Is Windows 11 about to go all-in with voice commands? Microsoft teases revelation of ‘something big’ tomorrow

• Microsoft has teased that “something big is coming” tomorrow
• Whatever the Windows 11 feature is, it will give your hands a rest
• It’s a clear hint about less typing and voice commands seem the most likely

Microsoft is teasing a major revelation for Windows 11 tomorrow, and it seemingly relates to pushing aside the keyboard – or at least using that peripheral less.

Windows Central noticed that the official Windows account on X posted a cryptic message about the hands of Windows users getting some time off and rest, and that there’ll be “something big” announced on Thursday October 16.

Clearly this refers to typing, and in reply to someone who posted that they like using their keyboard, the Windows account said: “Don’t worry, no keyboards were harmed.”

This makes more sense when viewed through the lens of the comments a couple of Microsoft executives have made in recent times about how we interact with Windows 11.

First of all, Microsoft’s Corporate VP for OS Security, David Weston, observed that in the future of Windows, the “world of mousing around and typing will feel as alien as it does to Gen-Z to use MS-DOS”, and that voice commands and talking to the PC are going to become more important.

Then Pavan Davuluri, VP of Windows and Devices at Microsoft, told us: “You’ll be able to speak to your computer while you’re writing, inking, or interacting with another person. You should be able to have a computer semantically understand your intent to interact with it.”

Analysis: A choice for voice

So, those remarks about voice input being more important to Windows 11, coupled with this new reference to typing less often, is surely an indication that Microsoft is going to reveal something major along these lines.

Voice commands have already come a long way in Windows 11 – it’s now the case that pretty much anywhere where you can type text in the interface, you can use voice input instead.

Beyond Windows 11’s Voice Access feature, Microsoft has brought voice dictation into Word, and it works very well I might add – this is an improved version of Dragon’s speech-to-text tech (which I’ve used a lot in the past, and was impressed with even back then).

Some extra strides have been taken with voice commands on Copilot+ PCs, too, and given that, this makes me wonder how much these potential new voice powers might be tied into AI – and perhaps require an NPU for responsive on-device processing.

Time will tell, but fortunately we don’t have long to wait – I’m certainly keen to see what Microsoft is cooking up here.

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