Microsoft’s Copilot is moving beyond small refinements and into a notably broader productivity play: the assistant is being upgraded to use OpenAI’s GPT‑5.1 family, Microsoft is testing creative and 3D features inside the Imagine gallery, and new organizational tools — notably a Reminders menu and a Projects workflow — are being piloted to help users turn conversational threads into actionable work. Early signals show Microsoft routing GPT‑5.1 into Copilot as a server‑side upgrade and expanding Copilot from a question‑answer widget into a platform for scheduled prompts, simple task management, and project-level organization.
Background: what GPT‑5.1 is and why it matters
OpenAI’s GPT‑5.1 is an iterative upgrade to the GPT‑5 family. The release introduces two behaviorally distinct variants —
GPT‑5.1 Instant (designed for conversational warmth, speed, and better instruction following) and
GPT‑5.1 Thinking (tuned to allocate more compute and “thinking time” for complex problems while staying snappy on routine queries). OpenAI documents an “Auto” routing layer that routes requests to the best variant; the goal is to give everyday users faster, friendlier replies while preserving deeper reasoning where it matters. The company announced GPT‑5.1 on November 12, 2025. Why this matters for Copilot:
- Copilot’s Smart mode (the older GPT‑5 routing) is being replaced or augmented with GPT‑5.1 in many server‑side deployments, meaning Windows Copilot can inherit both the Instant and Thinking behaviors without a client update.
- The Instant/Thinking split changes how product designers think about latency vs. depth: straightforward help‑desk queries can return faster, while multi‑step research tasks can be routed to a deeper thinker.
- For enterprise deployments, the new model variants appear in Microsoft’s Copilot Studio as experimental options, which gives IT teams a path to test before production rollout.
These model-level shifts are not purely academic: they change defaults for tone, responsiveness, cost, and governance. Microsoft and OpenAI both emphasize staged rollouts and sandboxed pilots for enterprise customers — a cautious approach that reflects the practical risks of swapping core inference engines inside productivity flows.
What’s new in Copilot: GPT‑5.1, Reminders, Projects, and Imagine
GPT‑5.1 in Copilot: how Microsoft is integrating the model
Microsoft has made GPT‑5.1 available inside Copilot Studio as an
experimental model for early‑release Power Platform customers and is routing GPT‑5.1 into some Copilot surfaces server‑side for Windows users. That means some users will see GPT‑5.1 behaviors in Copilot without a client update — Microsoft handles the transition on the backend. Copilot Studio’s model picker now lists GPT‑5.1 variants as experimental, with clear guidance to run non‑production pilots and validate connector behavior, compliance, and data residency before wider adoption. Key operational implications:
- Admins should expect a three‑step migration path: evaluate in Copilot Studio, pilot in staging tenants, then enable for production once governance checks pass.
- Model routing and persona controls will change the user experience: teams must treat tone presets and persona sliders as policy settings in regulated scenarios.
- Experimental flags mean Microsoft can change behavior rapidly; enterprises dependent on consistent output must instrument and monitor model‑variant routing.
Reminders: Copilot’s push into scheduled prompts and task management
Microsoft is surfacing a new
Reminders entry inside Copilot’s menus and experimental surfaces. The feature is more than a simple “set an alarm” UI: it blends Copilot’s note‑taking and scheduled‑prompt capabilities so users can create, view, and manage reminders from within the assistant. Microsoft already supports
scheduled prompts — a way to have Copilot summarize what’s pending at a particular time — and the Reminders menu looks like a natural evolution that turns ephemeral prompts into user‑managed, schedulable items. Why this is significant:
- Major AI assistants (outside of platform‑tied solutions) have largely avoided full task/reminder management as a core capability. Microsoft’s approach embeds reminders inside the Copilot ecosystem where Chat history, Files, and scheduling already live.
- For Windows users, integration with system notifications and calendar surfaces can make Copilot’s reminders useful without leaving the desktop — provided Microsoft exposes the expected admin controls for corporate tenants.
- There are privacy and compliance considerations: scheduled prompts that reference tenant data (emails, SharePoint files) must respect admin toggles and data residency settings. Microsoft’s guidance flags experimental models and cross‑region data movement as risks to validate.
Projects: moving from ad‑hoc chats to organized workspaces
Microsoft is developing a
Projects capability inside Copilot that aims to replicate the organizational benefits users have seen in ChatGPT’s Projects (folders) — grouping chats, files, and instructions into a single workspace. TestingCatalog and several early reports describe Projects as “ongoing work” to help users categorize and manage chat histories; similar concepts have already shipped in ChatGPT and in other vendor apps. Microsoft’s product family (Dynamics 365 Copilot, Project Manager agents in Planner, and Copilot Studio) already has project‑oriented features, but a unified Copilot
Projects for personal and consumer contexts is a different product goal. Where Projects fits in the product landscape:
- In enterprise scenarios, Copilot for Project (Dynamics 365) is already a task‑generation and status‑reporting assistant for project managers; this is a domain‑specific capability distinct from a cross‑product “Projects” workspace in Copilot chat.
- Consumer/individual Projects would be valuable as a way to maintain context, share files, and persist project-specific instructions across multiple chats — but Microsoft’s public documentation doesn’t yet show a fully baked Projects UI inside Copilot chat the way ChatGPT ships it today. That difference matters: Teams should treat the current Projects reporting as in development and not as a production feature until Microsoft publishes official release notes.
Imagine gallery and Copilot 3D: creative experimentation
Copilot’s Imagine gallery is getting more visibility and more creative tooling. Copilot Labs already included a 2D‑to‑3D tool (often called Copilot 3D or Copilot 3D generator) that turns a single image into a downloadable GLB model, and Microsoft is expanding remixing and
3D model generation from images inside the gallery experience. Microsoft’s consumer Copilot pages and multiple press reports document the ability to create and download GLB files and to keep creations in a “My Creations” dashboard. Practical effects for creators:
- Quick prototyping: product teams, educators, and hobbyists can produce basic 3D assets rapidly from photos without learning a full 3D toolchain.
- IP and privacy: Microsoft’s published notes state user images are used to create models and are not used to train the models by default; users should still assume uploaded images remain subject to retention and sharing policies in their account.
- Integration potential: downloadable GLB files open doors to simple AR/3D previews on websites or inside presentation tools, but serious 3D workflows will still require Blender, Maya, or Substance tools for polishing.
Strengths: where Microsoft’s direction pays off
1. A pragmatic balance between speed and depth
GPT‑5.1’s
Instant/Thinking split and Microsoft’s routing mean Copilot can be both immediate and thorough. That lowers friction for routine productivity tasks while preserving higher‑quality output for complex workflows — a useful trade for broad user bases.
2. Platform integration and governance tooling
Copilot Studio, Agent 365, and the Power Platform give IT teams a realistic place to test new models within governance boundaries. Experimental flags and admin toggles make it easier to pilot promising features without endangering production systems. For Windows‑centered enterprises, this path is essential: it reduces the chance of surprise behavior hitting end users.
3. Productization of creativity and tasking
Imagine’s 3D tools and the move to add Reminders/Projects show Microsoft is thinking beyond chat. The assistant is being built as an integrated productivity layer — composing content, scheduling reminders, and organizing work — which can reduce context switching and improve task completion rates if executed carefully.
4. Incremental rollout reduces systemic risk
Making GPT‑5.1 experimental in Copilot Studio and rolling ChatGPT upgrades gradually helps avoid a single, large‑scale regression. Enterprises gain breathing room to benchmark and adjust policies before a global switch.
Risks and what IT teams must evaluate
1. Model behavior and persona risk
Personality presets and tone sliders are powerful UX levers — they can increase adoption when used correctly, but they also create compliance risk. A playful assistant in a legal, investor, or HR context can damage trust. Tone should be treated as a configurable policy setting under admin control.
2. Data residency and experimental model routing
Microsoft warns that experimental models may process data outside a tenant’s geography unless data movement is explicitly enabled. For regulated workloads, IT must validate where data traverses and whether connectors (SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange) are being used in a way that meets internal or external compliance requirements.
3. Execution primitives and automation risk
GPT‑5.1 brings developer primitives (e.g., structured patching, shell suggestions, action orchestration) that can enable powerful automations — and costly failures. Shell command suggestions or automated patch application require strict sandboxing, role‑based approvals, and audit trails before an organization should enable them broadly.
4. Feature mismatch and expectation management
Not every announced feature arrives in every surface at the same time. For instance,
Projects is reported as in development but there are different “projects” experiences across Microsoft’s stack (Dynamics 365 Project Copilot vs. a consumer Copilot Projects workspace). Treat third‑party reporting of “coming soon” features as signals to plan pilots — but don’t assume feature parity with ChatGPT or other vendors until Microsoft publishes release notes.
Practical guidance: recommended steps for IT and power users
- Run targeted pilots in Copilot Studio (non‑production): add GPT‑5.1 as an experimental model to representative agent workflows and log outputs. Use Power Platform sandboxes and limit experimental model access to a small set of users.
- Instrument and measure: track latency percentiles, hallucination incidents, error rates, and model‑variant distribution (Instant vs. Thinking). Model choice will materially affect costs and user experience.
- Update governance playbooks: explicitly include persona settings, scheduled prompts/reminder policies, and automation primitives in approval workflows. Make tone presets and action execution a part of compliance review.
- Validate data flows and residency: for regulated workloads, confirm where experimental models process data and whether tenant settings allow cross-region movement. Require explicit admin consent for cross‑region use.
- Treat Projects and Reminders as evolving features: design user training and fallback paths so early adopters don’t become dependent on features that can change during preview windows. Keep manual task and calendar workflows available.
The editorial verdict: measured optimism, with guardrails
Microsoft’s decision to route GPT‑5.1 into Copilot and to productize features like Reminders, Projects, and Copilot 3D is a pragmatic evolution: it maps advanced model behavior to real user problems rather than chasing model headlines alone. The Instant/Thinking split addresses a persistent UX tension — speed versus depth — while the addition of scheduling and project organization recognizes that the modern assistant must be more than an on‑demand Q&A tool.
That said, the most consequential changes are operational and governance‑related. Experimental model flags, new automation primitives, and tighter desktop integration create both opportunity and risk. Enterprises that treat Copilot upgrades as a faith‑based migration will be disappointed; those that pilot, measure, and bake new controls into admin workflows will gain real productivity benefits.
For Windows users and IT teams, the next 60–90 days are the right time to:
- Pilot GPT‑5.1 in sandboxed Copilot Studio tenants;
- Review automation and shell primitives for safe use;
- Map Reminders and scheduled prompts to existing calendar and notification policies; and
- Prepare governance for persona controls and project‑level persistence.
These developments illustrate a broader trend: AI assistants are shifting from being conversation partners to being integrated, scheduled, and project‑aware productivity layers. Microsoft’s multi‑model, staged approach — combined with Copilot Studio’s testing surface — gives enterprises a workable ramp to adopt these capabilities responsibly. The gains look real; the work required to adopt them safely is substantial.
What remains unverified or in flux
- Exact entitlement rules for which Copilot tiers get GPT‑5.1 Thinking by default in the Windows Copilot app are not clearly published; some early reports suggest differing policies between Microsoft and ChatGPT product tiers. Treat specific access claims as likely but confirm via tenant controls and official Microsoft notices before making rollout decisions.
- The final shape and cross‑product parity of Projects (consumer Copilot chat vs. ChatGPT Projects vs. Dynamics 365 project features) are still evolving. Organizations should not rely on a single “Projects” behavior until Microsoft issues formal release notes and admin controls.
- The Imagine gallery’s remixing and 3D model features are live in Copilot Labs and experimental channels but may differ across accounts and regions. Confirm export formats, retention policies, and content‑policy constraints before using generated models in production assets.
Microsoft’s Copilot roadmap is now two things at once: a model upgrade path driven by OpenAI’s GPT‑5.1 and a broader set of product experiments that push Copilot toward being a scheduling, organizing, and creative hub. For Windows users and IT teams, the sensible response is pragmatic: experiment early inside controlled environments, update governance for persona and automation settings, and treat projects/reminders as powerful but evolving features that demand verification before production adoption. The potential efficiency gains are substantial — provided organizations treat this phase as evaluation, not an immediate operational handoff.
Source: TestingCatalog
Copilot to get GPT-5.1 upgrade, Reminders and Projects