision,” in which the company presents its five-year plan for the future of Windows. The video points to some potentially significant changes coming in the form of Microsoft’s AI interface. The first episode features Microsoft’s corporate vice president of enterprise and security, David Weston. He begins the video by saying that soon using a mouse and keyboard to navigate will seem as outdated to future generations as MS-DOS to Generation Z.
Sound familiar? It seems he’s hinting at the possibility of a big new desktop UX from the start that could be made possible by the advent of agentic AI. Weston goes on to say that the future of the Windows operating system will likely be far more interactive and natural, as the operating system will have the ability to perform far more complex and advanced operations by looking at our surroundings, listening to audio, and responding to voice commands.
Unfortunately, Weston doesn’t elaborate on this further, but it seems he is pointing to a future where agentic AI will be the main driver of the next-generation Windows experience, using natural language and user input to interact with your computer and apps. The company has pointed to this as a possible future for Windows before. In 2023, the company laid out three ways to see an AI-powered Windows UI in software. It talked about how AI will eventually be built inside apps, next to apps, and outside of apps. This talk was given by Microsoft Technical Fellow, Steven Bathich at Build 2023. We have yet to see any examples of Microsoft AI integration outside of apps in the real world. Every AI product so far has been a Windows 2030 feature or service that exists either inside another app or as a standalone app.
