Microsoft just introduced some cool new AI tools, tailor-made for both Windows developers and IT professionals. It’s like they’ve got a whole set of shiny, fresh tricks up their sleeve to make everyone’s job a bit easier and more exciting.

Microsoft debuts new AI tools for Windows developers and IT professionals.

Microsoft is really into bringing artificial intelligence to your Windows 11 experience! They just spilled the beans at their Ignite 2023 conference about some updates and cool stuff for both developers and their cloud-based Windows 365 service.

In the recent Windows 11 update on September 26, Microsoft didn’t hold back. They added a bunch of features for developers, all aimed at making AI a big deal in the operating system. The idea? To make the developer experience super productive. And guess what? They’re rolling out new tools to help developers kickstart their AI projects on Windows, especially for creating and using conversational experiences. It’s like they’re giving developers the keys to the AI kingdom!

With regards to AI app development made simpler with the launch of its successor, Windows AI Studio, one can now get access to AI development tools and models made available through Azure AI Studio announced during Ignite, as well as models from other distributors including Hugging Face Inc. whereby developers can

Instead of large language models like OpenAI LP’s GPT-4, small language models (SLMs) have been designed, which are lightweight and provide a solution for specific industry-focused or business purposes. On the contrary, LLMs are supposed to be generic and occupy the processors’ cycles extensively; as such, it is costly to implement them, hence they normally sit in the cloud and execute over an array of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). Additionally using an SLM implies that all data processed is done locally therefore no data exits giving them more secure.

Developers get guided workspace setup for model configurations while fine tuning of the popular SLM’s like Phi, llama 2 and Mistral in AI studio. Developers can then quickly cycle through different models and refine them by accessing Prompt Flow and gradio template right from the work space.

The company is also going to release a Visual Studio Code extension in the upcoming weeks that would make it easy for devs who wish to start on AI app development to integrate their models into different Windows applications. It also comes with a guided interface in the form of a workspace that helps developers concentrate on developing and enables the Studio which prepares the environment automatically and offers AI tools.

AI Studio is about to get even cooler with new capabilities. Soon, it will bring you a bunch of fancy models designed specifically for Windows GPUs. First up on the list are Llama2-7B, Mistral-7B, and Stable Diffusion XL.

Now, let’s talk about Microsoft’s Copilot AI-assistant. It’s like this super-smart helper integrated into Windows 11, the Edge web browser, and Bing search. It can chat with you, help out with tasks in Windows, write documents in Word, crunch numbers in Excel—basically, it’s your AI sidekick.

But that’s not all. Developers, listen up! You’ll soon have the power to create and use small language models on your own turf. This means you can build custom AI-powered apps that chat with users, handle questions, automate tasks, and solve problems, all tailored to specific situations.

Oh, and there’s more good news. Microsoft is giving some love to Windows 365, the cloud-based OS service for Windows 11 or Windows 10, and Azure Virtual Desktop. Admins, get ready for an easier time deploying desktops and systems to both in-office and remote workers.

Windows 365 lets you launch a full operating system from anywhere on any device—MacBooks, iPads, Linux devices, Android phones—you name it. It’s like having your computer in the cloud. And for developers, there’s a Dev Box for creating personalized dev environments in the cloud, accessible from any device.

Azure-based Windows Virtual Desktops take a different approach, providing virtualized apps and remote desktops for Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Now, for some exciting previews. Windows 365 is gearing up for graphical processor unit support, perfect for creative tasks like graphic design and 3D modeling. There’s also a sneak peek at AI capabilities for Cloud PC resources, offering recommendations to save costs and boost efficiency.

Security buffs, Microsoft’s got your back. Single-sign-on and passwordless authentication support is ready to roll for Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop. They’re also adding features like blocking screen captures, protecting against tampering, and even a lockbox capability to keep your data safe from prying eyes.

And get this, soon organizations can encrypt their Windows 365 Cloud PC instance disks with their own encryption keys. This means top-notch security for your data while it’s resting in the cloud. Microsoft’s making sure your information stays safe and sound.