ByTony Bradley,
Senior Contributor.
We are all familiar with the basic concept of Microsoft Windows as an operating system. You install apps, click around with a mouse, and maybe script a few things on the side. That model still exists, but it now sits beside something fundamentally new: software that acts for the user rather than waiting for instructions. AI agents can interpret tasks, make decisions, and execute actions at a level that looks less like a tool and more like a digital coworker.
That shift forces a rethink of what an operating system must do. If agents are going to perform tasks that mimic human behavior—retrieving files, changing settings, manipulating applications—Windows has to recognize them, govern them, and contain them. At Ignite 2025, Microsoft previewed a number of updates to Windows that show the early contours of that transformation.
I sat down with Jatinder Mann, partner director for product management at Microsoft, and Divya Venkataramu, director of product marketing management for the Windows Developer Platform at Microsoft, to talk about the updates and what they mean for both businesses and users.
