Has Microsoft finally reckoned with Windows 11’s many failings - or has its OS chief, Pavan Davuluri, simply offered more soothing platitudes to users fed up with bugs and unwanted AI?

Davuluri wrote a lengthy post on the Windows blog that was long on promises that things will get better, but short on words like “sorry,” “apologize,” or even the Americanism “our bad.”

According to Davuluri, the movable taskbar dropped from Windows 11 is returning. Windows Update will stop forcing restarts quite so relentlessly. File Explorer will work as it should. And Windows itself will be less of a resource hog, faster, and more reliable.

Microsoft has also promised to rethink its obsession with AI. Davuluri said: “We are reducing unnecessary Copilot entry points, starting with apps like Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets, and Notepad.”

Not that Copilot is going away. “You will see us be more intentional about how and where Copilot integrates across Windows, focusing on experiences that are genuinely useful and well‑crafted,” Davuluri said.

This implies that, up to now, the changes have not been intentional. So spraying Windows with the assistant, regardless of how users felt about it, was somehow an accident?

Windows 11 has become a bit of a car crash in the last few years - borked update after borked update. Rather than fixing problems, Microsoft instead focused on adding AI to Notepad and Paint. Users cried out for the return of seemingly minor functionality, such as the ability to move the taskbar, but Microsoft instead offered widgets and more Copilot.