Copilot ought to be forward of the competitors—it comes pinned to the taskbar on each Windows PC. But I hold bouncing off it, and I’m not alone. AI-positive Windows customers are largely going out of their option to obtain competing AI instruments, simply as individuals skipped on Internet Explorer many years in the past. As for Windows customers who don’t like AI? They simply resent seeing Copilot in every single place.
If Copilot is like Internet Explorer, then ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude are like Firefox and Chrome. If you need one of the best expertise, you skip what’s bundled with Windows and go for one thing else. Personally, I didn’t begin appreciating AI instruments till I seemed past Copilot.
It’s no shock that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is reportedly taking over Copilot development. Here are a number of methods Copilot is the brand new Internet Explorer. History actually repeats itself.
Nobody is utilizing Copilot
I’ve talked to plenty of Windows customers over the previous few years—informal customers, energy customers, avid gamers, workplace staff. I haven’t heard ardour for Copilot from any of them. Even among the many ones who use AI instruments on a regular basis, Microsoft’s Copilot is never their instrument of selection.
Microsoft doesn’t publicly share what number of customers Copilot has. Meanwhile, rivals like OpenAI are trumpeting their utilization numbers. (Indeed, over 800 million users every week for ChatGPT.) If Microsoft was pleased with their very own utilization numbers, you possibly can guess they’d be loud about it.
A latest report from ComparableWeb claims that Copilot web site utilization is at 1.1% of AI market share, behind ChatGPT at 64.5% and Gemini at 21%. Of course, that’s simply the web site and doesn’t embody the Windows app.
Chris Hoffman / Foundry
The state of affairs is equally dire within the cellular house. On Apple’s App Store charts, the highest three productiveness apps are ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok. Claude is the 12th hottest productiveness app, whereas Microsoft Copilot is down at 14th hottest. That means Microsoft’s AI chatbot is in fifth place—behind OpenAI, Google, xAI, and Anthropic.
We can’t know precisely how well-liked the Windows Copilot app is. But it’s unlikely that folks could be scorching on Copilot all day on their PCs whereas ignoring it altogether on their telephones.
Just as energy customers as soon as skipped Internet Explorer in favor of Firefox and Chrome, AI-passionate customers are unpinning Copilot from their taskbars and changing it with their AI chatbots of selection.
Microsoft Copilot isn’t nearly as good as non-Microsoft alternate options
Copilot simply isn’t as versatile or dependable or helpful as different AI chatbots. Under the hood, Microsoft is routing requests to OpenAI’s GPT fashions… however ChatGPT is a way more mature platform with extra configurability and management over what AI mannequin you’re utilizing.
Copilot’s desktop vision feature is a vibrant spot, although, and Copilot has different strengths, too. For instance, it’s the one AI instrument that’s built-in into Word and Excel, which ought to give it a leg up in skilled environments. And there are Microsoft’s efforts to show Copilot right into a “companion,” complete with a face.
Microsoft
But it’s nonetheless not catching on. It’s not sufficient to sway shoppers over from these competing AI instruments that don’t have digital faces. I see plenty of enthusiasm for ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude in AI communities, in the meantime Copilot is never talked about (except in a foul gentle).
I spoke to an avid Claude person the opposite day. He instructed me that he lately used Copilot in Microsoft Word because it was the one choice for making obscure charts—and he got here away from it considering that Claude is way smarter. Sure, Copilot was capable of make the chart he wanted, however the expertise didn’t promote him on Copilot.
Microsoft
And it’s not simply customers who assume this. A latest inside e-mail from Microsoft CEO Sayta Nadella to Microsoft employees mentioned that Copilot’s connections to Gmail and Outlook “for [the] most part don’t really work” and are “not smart,” based on The Information. That mirrors what I’ve seen when utilizing Copilot through the years—different AI instruments simply appear to be extra competent in most conditions.
Copilot’s greatest strengths relaxation in GitHub Copilot for coding and Microsoft 365 Copilot for deep integration with group information. These advantages aren’t felt by customary Copilot customers. And not solely that, however based on The Verge’s Tom Warren, Anthropic’s Claude Code is increasingly favored internally at Microsoft. If Microsoft doesn’t even want Copilot, then why ought to anybody else?
Copilot is being pressured upon PC customers
Like Internet Explorer, the worst factor about Copilot is that it’s the “default option” introduced to you on Windows.
If you begin utilizing Copilot, it’s doubtless as a result of the Copilot icon appeared in your taskbar otherwise you pressed the Copilot key in your keyboard. Copilot is being shoved into all the pieces… and that simply reeks of desperation. It’s not one thing you employ since you need to; it’s one thing you employ as a result of Microsoft needs you to make use of it. Meanwhile, if you find yourself utilizing ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or some other AI instrument, it’s since you explicitly made the selection to discover, discover, and begin utilizing that individual instrument.
IDG / Mark Hachman
Windows is soaked in Copilot messaging. There’s a Copilot key on the keyboard. New Windows PCs are branded as “Copilot+ PCs” with additional AI options. Apps like Word, Excel, Edge, and even Notepad now have Copilot icons in all places. It’s annoying. No marvel why customers are clamoring for ways to disable AI in Windows.
You don’t hear individuals complain about Claude as a result of Windows doesn’t bundle Claude in every single place in its interface. If that began occurring, you realize you’d begin listening to about it. In truth, Google is now heading down this street with baking Gemini into Chrome and AI Mode for Search, it’s beginning to annoy these customers, too. It’s extra proof that folks simply don’t like having issues shoved down their throats.
Windows PC customers will keep complaining about Copilot so long as Microsoft retains doing this, simply as they as soon as complained about Internet Explorer (and Edge) being thrust upon them at each flip.
Is Copilot going the way in which of Bing?
Microsoft was early to AI with its first chatbot, named “Bing Chat.” Microsoft later renamed it to Copilot. But regardless of the branding change, Copilot and Bing nonetheless share loads in widespread.
Both Bing and Copilot are completely high-quality instruments that may get the job accomplished, however only a few want Bing as their major search engine and the identical may be mentioned about Copilot. Bing has been combating person adoption for years, and Copilot clearly isn’t taking off amongst curious AI customers or common PC customers. Copilot must be greater than “just another AI chatbot” if it’s going to succeed, and easily being bundled with Windows isn’t going to be sufficient to get it the place it must go.
After all, being bundled with Windows didn’t save Internet Explorer. In truth, this sort of transfer is just going to alienate individuals additional away from Copilot. Microsoft must study from its previous ASAP.
Further studying: Did Microsoft do anything right in 2025? A look back at their wins, fails, and WTF moments