Microsoft adds Instagram-like filters and AI effects to profile pictures in sneaky upgrade as part of Windows 11 preview build
Windows 11 gets filters and AI effects, but they’re hidden in testing right now
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Windows 11has a new preview version out, and it introduces a batch of settings relating to user profile pictures, complete with freshAItricks to try out. These settings are included in the latestWindows 11preview in the Canary channel for testers, albeit they are hidden away in Build 26231.
This development was spotted and shared on X by @PhantomOfEarth, who is a keenWindows Insider. As you can see in the screenshot provided by @PhantomOfEarth, the profile picture options are located in a new section of the Accounts page (in Settings) called ‘Your info,’ and they allow you to apply effects and filters to your profile picture.
Looks like a new profile picture editor experience is being added to Settings, letting you make changes like adding effects and filters to the image before applying it. (disabled by default, build 26231.)vivetool /enable /id:45189370,47364920 pic.twitter.com/s3vYaIXJq9June 6, 2024
As noted, they are hidden away in the preview build, and you’ll need to use ViVeTool (a Windows configuration tool) to get them to appear.
AsWindows Latest observes, the new customization options and AI effects include the ability to blur your profile picture’s background, add portrait lighting, and upscale the resolution of the image.
There are also filters you can use to give your picture a distinctive appearance, similar to those you might benefit from on apps likeInstagram. Windows Latest reports that there are currently six different filters you can try out. As well as those filters, you can also transform your profile picture by rotating it clockwise or anticlockwise, or zooming in closer.
If you do enable these hidden options in Build 26231, keep in mind that there could still be bugs, as this is all still in testing (and early testing for that matter). We expect that issues will be ironed out when it comes to the final version of the feature, naturally.
A solid but unexciting addition to Windows 11
This seems a solid enough feature on the face of it, but I can’t say it particularly excites me as a Windows 11 user. Furthermore, I can foresee some people possibly getting annoyed thatMicrosoftis pushing AI into yet another corner of Windows 11 where it’s not necessarily improving things. It’s a neat enough demonstration of AI-assisted capabilities, but a niche thing really, and I don’t see how it improves Windows 11’s quality-of-life experience for users at its core.
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Other changes that have arrived in this preview build include a new Copy button in Windows Share that lets you copy files to the clipboard more easily, along with the auto-saving of captured recordings in the Windows 11 Snipping Tool. As you’d expect, there are a bunch of bug fixes for existing issues here, too.
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Kristina is a UK-based Computing Writer, and is interested in all things computing, software, tech, mathematics and science. Previously, she has written articles about popular culture, economics, and miscellaneous other topics.
She has a personal interest in the history of mathematics, science, and technology; in particular, she closely follows AI and philosophically-motivated discussions.
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