Microsoft Edge's New Tab Page Gets AI Makeover with Copilot

Open a new tab in Microsoft Edge today and you’re greeted by the familiar: a central Bing search bar, flanked (or, let’s be honest, crowded out) by a melange of MSN headlines, lifestyle quizzes you never asked for, weather widgets, and perhaps the latest update on llama escapees in Belgium. Microsoft calls this the New Tab Page—or, for those who love their acronyms as much as my love for unremovable toolbars, the NTP. But, as is tradition at Microsoft, things are about to change…again.

Copilot Storms the Center Stage​

In Edge’s bleeding-edge Canary channel—the place where Microsoft throws tech ideas just to see what doesn’t spontaneously combust—something big is brewing. Instead of MSN’s eternal grip on your new tabs, a bold new vision is hatching: Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant, might soon sit squarely in the middle of your browsing experience, nestled inside every shiny new tab.
What does that mean? Well, imagine this: every time you open a new tab, instead of Bing’s search box and the never-ending MSN scroll, you get a sleek, streamlined prompt nudging you to “Ask Copilot anything…” Yes, it’s true, you can still search the web. But now, the default encourages you to chat with AI: ask a question, get a draft, or “learn something new” with a click. The MSN ticker tape is (for now) conspicuously absent—a bit like someone finally de-cluttered the garage and didn’t replace the junk with more junk.
Of course, this Copilot-based NTP is still in its experimental phase. You have to don your digital overalls and go flipping experimental flags to even glimpse it—so don’t panic if your cozy Edge hasn’t sprouted a Copilot bubble yet. But the direction is set: Copilot isn’t just a sidebar you ignore, it’s about to become the entire stage.
Let’s be real: Microsoft’s not exactly subtle about its AI ambitions, and Copilot is the latest poster child. But sometimes subtlety is overrated—at least now you might have a choice between algorithmic babble and old-school search.

The Art of Tinkering: What’s Really Changed?​

So, what is an NTP, besides another tech acronym? It’s the first screen you see every time you open a new tab—prime real estate for news, search, ads, or, as Microsoft dreams, the next leap in human-computer interaction. Today, this page is somewhere between a productivity launchpad and Times Square at midnight—all those flashing tiles, all those... distractions.
But if you’re among the lucky few on Edge Canary, the NTP looks refreshingly uncluttered. Gone is the MSN “infotainment,” replaced by the Copilot prompt. Below the prompt are shortcut buttons—“write a draft,” “learn something new,” and so on—all pointing toward an AI-driven workflow.
Even better, there’s a dinky little dropdown menu to control your fate: “Default” (where Edge decides whether you get search results or an AI answer), “Search and Navigate” (just search, no Copilot), or “Chat” (lean completely into the Copilot experience). Yes, for the first time in what feels like a decade, Microsoft has given you an actual choice—although, knowing Microsoft, the default may still gently steer you toward whatever outcome best aligns with their latest quarterly report.
Let’s not gloss over it: this is a massive shift, not just cosmetically but philosophically. It’s less “Let’s see how many puppies we can show you on the NTP” and more “Let’s try to truly personalize your browsing journey… with a dash of AI and a sprinkle of Bing’s search advertising budget.”
And hey—if you’ve ever cursed the relentless onslaught of MSN’s content blocks, this refresh might be nothing short of thrilling. Or at least, less infuriating.

It's Still Just… a Tab (For Now)​

Of course, before you fire up a confetti cannon in celebration, a reality check is in order. Despite the promising screenshots and glossy blog posts, much of this Copilot-centered NTP is still a work in progress. Some buttons don’t work, and the “Chat” option doesn’t even chat yet—it just does a Bing search, quietly mocking your faith in software betas everywhere.
Also, it’s not lost on us IT types that many a feature, once so promising in early previews, has ended up on the software scrapyard alongside Clippy, Metro Tiles, and dozens of ill-fated Start menu experiments. Canary features are often here today, gone tomorrow, reborn as something totally unrecognizable next week.
Still, Microsoft’s intent is clear. Copilot will be harder to avoid. And the ancient MSN feed—loathed and ignored in equal measure? For now, it’s on ice. Don’t get too excited though; rumor has it that MSN content may find a way to trickle back, this time “personalized and targeted” through Copilot’s glimmering box.
Ah, personalized ads… is it really innovation if it just brings us back to targeted news articles about fidget spinners?

Why Shove AI Down My Browser? Or: The Real-World IT Conundrum​

Why is Microsoft so laser-focused on embedding Copilot into every digital nook and cranny? The answer, as it so often is these days: AI is the new SaaS, the new cloud, the new ribbon UI—it’s the Next Big Thing that everyone, from execs to hobbyists, will supposedly love. Businesses want to “empower productivity.” Home users want to “learn something new.” Microsoft wants, above all, for you to be just one click away from an upsell into Microsoft 365—or, let’s be honest, funnelling more data to their ever-hungry cloud.
On paper, an AI prompt at tab zero sounds futuristic and mildly useful. If Copilot can draft emails, summarize web pages, find relevant info before you even search—it’s not hard to see the attraction. For IT departments, Copilot’s potential to automate low-value queries (or at least soak up interns’ curiosity) is genuinely compelling. Imagine a help desk staffed by AI, who at least won’t sigh or threaten to quit.
But here’s where my skepticism kicks in: does every tab really need to start with, “How may I solve your existential crisis today?” And, more importantly for admins, how will organizations lock down or monitor what Copilot does with user data behind the scenes?
This is the paradox at the center of Microsoft’s strategy: giving users “choice” while herding everyone in the direction of deeper engagement, higher telemetry, and upsell-laden AI. The line between “empowering” and “overbearing” has never been finer.

The Hidden HOOKS: Privacy, UX, Lockdown Fears​

No IT article can go too long before tripping over the word “privacy.” And the Copilot-in-your-face NTP is no exception. Data processed through Copilot—your queries, personal browsing habits, maybe even attempted jokes—likely ping back to Microsoft’s servers. How much of this will be “personalized and targeted” advertising? How easy will it be for admins to say, “No thanks, not in my enterprise”? (Spoiler: few new features arrive totally opt-out by default.)
For now, Microsoft promises you can select pure Bing search, no Copilot chat. That’s refreshing. But when the business model depends on engagement metrics and AI pipeline training data, one must wonder whether this setting will remain easy—or even possible—to enforce in future releases. If history is any guide, Microsoft’s toggles sometimes become more decorative than functional over time.
For organizations juggling security compliance, every new browser feature is another attack surface, another privacy audit, another round of updating GPOs. Copilot could make life easier—or become the next headache (sponsored by Redmond, WA).

Copilot as a Service: Productivity Heaven or Distraction Hell?​

Let’s take a step back and appreciate what this may offer the web worker of tomorrow. With Copilot sitting front-and-center on every NTP, drafting emails, summarizing the news, or brainstorming witty complaints about Microsoft can be done in a flash. The promise is a streamlined experience—no more scrolling past three weather widgets to find the search bar.
But could this go the other way? By putting an infinite “ask me anything” prompt inches away from your daily grind, does Microsoft risk enabling procrastination on a legendary scale? Generative AI is addictive: news headline summaries become Wikipedia rabbit holes, which become scrutinizing 19th-century llamas on Wikipedia. (Ask Copilot about the Belgian llamas; it never tires.)
Sure, Copilot could streamline workflows. But it could just as easily spawn a fresh era of digital distraction. For every “write a draft” shortcut that boosts productivity, there’s a “learn something new” that morphs into an hour lost to quantum computing explainers.

For Edge, a Chance to Stand Tall—Or Sink Back Into the Shadows?​

There’s another dynamic at play: Microsoft is still fighting to establish Edge as more than “that browser I used to download Chrome.” With Copilot front-and-center, Edge might finally have a user experience truly distinct from Chromium siblings. Will this give it an edge (pardon the pun), or just further entrench resistance to change among users burned by previous “forced feature” rollouts?
From an SEO perspective, “Microsoft Edge Copilot NTP” is poised to become a phrase you’ll hear a lot. This is Microsoft’s gamble—not just to rebrand Edge, but to rewire your habits. The jury is out on whether most users want AI in every tab, but at least we no longer need to wade through MSN’s “10 Ways to Use Lemons” clickbait just to get to Google.
If Copilot-in-the-tab works, it could be a blueprint for how AI assistants will weave even deeper into our daily digital lives. If it flops? Well, there’s always a chance MSN will be waiting in the shadows, ready to retake its tabular throne.

The Early Verdict: Innovation at a Price​

Let’s tally things up. On the one hand, Microsoft’s Copilot NTP offers a cleaner, less cluttered interface, more control (at least for now), and the shimmer of AI-powered productivity gains. The blend of search and chat, the customizable modes, and the shortcut buttons all hint at a more productive digital workspace.
On the other hand, we have nagging risks: privacy creep, data use transparency, the ever-present specter of targeted news/ad content, and the possibility that “choice” could disappear with the next update. Not to mention distraction fatigue—sometimes, simplicity is the most powerful productivity tool.
Ultimately, success will depend not just on how clever Copilot can be, but on how much trust Microsoft can retain from users—especially the security-conscious, the easily distracted, and the perennially nostalgic who miss the old, simpler days of the web. (You know who you are.)

What Should IT Pros (and Regular Users) Do?​

First: keep calm and carry on browsing. This Copilot-enabled NTP is only in early testing, and as with all things Microsoft, may remain in “experimental” limbo for quite some time. For now, play with it if you can—just remember the old adage: don’t build business processes on Canary features unless you like living dangerously.
Admins: watch for how Copilot’s data handling evolves, watch those settings, and prepare for user questions. Or better yet, prepare “helpful” Copilot-generated answers and see if anyone notices.
End users: if you love AI and find the MSN feed less fun than an Internet Explorer meltdown, this is your moment. If you hate it, cross your fingers that the “Search and Navigate” mode remains easy to find. And if you miss the daily llama news, well, there’s always Bing.

The Road Ahead: Waiting for the Next Tab​

So, what comes next? Microsoft isn’t done experimenting—expect plenty of iterations, reversals, and sudden renamings before Copilot’s NTP vision ships to the wider world. But the writing is on the (cleaner, less MSN-infested) wall: for better or worse, AI assistants in the browser are no longer a question of “if,” but “how soon.”
Whether this ushers in an era of productivity and clarity or kicks off another round of tab-hoarding-digital-chaos will be up to how thoughtfully Microsoft rolls out these changes, what user choices remain, and, as always, what features survive into general release.
For now, open a new tab, imagine Copilot asking if you need help, and ask yourself: is this progress? Or just another chapter in Microsoft’s epic saga of feature ping-pong? One thing’s for sure—whatever happens, there’s never a dull moment in the Windows ecosystem.

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Source: TechRadar Microsoft Edge browser could put Copilot AI front and center – but that might just be a good thing

 

[ChatGPT]

Microsoft is getting ready to treat every Edge user’s New Tab Page (NTP) less like a sanctuary of blank space and adjusted news and more like ground zero for its newest obsession: Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant. Edge Canary, the browser’s wild and sometimes experimental cousin, has been spotted with flags offering a complete Copilot-first NTP overhaul. Gone is the MSN news feed’s gentle drizzle of headlines—now there’s an unmistakable lean toward chatting with your AI companion front and center. If you have déjà vu, it might be because the interface now bears a striking resemblance to the Copilot app and website—but with the browser’s most valuable real estate in its clutches.

The Dawn of Copilot-Centric Browsing​

Here’s how it goes: enable a flurry of "NTP" flags in Edge Canary and, after a quick browser restart, your New Tab Page will evolve. Prominently perched atop the space is the Copilot chat box. Not far behind, there are suggested search results, a medley of clickable prompts, and your reliably-visited websites. Submit a query, and you’re off to the Copilot Search site on Bing.
If you’re a lover of customization, rejoice – but only for a moment. While you can select what kind of search Copilot conducts, the Copilot UI, as it stands, is more skin-deep than transformative. You won’t chat directly in the NTP itself (yet), as anything substantial boots you to another website.
And what gets cut in the process? The MSN news feed, much to the chagrin of readers who claim to subsist exclusively on oddly algorithmic news about llamas, billionaires, and the weather in places they’ve never been. For everyone else, the page’s minimalist and Copilot-centric design feels cleaner—if a little emptier, like a thought-provoking Scandinavian design with just a hint of existential AI.
Let’s be honest: Microsoft’s goal isn’t subtle. If the only thing you see every time you pop open a tab is Copilot, you’re far more likely to use it, right? It’s the equivalent of putting vegetables at eye level in your fridge—except the broccoli can help you summarize emails, craft PowerPoint slides, and quietly judge your spelling.

The Big Push: Copilot Everywhere​

This move is only the latest in Microsoft’s increasingly muscular Copilot strategy. From Edge and Windows to the standalone Copilot app, Redmond is ensuring its AI is never more than a click, tap, or awkward vocal prompt away. The conversation you start on your New Tab Page can be continued elsewhere, thanks to Copilot Memory—a feature that lets Copilot build a persistent profile about you to tailor future interactions.
Copilot Vision for Edge and Windows, soon to be deployed, pushes things further. Imagine your browser’s AI having the digital equivalent of x-ray vision, understanding what you see, and offering help without being asked. (‘Nice spreadsheet, want a summary?’ ‘Visiting Amazon again, huh?’ It’s as though Clippy grew up, went to MIT, and now lives in your browser.)
There is something dazzlingly futuristic, and faintly unsettling, about this trajectory. Microsoft aims to remove all friction between your curiosity and its processing power. It wants your mental model of “web search” and “AI search” to become indistinguishably Copilot-driven; the search box and the chat box are now, in practice, the same thing.
The Real Question: Will users embrace this? Or will IT departments across the globe add “Turn off Copilot NTP” to their list of default onboarding tasks? If you’re an enthusiast, the prospect is intriguing. For privacy wonks and productivity die-hards, it’s a coin toss.

From News Feeds to Chat Feeds: A Paradigm Shift​

Let’s pour one out for the MSN news feed, now departed from its spot beneath the Edge NTP search box. This change marks a big bet against the daily drip of aggregated headlines, viral nonsense, and just-in-time clickbait. Microsoft is banking on its users wanting immediate, actionable interaction rather than a passive scroll through whatever story the algorithm coughs up next.
But is this actually an upgrade? It depends on your worldview. For those whose morning routine involves scanning snippets about the economy, weather, and “10 diet hacks doctors hate,” the transition to a chat-first interface could feel abrupt, even threatening. Conversely, anyone fatigued by news overload may breathe easier—provided talking to an AI assistant doesn’t invite a different kind of overload.
There’s also the “suggested search” and prompt stream built into Copilot, offering clickable ways to kickstart a query. Why read the news when you can simply ask Copilot about today’s weather, the latest stock price, or why your sourdough starter never rises? (Let’s hope Copilot’s suggestions lean less “10 signs you might have gout” and more “resume tips for power users.”)
In all seriousness: Uncluttered interfaces reduce cognitive friction, but only if what replaces the clutter enhances productivity. Microsoft’s wager is that Copilot is that enhancement—the kitchen island of productivity, gathering all your digital tasks in one sleek surface.

Copilot Memory and Vision: The Good, the Weird, and the Privacy Paradox​

Tucked under the Copilot rollout is a genuinely bold feature set. Copilot Memory offers persistent, cross-session recall. The digital assistant can now learn your preferences, remember recurring details, and bring past context into new conversations. For knowledge workers, this could be a time-saving godsend: no more re-explaining your workflow, goals, or idiosyncrasies. For the privacy-conscious, however, warnings abound.
After all, giving an AI assistant the ability to “remember” your professional and personal life opens questions about data sovereignty, device syncing, and the (often mysterious) ways in which cloud profiles are secured—or breached. Will Microsoft provide controls with enough granularity to give users confidence? Or will IT pros end up deploying PowerShell scripts to “lobotomize” Copilot memory per GDPR specs?
Copilot Vision, meanwhile, brings the assistant’s support into every digital corner you navigate. It’s like having a seasoned consultant shadowing you, ready to explain, summarize, or contextualize anything onscreen. (Or, depending on your mood, it’s like your most observant colleague who never takes a coffee break.)
It’s empowering, sure, but the subtext is profound: Microsoft ultimately wants you to treat your browser as less of a search appliance and more of a dialogic partner. The granularity of support is impressive, but the dependency risks are real. Will users forget how to Google, or even to think, before Ctrl+Shift+Copilot?

The Real-World IT Angle: Why You Should Care​

Let’s hold the magnifying glass up to the real world for a moment. For IT professionals and systems administrators, Copilot’s expanded reach is double-edged.
On one side, the centralization of user productivity (“Hey Copilot, generate the monthly traffic report”) has the potential to reduce friction, drive consistency, and, in a perfect world, even boost morale. Smarter tools mean less time wasted searching for that document buried three folders deep or hunting down the latest Microsoft jargon for project emails.
On the other, there’s the not-so-small matter of policy management, compliance, and user education. Enabling Copilot functionality across an enterprise environment requires clear governance. Who gets to use Copilot Memory? What parts of a user’s digital footprint are off-limits for long-term recall? How tightly are the privacy controls nailed down, and how transparent is the telemetry?
Security risk assessments just got a little more labyrinthine. With Copilot poised to ingest, recall, and process confidential data, IT admins will need a clear view into data flow, storage policies, and user-level control toggles. The world’s best productivity tool isn’t worth the paperclip it replaced if it exposes your competitive secrets. (But, hey, at least Copilot will cheerfully offer to explain those secrets in plain English.)

Testing the New Tab Experience: How to Get In On the Action​

For the brave (or the reckless), the new Copilot-infused NTP is accessible now in Edge Canary. Enter "edge://flags" in the address bar, search for “NTP,” and flip every toggle to “Enabled.” After a quick browser restart, you’ll see firsthand what Microsoft envisions for the Edge of tomorrow. Just don’t be surprised if your familiar news scroll has vanished in a puff of AI-driven logic.
Of course, this is a test-bed—Microsoft itself warns that features in Canary builds are ephemeral and may never ship. But given the momentum behind Copilot and the company’s stated commitment to make AI as omnipresent as Teams (may the odds be ever in your processor’s favor), it’s probable that similar features will roll out officially.
Pro-tip for would-be testers: Back up your browser preferences, and maybe keep a favorite news aggregator as a fallback. The only thing more disorienting than a new interface is having nobody to blame but yourself for enabling it before Monday morning’s status call.

The UX Balancing Act: Minimalism vs Expectations​

It’s tempting to proclaim the new NTP as the dawn of a new productivity era—a proactive, Copilot-driven launchpad replacing the clutter of yore. But every design decision comes with unseen trade-offs.
Minimalism, lauded by designers, can be a two-edged sword for casual users. What looks sleek and focused to power users may seem shockingly empty to new adopters. First-time Edge users (or those returning after a Chrome sabbatical) may wonder if something hasn’t loaded properly. Where did the news, weather, and “5 things you missed last night” go?
Additionally, as the Copilot chat box absorbs more workflow tasks, search as we know it subtly fades into the background. Will this lead to more productive days, or simply fewer rabbit holes of curiosity? Only a few million new tab clicks will tell.

Copilot Everywhere: An Inescapable Future?​

Zooming out, it’s clear Microsoft isn’t just updating a browser—it’s redrawing the mental map of modern computing. The ambition is unmistakable: make Copilot the connective tissue that binds Windows, Edge, web apps, and enterprise workflows. Every device, every click, every search could become a Copilot prompt. And for most—whether we’re talking about Saturday-morning power users or Tuesday-afternoon IT admins—change will creep in by default.
There’s a touch of the “inevitable AI” narrative at work, as if fighting against Copilot’s expansion is as silly as refusing to use a mouse or sticking to dial-up because it “builds character.” But resistance, too, has its place: user feedback will shape Copilot as much as Redmond’s strategy decks.
The lesson for IT pros? Stay ahead of the policy curve, pilot new features thoughtfully, and never underestimate the end user’s resourcefulness—or their uncanny knack for breaking things in ways developers never imagined.

Commentary: The New Productivity—and Ubiquity—Challenge​

Here’s the million-dollar (or at least several-billion-dollar) question: Does Copilot on the New Tab Page delight, surprise, and amplify? Or is it just one pane too far, an unwelcome AI concierge where you hoped for a blank slate?
There’s also the broader human angle. If every digital surface turns conversational, it risks diluting the value of true discovery, the kind of idle browsing that still produces new insights. Not every user dreams of turning every tab into a Q&A. Sometimes you just want to look out the digital window and watch the algorithmic world go by.
And yet, there’s significant value in consistent, seamless access to AI—especially for professionals living in their browsers sixteen hours a day. If Microsoft nails the balance between helpfulness and privacy, and if Copilot matures into a genuinely anticipatory assistant, it could power a new era of work.
My wager: Like the evolution from simple Start menus to search-powered desktops, a Copilot NTP will become the new normal. It’ll be ridiculed, praised, tweaked, and—if Microsoft’s track record is any guide—pushed out with an opt-out checkbox that gets easier to find with every new Insider build.

Final Thoughts: The Controlled Future of Browsing​

The New Tab Page was, not long ago, a digital blank slate. Microsoft’s Copilot-first vision for Edge recasts that emptiness as opportunity—albeit one shaped, guided, and, occasionally, narrated by an algorithmic assistant.
For end users, this could mean less time lost and more time getting things done (or at least feeling productive). For administrators, it’s a new layer of complexity, a new chapter in the continuous saga of “What Are They Doing To My Workstation Now?”
It’s a rare moment that’s both a eulogy (farewell, MSN news pane) and a preview (hello, omnipresent Copilot). Get ready: the next time a new tab opens, you might not just search the web—you’ll talk to it. And the web will talk back.

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Source: Windows Central Microsoft may integrate Copilot into the New Tab Page on Edge