Microsoft’s Copilot on Windows has quietly picked up a major capability: an integrated GPT‑5 “Smart” mode that appears to give many users free access to the model’s deeper reasoning (“Thinking”) pathways — and early tests suggest the Copilot implementation is less stingy with those powerful reasoning calls than OpenAI’s ChatGPT free tier. This is a significant development for Windows users because it brings OpenAI’s latest model into the OS-level assistant with native UI, and it raises practical and policy questions about transparency, quotas, and enterprise risk that administrators and power users should understand now. (theverge.com)
OpenAI publicly introduced GPT‑5 in early August 2025, framing it as the company’s next flagship model with improved speed, accuracy, and “structured thinking” capabilities. OpenAI’s own documentation describes a lineup that includes standard GPT‑5, a lighter GPT‑5‑mini, and a specialized GPT‑5 Thinking variant that directs more compute to multi‑step reasoning when the model judges a prompt requires it. OpenAI also published explicit usage limits for ChatGPT plans: for example, free ChatGPT accounts are limited to a small number of GPT‑5 messages and only a single GPT‑5 Thinking call per day, while paid tiers raise or remove those caps. These details are reflected in OpenAI’s help pages and pricing materials. (help.openai.com, openai.com)
Microsoft moved fast to make GPT‑5 available across its Copilot family (Windows Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, and Azure AI Foundry). In Copilot for Windows the new behavior shows up as a Smart or model‑routing mode: the assistant can automatically decide when a query needs deeper reasoning ("Thinking") and route it to the appropriate GPT‑5 variant, or choose a lighter path for quick answers. Several mainstream outlets and hands‑on testers reported the rollout beginning on or around August 7, 2025. (theverge.com, windowscentral.com)
It’s important to stress the nuance: Microsoft has not published a public, authoritative numeric quota for Copilot’s GPT‑5 Thinking calls in the consumer Copilot product. What we have is a combination of:
By comparison, the Copilot reports are empirical: testers repeatedly triggered Copilot’s GPT‑5 Thinking paths more than the single daily limit ChatGPT provides to free users. Multiple community observers have also reported that Microsoft historically offered “Think Deeper” or o‑series reasoning access in Copilot with more permissive policies or even no explicit daily limit — although Microsoft reserves the right to throttle capacity during peaks and to favor paid customers. Microsoft community posts from mid‑2025 described free access to some advanced reasoning models without explicit daily caps, but the company’s public messaging emphasizes server‑side control rather than fixed consumer allotments. (learn.microsoft.com, beebom.com)
Caveat: these Copilot observations vary across accounts, tenants, and times of day. The only fully verifiable, static numbers come from OpenAI’s ChatGPT documentation; Copilot’s exact limits remain a moving target controlled by Microsoft’s backend.
The sensible approach for Windows users is to experiment — take advantage of the new Smart mode — while treating outputs as high‑quality assistance that still requires human verification for consequential decisions. Administrators should watch Microsoft’s admin channels for formal quotas, enable governance controls where necessary, and adopt logging practices that capture the model’s role in any critical workflow. The technology’s promise is vast; the tradeoffs are logistical and governance‑oriented, not merely technical — and they’ll determine how safely and effectively GPT‑5 reshapes work on Windows in the months to come.
Source: windowslatest.com Windows 11 Copilot gets free access to GPT-5 Thinking, reduced rate limits than ChatGPT Free
Background / Overview
OpenAI publicly introduced GPT‑5 in early August 2025, framing it as the company’s next flagship model with improved speed, accuracy, and “structured thinking” capabilities. OpenAI’s own documentation describes a lineup that includes standard GPT‑5, a lighter GPT‑5‑mini, and a specialized GPT‑5 Thinking variant that directs more compute to multi‑step reasoning when the model judges a prompt requires it. OpenAI also published explicit usage limits for ChatGPT plans: for example, free ChatGPT accounts are limited to a small number of GPT‑5 messages and only a single GPT‑5 Thinking call per day, while paid tiers raise or remove those caps. These details are reflected in OpenAI’s help pages and pricing materials. (help.openai.com, openai.com)Microsoft moved fast to make GPT‑5 available across its Copilot family (Windows Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, and Azure AI Foundry). In Copilot for Windows the new behavior shows up as a Smart or model‑routing mode: the assistant can automatically decide when a query needs deeper reasoning ("Thinking") and route it to the appropriate GPT‑5 variant, or choose a lighter path for quick answers. Several mainstream outlets and hands‑on testers reported the rollout beginning on or around August 7, 2025. (theverge.com, windowscentral.com)
What Microsoft actually shipped — Smart mode in Copilot
Native integration, server-side model routing
Microsoft’s Copilot app (and web Copilot) now includes a compose box that uses server‑side routing to select model variants from Azure’s model endpoints. Because that routing happens on the backend, Microsoft can switch which GPT‑5 variant Copilot uses without requiring an app update. In practical terms, users who sign in to Copilot (copilot.microsoft.com or the Copilot app) will see Smart mode or the GPT‑5 options appear automatically once their account and tenant have been switched on server side. This is consistent with Microsoft’s approach of rolling AI updates out server‑side to control capacity and feature flags.What “Smart” does for you
- Smart mode routes complex queries to GPT‑5’s deeper reasoning variant and uses lighter, faster variants for routine prompts.
- The workflow is hands‑off: users don’t need to manually pick a reasoning model in most consumer Copilot flows.
- The same backend router also allows Microsoft to manage latency, cost, and quality tradeoffs across millions of users by steering traffic to mini or standard variants when needed.
Rollout pattern and regional availability
The rollout is phased. Web and cloud clients often show new behavior first, then native apps follow as feature flags propagate. Multiple reports indicate Smart/GPT‑5 began appearing to users in early August 2025 and expanded regionally afterward; some users will see the change sooner than others depending on Microsoft’s server flags and tenant settings.The headline claim: Copilot is more generous with GPT‑5 Thinking than ChatGPT free — what the evidence says
WindowsLatest reported hands‑on tests showing that Copilot triggered the GPT‑5 Thinking pathway more often and with a larger daily allowance than a ChatGPT free account would permit. In their tests Copilot requested “Thinking” up to five times in a day (after which it reverted to lighter variants), while ChatGPT Free’s published limits are significantly stricter — one GPT‑5 Thinking message per day and a small cap on standard GPT‑5 messages. OpenAI’s published help page confirms the ChatGPT free tier limits: up to 10 GPT‑5 messages per five hours for standard GPT‑5 and a single GPT‑5 Thinking message per day. The ChatGPT Plus plan raises those caps substantially.It’s important to stress the nuance: Microsoft has not published a public, authoritative numeric quota for Copilot’s GPT‑5 Thinking calls in the consumer Copilot product. What we have is a combination of:
- OpenAI’s published ChatGPT limits (official and explicit). (help.openai.com)
- Microsoft and press reports describing Copilot’s Smart routing and free access to GPT‑5, often noting that limits or throttling may apply. (theverge.com, windowscentral.com)
- Independent site testing (WindowsLatest and others) reporting observed behaviors and counts in real sessions.
Verifying the numbers: OpenAI’s published limits vs. Copilot observations
OpenAI’s help page and pricing materials show the following at the time of writing:- ChatGPT Free: access to GPT‑5 but limited — typically up to 10 GPT‑5 messages every 5 hours and one GPT‑5 Thinking message per day; after hitting caps, the service will default to GPT‑5‑mini. (help.openai.com, openai.com)
- ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo): significantly higher messaging caps and improved performance; published limits include expanded GPT‑5 message windows and weekly caps on GPT‑5 Thinking for some plans. (help.openai.com, openai.com)
By comparison, the Copilot reports are empirical: testers repeatedly triggered Copilot’s GPT‑5 Thinking paths more than the single daily limit ChatGPT provides to free users. Multiple community observers have also reported that Microsoft historically offered “Think Deeper” or o‑series reasoning access in Copilot with more permissive policies or even no explicit daily limit — although Microsoft reserves the right to throttle capacity during peaks and to favor paid customers. Microsoft community posts from mid‑2025 described free access to some advanced reasoning models without explicit daily caps, but the company’s public messaging emphasizes server‑side control rather than fixed consumer allotments. (learn.microsoft.com, beebom.com)
Caveat: these Copilot observations vary across accounts, tenants, and times of day. The only fully verifiable, static numbers come from OpenAI’s ChatGPT documentation; Copilot’s exact limits remain a moving target controlled by Microsoft’s backend.
Hands‑on testing: what users are reporting (summarized)
Several hands‑on tests were conducted by technology outlets and community reporters; the emergent picture is:- Copilot’s Smart mode automatically routes complex tasks to GPT‑5 Thinking without a manual change in many consumer flows. (theverge.com)
- Observers found Copilot invoked GPT‑5 Thinking multiple times in a single day (examples range between 3 and 5 times in one test day) before routing fell back to lighter variants. This contrasted with ChatGPT Free’s one Thinking call per day.
- For typical (non‑Thinking) prompts, Copilot appears to use the full GPT‑5 standard model rather than a mini model until a usage threshold is reached; users rated the answer quality higher than the mini fallback.
- The system does not show a clear “You’ve used X of Y Thinking calls” UI; instead users see silent fallback behavior (a different model quietly responding) or an error message once quotas are exceeded. This opacity hinders reproducibility for regulated workflows.
Why this matters to Windows users and IT pros
Practical benefits
- Access to stronger reasoning without a paywall: For everyday users, having GPT‑5’s reasoning in Copilot means better code help, clearer technical explanations, and improved long‑form summarization inside the OS and Microsoft 365 apps. (windowscentral.com, theverge.com)
- Native Windows integration: Copilot’s presence in the taskbar and sidebar reduces friction — no browser tab juggling — so GPT‑5 features feel like built‑in OS capabilities.
- Autoscaling & routing: Microsoft can dynamically adjust routing to maintain latency and throughput, which in practice can keep performance consistent for many users.
Operational and security caveats
- Opacity of model selection and quota accounting: Because Smart mode automatically routes requests, it can be hard to know which model variant produced an answer. That complicates reproducibility, compliance logging, and audit trails for regulated workflows. Enterprises should prefer managed Microsoft 365 Copilot options with explicit controls.
- Data handling & privacy: Copilot processes content through Microsoft’s cloud and, by extension, OpenAI’s models in many flows. Enterprises must confirm data retention, encryption, and DLP settings in tenant policies before enabling broad use. Testers and analysts warn that defaults may not suit high‑sensitivity data without configuration.
- Hidden throttles & changing policies: Microsoft can change routing and quotas without a client update; administrators should prepare for tiered or capacity‑based prioritization and monitor usage. Community threads show daily limits for certain features (like image generation) have been enforced for some accounts even when others saw no limits earlier. (learn.microsoft.com, answers.microsoft.com)
How to try GPT‑5 Smart mode in Copilot (step‑by‑step)
- Open copilot.microsoft.com in Edge (recommended) or download the Copilot app from the Microsoft Store and sign in with a Microsoft account.
- If Smart mode is available to your account, the Smart option (or a GPT‑5 toggle) appears in the model picker or compose UI. It may appear automatically without an update if your account has been switched server‑side.
- Start with a mix of quick prompts and more complex, multi‑step reasoning tasks to see when Copilot selects “Thinking.” Note whether you receive an explicit limit message or a silent fallback to a lighter model.
- If Smart mode doesn’t show up immediately, clear client caches or sign out, but recognize that the rollout is server‑controlled — waiting may be necessary.
Technical and policy analysis — strengths, weaknesses, and risk calculus
Strengths
- Democratizes advanced reasoning: Putting GPT‑5 in Copilot for free lowers the barrier to high‑quality AI assistance across many Windows users.
- Frictionless context: Copilot’s tight OS and Office integration means longer, context‑aware tasks (email summarization, multi‑document analysis) are handled without manual context shuffling.
- Backend model routing reduces user burden: Smart mode abstracts the model complexity, letting the assistant pick the tradeoff between cost, latency, and depth automatically.
Weaknesses and risks
- Transparency and reproducibility: Silent model switching and lack of per‑call attribution make it hard to create reproducible audit trails for decisions assisted by Copilot. This matters in regulated fields like finance, legal, and healthcare.
- Unclear quota guarantees: Unlike OpenAI’s public ChatGPT caps, Microsoft has not published a clear consumer Copilot quota for GPT‑5 Thinking calls, so operational planning is difficult.
- Dependency on cloud scaling: If demand spikes, Microsoft may throttle or favor paying customers, producing inconsistent experiences for free users who had previously relied on free access. Historical changes to image and model usage quotas show this pattern. (learn.microsoft.com, answers.microsoft.com)
Recommendations for Windows users and administrators
- Treat Copilot as a powerful productivity tool, not an authoritative decision engine. Always validate critical outputs, particularly those used in business or compliance contexts.
- Enable tenant controls and DLP where sensitive material is at stake and prefer Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing for wider governance and audit options.
- Log model outputs and metadata when feasible. For workflows that require deterministic provenance (legal text, medical guidance), capture the assistant transcript and any metadata you can for later review.
- Monitor usage patterns: track how many “Thinking”‑level requests your users make and plan for the possibility that Microsoft may adjust capacity or prioritize paid users during peak times.
What’s not yet settled (and what to watch)
- Microsoft’s official numeric quotas for Copilot GPT‑5 Thinking remain unpublished for consumer Copilot. Watch Microsoft docs and admin message centers for formal guidance, and watch independent tests for real‑world behavior.
- Policy changes from OpenAI or Microsoft could rebalance where heavy reasoning runs (OpenAI tends to publish ChatGPT limits; Microsoft controls Copilot routing). Any change in the partnership, capacity constraints, or abuse policy could alter who gets priority. (help.openai.com)
- Enterprise features, audit logging, and Azure AI Foundry controls will be decisive for organizations planning to embed GPT‑5 into regulated processes; the Foundry tooling and model router are the enterprise path for predictable behavior.
Conclusion
The arrival of GPT‑5 inside Windows Copilot is a major step in bringing advanced AI reasoning to mainstream desktop workflows. For many users the practical effect is immediate: smarter code help, richer document summarization, and an assistant that can “think” when tasks demand it — and evidence suggests Copilot’s consumer flows may let that thinking happen more often than ChatGPT’s free web tier allows. At the same time, the absence of a published, consistent quota for Copilot’s thinking calls, combined with opaque backend routing, raises reproducibility, compliance, and operational concerns for power users and IT teams.The sensible approach for Windows users is to experiment — take advantage of the new Smart mode — while treating outputs as high‑quality assistance that still requires human verification for consequential decisions. Administrators should watch Microsoft’s admin channels for formal quotas, enable governance controls where necessary, and adopt logging practices that capture the model’s role in any critical workflow. The technology’s promise is vast; the tradeoffs are logistical and governance‑oriented, not merely technical — and they’ll determine how safely and effectively GPT‑5 reshapes work on Windows in the months to come.
Source: windowslatest.com Windows 11 Copilot gets free access to GPT-5 Thinking, reduced rate limits than ChatGPT Free
