A new Copilot update called Wave 2 is here for Microsoft 365 and Entra users. The update is focussed on the Office suite of apps like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and others. Microsoft has announced quite a few features for each app including a new Pages canvas. There is a lot to unpack here so let’s begin.
Pages
Pages is a collaborative app where you can invite team members to work on a single project. Microsoft has shared a video (scroll below) that better highlights how Pages work. It is built inside the Copilot app and so naturally it can pull data from the AI chatbot. It seems Microsoft wants you to spend more time inside Copilot by integrating it with various other apps in its ecosystem.
Note that at launch, Pages will be available to Microsoft 365 subscribers, however, it will arrive to free users with Microsoft Entra accounts in the coming months. Microsoft says Pages is for ‘Multiplayer AI Collaboration’. Fancy phrase.
When interacting with Copilot, you will see a new button called Edit in Pages at the bottom. Click on that to open a new canvas with more options like collaborate, tagging, etc. A single place to share AI-generated content and then further make changes, add/remove, edit, and share that content. You can also assign tasks to others.
Pages is aimed at group research and task assignments using Copilot AI and people at the center.
Copilot for Office
Microsoft hasn’t forgotten its star product namely the Office suite of apps. Here’s what they are getting with the new Copilot update.
- Word: Copilot is now front and center with a new “on-canvas” start experience and you can use it inline while writing. It can reference data from the internet or even other Microsoft apps like email.
- Excel: Python is now integrated with Copilot for advanced analysis, and Excel can handle unformatted data. There is support for natural language. Some new new formulas for advanced users have been added.
- PowerPoint: Narrative Builder allows you to create presentations from prompts and customize outlines with company branding.
- Teams: Copilot can now analyze meeting transcripts and chats to answer your questions regarding the meeting notes.
- Outlook: “Prioritize my inbox” uses AI to reorder emails based on importance.
- OneDrive: Copilot can now search and find information within your files. Moreover, it can also reason within it.
Microsoft is betting big on AI just like other big tech companies like Samsung, Google, and more recently, Apple. The trick would be to find ways to make it actually more useful and boost productivity than simply using it for generating fancy images and wild videos.
