Windows 11 users rebel as top Microsoft exec says operating system is ‘evolving into an agentic OS’
- Pavan Davuluri, head of Windows at Microsoft, says Windows 11 is ‘evolving towards an agentic operating system’
- There was quite a negative reaction to this on social media
- Many people are tired of many things, but the relentless push of AI and buzzwords, as well as the lack of attention to the fundamentals of Windows 11, are obvious sources of frustration.
A top Microsoft executive who runs Windows said the future of the desktop platform is about “evolving into an agentic operating system” and advancing AI, prompting a wave of backlash on various social forums.
Windows Central highlighted an article about X from Pavan Davuluri, vice president of Windows and devices at Microsoft.
Windows is evolving into an agent operating system, connecting devices, the cloud, and AI to unlock intelligent productivity and secure work anywhere. Join us at #MSIgnite to see how pioneering businesses are transforming with Windows and what’s next for the platform. We can’t wait to show it to you!…November 10, 2025
The key part reads: “Windows is evolving into an agent operating system, connecting devices, cloud and AI to unlock intelligent productivity and secure work anywhere.”
This follows several similar comments that have leaked into various recent Microsoft blog posts, or soundbites from executives, since the software giant revealed its grand vision for ‘making every Windows 11 PC an AI PC in the future. That means moving forward with pushing Copilot, new AI and voice input features (and Mico, a new face for AI in Windows, or, to look at it another way, a new version of Clippy or Cortana).
The fact that Windows 11 is going to go “AI-native” is another variation of the beat in a relentless drumbeat of buzzwords that seem to be spouting from Microsoft executives lately — but it’s a tune that many Windows users obviously don’t want to dance to. I certainly don’t trust the comments on this post on X.
Here’s a sample of one of the many scathing comments about
And when Microsoft is thanked in this thread’s replies, it seems to be from people who are just repeating company sound bites – like “the integration of AI, cloud and devices seems to be a productivity game changer” – or who are thanking the software giant for Windows 11 who is now giving them the final push to move to Linux, making them so much happier.
The criticism leveled against Microsoft is just as serious on Reddit, as you can imagine. This includes general concerns about AI bloat, as well as the possibility that AI agents in Windows 11 are additional attack surfaces that malicious actors could exploit to compromise the user in some way. (Microsoft has addressed security concerns in its previous revelations about the big move to “all AI PCs” in fairness, but that’s not likely to ease the nerves of those counting the number of bugs that have appeared in Windows 11).
Ignore the little guys at your peril, Microsoft
So, first of all, it’s worth clarifying that Davuluri’s comment on X is about Microsoft’s Ignite conference which is aimed at IT professionals and business leaders. So this article is a business topic – but there’s no doubt that this is where Microsoft is heading for all Windows 11 users.
As probably hasn’t escaped your attention, the AI revolution has been Microsoft’s main source of hype ever since ChatGPT burst onto the scene and Satya Nadella’s team hunkered down to get in on the action. Microsoft of course has a deep interest in AI, and the AI revolution was initially talked about in terms of Copilot+ PCs with proprietary AI-powered features, but it’s now about much broader “agentic” AI, the latest buzzword that everyone is already sick of.
What is an AI agent? For consumers at least, it should be an AI bot that will help you do things in Windows based on natural language (and voice) queries, but of course the fear is that it will become a bot that also tries to sell you things in Windows, namely Microsoft things (or stuff that other companies pay Microsoft to peddle).
And that fear is hardly unfounded, as Microsoft has steadily moved forward with increasingly annoying upselling efforts in Windows 11 over time (and it was already no picnic to avoid this kind of nonsense in Windows 10, before the new operating system launched).
As this new barrage of social media feedback indicates, people are fed up with Microsoft’s various promotions and thinly (if at all) veiled “please buy” messages. Declared“) advertisements in Windows 11 – an operating system they have already paid. (All of this would be different if Windows were free – but it’s not, it’s built into the cost of your prebuilt PC or laptop, or standalone license).
On top of that, people are frustrated that Microsoft is moving forward with AI and not fixing Windows 11’s fundamental problems. They don’t want an AI agent that can make it a website that hangs around the operating system (although that’s kind of an interesting idea, admittedly). What they Really what you want is a right-click context menu, or a search function, which isn’t mysteriously slow, or basic features like the ability to move the taskbar away from the bottom of the screen (like you can do in Windows 10).
However, Microsoft isn’t listening. At the start of Windows 11, there was some sort of promise to take feedback and work with it to improve the operating system, but that philosophy seems to have gone out the window (or even Windows). Now it feels like you’re getting AI whether you like it or not (and shareholders will certainly like it, which is a major irritant for the more cynical here).
Mind you, there is not necessarily anything wrong with AI – if it is implemented in an intelligent and targeted way. But if Microsoft can’t get simple things like a context menu to work properly in Windows 11, and it continues to report bugs seemingly incessantly with the operating system, it’s no wonder there isn’t much confidence in AI succeeding.
Microsoft needs to go back to making Windows 11 for the little guys – the core consumers using the operating system – and not for what the company itself needs in terms of promoting services, making more money, or impressing shareholders. Especially because right now it seems like the little guys are moving towards a tipping point of frustration with Microsoft’s vision for the future of Windows and the lack of attention to the fundamentals of the operating system.
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