Operating system settings menus are getting way too complicated. Microsoft knows, and the company has an interesting fix in the works. Here’s what to know.
The Problem: Settings Bloat and Extra Complexity
Way back when Windows was young, the Settings menu/app made intuitive sense. If you needed to do something to change how your PC operated (something that wasn’t part of an executable or application), then it was in the catch-all area called Settings.
There weren’t all that many entries in that space, and it was pretty easy to find what you needed.
Fast-forward 40 years and who knows how many versions of Windows, and things are…different.
Windows can do way more than it could do in 1985. And the Settings app has expanded accordingly. Now there are a dizzying number of options in Settings: submenus upon submenus and folders within folders.
Put charitably, we can call this extra complexity: Windows can do more, so its settings are more complex. Put a little less charitably, we might call this “settings bloat.” Redundant options, important settings tucked away in obscure places, and settings that aren’t called what regular people would expect them to be called. It’s a frustrating — and inefficient — experience.
But look at it from Microsoft’s perspective: it’s not like they can just make settings go away. All those new features and complexities have to live somewhere.
So instead of simplifying, Microsoft seems to be taking a different approach: work smarter, not simpler.
Microsoft’s Solution: A Settings AI Agent
Microsoft’s solution is called an AI agent. AI agents are like the genAI tools you know about, like ChatGPT and Copilot. But instead of living in an app or operating as a smart chatbot, AI agents can actually do things with computers, not just talk about things.
With this AI agent, you can type or talk to it in natural language, even if you don’t know the right term for a particular setting or where that setting lives. You can say things like “turn up the screen brightness” or “enable voice control,” and the AI agent will figure out what you meant, find the setting, and show you where to go — or even make the change for you autonomously.
Why This Matters
This can be a major time-saver for team members. Think about the last time you went scrolling through Settings trying to find something unfamiliar: 20 minutes (or more) later, you find it…or give up.
You can always hit up Google or call IT, but that’s just more time wasted. Not anymore, once this feature goes live.
Plus, the less your team has to worry about finding nitty-gritty settings, the more they can devote to the high-value work that helps push your business forward.
Security First: On-Device AI
The current version of this AI agent is under testing on Copilot+ PCs, in the WIndows Insider Program. You probably aren’t in that program, but assuming the feature is on the way to everyone, the bigger question is about Copilot+ PCs. Those are newer PCs that have specific hardware so they can run AI models on device, rather than in the cloud.
In other words, to benefit from this and many other on-device AI features in the pipeline, you may need to upgrade.
To be clear, this isn’t just a ploy to sell new computers. It’s actually a security-focused move. Your system’s settings contain sensitive information that needs to stay private. By keeping the AI agent on-device, that information stays on-device, too. You aren’t sacrificing your privacy by unintentionally sending sensitive information out to a cloud server somewhere (which is what happens when people use cloud-based chatbots like ChatGPT).
If you’re considering a device upgrade to get ready for the next wave of Microsoft AI features, we’re happy to help. Reach out to our team anytime.