Microsoft has quietly added OpenAI’s new GPT 5.6 model to Microsoft 365 Copilot on the very same day it reached ChatGPT, a surprisingly fast turnaround. The catch is that Microsoft renames the model, so instead of the clear Sol, Terra and Luna labels that OpenAI uses, Copilot users only see
Microsoft 365 business prices jumped on July 1, 2026, and if you manage a company or government subscription your next renewal will cost more. The increase hits Business, Enterprise, Frontline, and Government plans, with rises ranging from 0% to a steep 43%. Home users on Personal, Family, Premium, and Education
The AI engine inside your Excel and Outlook may have changed in the last few weeks, and Microsoft never told you. Microsoft has quietly started routing some Copilot prompts to its own MAI models instead of the OpenAI and Anthropic technology that used to do the work. The Copilot button
Microsoft’s new Surface 8GB RAM models look like a bargain, but they are a trap. In June 2026 Microsoft quietly added 8GB versions of the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop that cost more than last year’s 16GB models while giving you half the memory. 8GB is less than what most
Microsoft now has two different apps both called Copilot, and the naming is genuinely confusing. The Copilot app is a free, standalone AI chatbot built into Windows. The Microsoft 365 Copilot app is something else entirely: the old Microsoft 365 hub for your Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, now with
Outlook search has vastly improved with Immersive Search, and if your mailbox has a Copilot plan attached, it is worth trying today. Instead of hunting for exact keywords, you can type a plain English question like and get a real answer, complete with links back to the source emails. It
Microsoft now has a free Microsoft AI Playground where you can test its own in-house AI models with no Azure account and no credit card, just a Microsoft login. The MAI Playground opens up three models to try: MAI-Voice-2 for text to speech, MAI-Image-2.5 for text to image, and MAI-Transcribe-1.5
PowerPoint 365 with Copilot now hides a useful choice that most people never notice: separate AI image models for making slide graphics. Tucked below the main model selector are four options, GPT-Image-2, GPT-Image-1.5, MAI Image 2.5 and Flux.2 Flex, each with real strengths and weaknesses. Picking the right one means
Excel lets you pick which AI model Copilot uses, and the list keeps growing: various GPT options, two Claude Opus and the heavyweight Claude Fable 5 (maybe). If you do not understand the difference, you are not alone. This plain English guide explains what each Copilot AI model for Excel
Copilot in Word, Excel and PowerPoint lets you pick which AI model handles each task, but the menu is confusing and changes all the time. So what is an AI model, why does Microsoft offer several, and which Copilot model should you actually choose? This plain English guide explains the
Looking for the best AI for spreadsheets? We asked the four major AI sites, ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot, to build the same spreadsheet and the results split cleanly down the middle. But Claude and ChatGPT show an instant spreadsheet preview with every answer, so you can check
Microsoft has been crowing about its latest AI innovation, Microsoft Scout. Scout is the company’s newest AI agent, and it works very differently from Copilot. A lot of the hype is vague and full of Redmond’s latest favorite buzzwords. Here is a plain English explanation of what Microsoft Scout does
The much anticipated Copilot “Move to Ribbon” option has finally arrived in Microsoft 365 for Windows, and unlike the Mac version, the Copilot button really does return to the ribbon. The good news is that the choice is sticky, so it applies to all future Word documents instead of being
Microsoft’s much hated Copilot button finally has a way to get out of your way, and we’ve found the first real world example running on a live machine. The promised “Move to Ribbon” choice has arrived in Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but it’s not quite what Microsoft pledged. Instead of
Copilot inside your Microsoft 365 apps can’t reliably tell you which version, build, or platform it’s running on. Ask Copilot which Microsoft 365 version you have and you get one of two answers: a vague “I don’t have access to that,” or a confident reply that’s flat wrong. That’s not
Microsoft has quietly added a new Group Policy and Registry switch to Windows 11 that can remove the Microsoft Copilot app and the Microsoft 365 Copilot app from your PC. It sounds like the Copilot kill switch many Windows 11 users have been waiting for, but the fine print is
Microsoft has quietly added a “Move to ribbon” option to the much hated Copilot Dynamic Access Button in Word, Excel and PowerPoint, after a wave of customer complaints about the floating button cluttering every document, workbook and slide deck. The fix gives paying Microsoft 365 customers a way to push
Microsoft has added a Copilot floating button to Word, Excel and PowerPoint, parking a persistent icon in the bottom right corner of every document, spreadsheet and slide. New shortcuts make Copilot easier to reach, but there is no off switch. Here is what changed, what disappeared, and why this is
Asking ChatGPT, Copilot or any AI to write Office VBA code can save hours, but only if you prompt it the right way. These four practical prompting tips help you get cleaner, working VBA for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook on Windows or Mac, with fewer rewrites and far less
ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude and Gemini can all write Microsoft Office VBA code for you, and they have improved dramatically. Ask any modern AI to write a Word macro, an Excel automation, a PowerPoint slide builder or an Outlook search routine and you will get working code in seconds. We tested
If you have a Markdown (.md) file and need it in Microsoft Word, you have more options than you might think. From pasting text directly into Word Online to letting an AI do the heavy lifting in seconds, each method has its strengths and sweet spots. This Office Watch guide
Microsoft has switched on native Markdown editing in OneDrive and SharePoint, giving .md files a proper browser editor with View, Edit and Split modes. For anyone working with AI generated outputs, README files, technical notes or reusable prompts, this finally turns .md files into first class citizens inside Microsoft 365,
Office Watch calls AI Almost Intelligent for good reason. ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude and Gemini can rewrite a paragraph in seconds, summarize a long report, or turn rough notes into a polished email before your coffee cools. AI can also invent quotes, cite court cases that never existed, get a date
Microsoft has quietly removed the Copilot button from the Home tab in Word, Excel and PowerPoint and replaced it with a permanent floating icon at the bottom right of every document, sheet and slide. You cannot turn it off. You can only shrink it. We explain how this annoyance works,
