Microsoft's Project Aion: An AI OS Without a Start Menu

Tech media Windows Latest found clues from the BetaWiki Discord channel, revealing that Microsoft's Project Aion is an AI operating system for enterprise users, internally codenamed CopilotOS. It's built on the Edge browser and a lightweight Web3 Windows codebase, designed entirely for AI scenarios, without a traditional start menu or desktop icons. When users click the Copilot button, the system shows a greeting and task cards like 'Stay on Top' and 'News of the day.'

Aion's 'My Stuff' area integrates app entries like Edge, Teams, and Outlook. Users interact through the 'Ask me anything' input box, which offers autocomplete suggestions and saves conversations as cards. The Spaces feature organizes tasks by goals, such as a space for planning a trip to Turkey. Additionally, Aion can search SharePoint and emails, and uses Context IQ to pull colleagues and files from Microsoft 365 to help draft emails with tone options.