Microsoft on Thursday unveiled new Surface computers and shared details on the release of this year’s version of Windows 11, including its embedded Copilot AI assistant, during an event in New York.

The company introduced the Surface Laptop Studio 2 and the Surface Laptop Go 3, and unveiled enterprise availability for Microsoft 365 Copilot, its supplemental AI tool for core productivity apps like Word and Excel.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella began the event by speaking about how the company’s Copilot AI tools will make a broad impact across its user base for consumers and enterprises.

“I mean, it’s crazy,” he said. “It’s kind of like the 90s are back. It’s exciting to be in a place where we’re bringing some software innovation and really having fun enjoying this entire journey.”

Rivals such as Atlassian, Google and Salesforce have also been racing to update their existing products with generative AI this year.

The Surface Laptop Studio 2 starts at $1,999, while the Surface Laptop Go 3 starts at $799. Both will ship with Microsoft’s revamped Windows 11 operating system, which includes its Copilot software. The new Surface models will be available Oct. 3 and are available for pre-order today, Microsoft said. 

Notably absent from the event was Panos Panay, the Microsoft executive who presented Surface computers to the public for a decade. On Monday Microsoft announced a series of leadership changes as it disclosed that Panay was leaving.

Here’s a rundown of Thursday’s news:

Microsoft said it will begin rolling out the next major update to Windows 11 on Sept. 26.

The update will include the new Copilot in the Bing search engine and the Edge web browser, and people will be able to summon the Copilot by holding down the Windows key and pressing the C key.

Here are some of the key features of the new version:

• Boot to the cloud. If you’re running a cloud-based version of Windows, you’ll be able to log directly into the cloud instance as your primary experience on the your PC, Microsoft said.
• Smarter snipping. It’s getting easier to pull out text directly from screenshots with Windows. When using the Snipping Tool app, you can copy text from a screenshot and quickly redact emails or phone numbers.
• Better backup. Microsoft will enable users to back up apps they’ve previously installed on a PC in order to restore them, along with pinned app preferences, in the future.
• Paint with words. The longstanding Paint app is getting a facelift with help from generative AI. People will be able to type in a few words of text, choose a style and have Paint auto-generate an image matching the description. It’s similar to tools from Adobe and other companies, as well as Microsoft’s own image creator in the Bing search engine.
• More taskbar customization. Windows 11 introduced a stark new taskbar that puts the Start button and a series of app icons in the center at the bottom of the screen. Now users can view app icons with labels, similar to how things looked in Windows 10. Even apps that aren’t running can appear with labels. Users will also be able to hide the time and date.
• Notepad with memory. Notepad will automatically save your status so that if you close the note-taking app and reopen it, you can get right back to your work.

And over time, it will help automate the process of coming up with ads. Alphabet and Meta have both been active in this area.

“Using Copilot in the Microsoft Advertising Platform, you can tailor content, design, and strategies to your branding and advertising goals, creating stunning and effective ads in minutes,” Kya Sainsbury-Carter, corporate VP for advertising at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post.

The Surface Laptop Studio 2 has a similar look and feel to the original model that launched in 2021. It can be used like a traditional laptop with a keyboard, but customers can also lay it flat and use it like a tablet.

It offers a 13th-generation Intel Core chip, with a few options for Nvidia graphics processing units: the GeForce RTX 4050 or 4060, or the RTX 2000 Ada Generation. Models with Nvidia graphics will come with 120-watt power supplies. Or people can choose integrated graphics with Intel Iris Xe.

The laptop starts at $799, an increase from the $599 starting price of the Surface Laptop Go 2.

Microsoft announced the Surface Go 4, the latest miniature version of its Surface Pro tablet that’s available exclusively for organizations. The company suggested in a release that the new model could be especially useful for businesses and frontline workers.

The Surface Go 4 can be docked to a monitor, used as a laptop with a paired keyboard or like a tablet using the touch screen.

It’s powered by an Intel N200 processor. The Surface Go 4 also features an 10.5-inch touchscreen display and supports 12.5 hours of battery life, which is an increase from the 11 hours of battery life offered by the Surface Go 3.

A 85-inch model and a smaller 50-inch option offer organizations an easy way to join Teams video calls. During Teams calls, software will be able to remove the background from various participants and adjust their sizes, Microsoft product marketing director Frank Buchholz wrote in a blog post.

The smaller version can switch between portrait and landscape modes. Two people can simultaneously draw or write on the devices with Surface Hub Pens or Surface Slim pens.

Microsoft is touting 60% better performance in the main processor of these devices and a 160% bump for their graphics processing units.

Large organizations will be able to start paying for Microsoft 365 Copilot starting Nov. 1.