New Year, New Momentum: Here are three Copilot updates to get you started into 2026

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It's a new year, so I thought I'd start the year by mentioning three features already released, or soon going to be released. One of the features improves the workflow of sharing files with comments, the other improves the application specific Copilot, and the last feature makes it easer to find the nest available timeslot for a 1:1 meeting. As with all of my other posts, timelines can shift, and the timelines in this post is as written in the Message Center at the time of posting. AI-Summary experience when sharing files. With this new feature, copilot intent to help users share files with clearer context in just a few steps. Users will get the capability to generate a concise summary of a file and include it when sharing from the File Explorer share dialog or the OneDrive activity center. This will make it easier to share the context of a file and giving the receiver a faster understanding of what a document or file contains before they open it. General Availability announced...

Saving space with differencing disks?

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I just read, and followed this article on differencing disks: http://www.andrewconnell.com/blog/articles/UseVirtualPCsDifferencingDisksToYourAdvantage.aspx

It was really helpful for a first timer like me. In my daily work I have to access different customers’ remotely, and they all have different ways of logging on and different security requirements. To help me with this, I have set up a couple of virtual pc's. The only problem so far, has been the lack of space on my hard drive. But thanks to this article, I have saved a lot of space. I now only have 1 core disk with the operating system and basic functions. Then I have one VM, and diff-vhd for each customer.

In addition to the tips this guy have, there are a few things I want add to "what to do to the base".
If you're really keen on saving space, I would run cleanmgr on the disk first of all. Then I would look for hidden files and folder containing uninstall information on service packs and patches (Let's face it, if you're creating a static core, you're probably not going to uninstall these patches). After cleaning up, go through basic settings you like to set to your image. From the top of my head:
• Remove all visual effects you don't need
• Stop services you probably don't need (don't worry, you can enable them later, if needed)
• Start a few programs, and set your "standard settings"*
Then continue with the final preparations described in the article (and don't forget to sysprep if you want different SIDs in your environment.

(* One good example is Internet explorer. I always set my preferred homepage, usually blank, adjust some settings in advanced settings, set a preferred search engine and so forth. Since I "always" do it, it only makes sense to set it once, in the core)