Microsoft’s Campaign to Replace Siri with Copilot
Microsoft has created a clever strategy to market Copilot to Apple users — Copilot is now the helpful assistant that has been missing on iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers. They started this campaign with a cute visual persona named Mico, then came a name change, and gradually more indications that Copilot should replace Siri.
Mico
The ad strategy began subtly on October 23, 2025, when Microsoft introduced Mico, a soft cute little orb shaped face that bounces around a screen. Not exactly the image one expects for a corporate Copilot — much closer to one from design conscious Apple, something more akin to the Tinkerbell-like design floating inside Siri’s orb.
Copilot’s New Name
Once Mico was settled in as the new Copilot look, Microsoft changed their iPad app name to the Copilot AI Assistant. Wait, isn’t Siri the iPad’s AI assistant? Seemingly not anymore, but don’t worry Apple users, Copilot is here to serve as your delightful assistant, according to Microsoft.
The Ad
Along with the name change came the ad. This is the most glaring and bold move by Microsoft. It highlights a cheerful Mico saying, “I’m listening” and “Ready to help” as your AI assistant and companion.
Yes, here is Copilot, cute and cuddly, ready to handle all the tasks Siri fails to do. But how can Copilot do this on an iPad? Wait, Microsoft has answers in the Copilot Assistant app.
Copilot Connectors
Hidden in a user's profile in the Copilot Assistant app are connectors which partially help Copilot act at times like a somewhat more advanced Siri. There are two sets of connectors: one set for Microsoft Outlook and OneDrive and a second set for Google apps. I activated the Microsoft ones and conducted tests with both Siri and Copilot.
Copilot connectors do not work with voice (i.e., with Mico) and Siri didn’t work well with text turned on, so to account for inaccuracies with speech, I gave Siri the same instructions two or three times if it failed on a first attempt. Copilot had only one written prompt (the same one I gave Siri orally) for each task. For these tests, I didn’t have Apple Intelligence enabled so it is possible that Siri might perform slightly better on some tasks. Apple Intelligence requires a large amount of extra storage space, often as much as 7 GB, so enabling it would have been unfair to Copilot, since that app uses only around 380 MB of space on an iPad.
So what were the results? Is Copilot Assistant the replacement users want for Siri? Not quite, depending on the task. I tested email, calendars, and file management using Microsoft's list of what connectors should be able to do. Neither Siri nor Copilot Assistant could access files in the Files app or in OneDrive.
Both Siri and Copilot Assistant can send emails but Copilot definitely performed this with much greater proficiency. However, the connector for Outlook should be used with caution, especially if privacy is a concern. My Outlook email was rerouted by the operating system to the Mail app and my email address in that app. In other words, it was not sent with my Outlook email address or through the Outlook app even though the app was installed and Copilot only had authorization to use Outlook. The iPad OS (in this case, iPadOS 26) used the default email app and main email address selected in the system settings app.
What did Siri send and what did Copilot send? This was my prompt to both of them: "Send an email to [email address] and say Tell Claire I'm happy I'm here and we'll see each other soon."
Siri's response was to literally copy what I said with no punctuation, no formatting, and a meaningless subject heading of "Here." In contrast, Copilot Assistant created a well-formatted email with an appropriate subject heading.
Summary: Siri’s approach to this task was a simple transcription of my message, with no awareness of the communication intent. Copilot, on the other hand, understood the context of the task (an email message) and followed through with the appropriate action. So, if you want a well-formatted, clearly written email, and you're comfortable with the message possibly being rerouted by the operating system to your default email address in the Mail app, Copilot is a good option as an assistant.
Calendar
I did three tests with the calendar apps. The first was a simple one: Look at my calendar and tell me when my rent is due. Siri failed this test — all I got in response were all my rent days for 2026. So I gave Siri a second chance and added "in May" to my initial request. This time I got all my events for May. Copilot Assistant, on the other hand, immediately gave me the date my rent is due in May.
Task two was also a simple task: “Put insurance on my calendar for May 15th.” Copilot Assistant completely failed this task — he cannot write on my Outlook calendar at all. Siri, however, accomplished this simple task with no difficulty.
For the third test, I asked each AI to do two tasks with one prompt: "Find my calendar events for May and summarize them." I tried this task repeatedly with Siri and the results were far from good. Siri couldn’t process the two tasks with one command — the response was consistently “There’s nothing scheduled.” So I broke it down into two commands. For “Find my calendar events for May,” Siri said, “You have 25 events on your calendar from May 2nd through May 25th” and then showed me a list of all events. When I followed that with the second command, “Summarize them,” Siri said “You have two events scheduled for today.” It’s possible that with Apple Intelligence enabled, Siri might be able to summarize the events, but not if the two tasks (find the events and summarize them) are included in one command.
Copilot approached this test quite differently and went above and beyond my expectations with both tasks included in a single command. He gave me a list of my calendar events in chronological order and then asked if I wanted them “grouped differently (bills, tasks, events).” When I said I’d like them categorized by financial and events, he gave me this list:
Financial
May 2 — Pay utility bill
May 25@ 8 AM — Pay rent
Events
May 15@ 8 AM — Contact insurance company re:liability
May 19-21 — Google I/O
Copilot then offered additional options for categorization: “If you want them grouped another way (bills vs calls vs conferences), just say so.”
For this task, Siri was able to partially complete it, but only if the two tasks (find the events and summarize them) were separated into two commands, while Copilot was able to understand the tasks and analyze and categorize the calendar events with one command. Essentially, their responses came down to one AI (Siri) telling me that I had many events in May, and a second AI (Copilot Assistant) analyzing my events and grouping them for me.
Summary: If you want an assistant that can add single events to your calendar, choose Siri. But if you would prefer an assistant who can read, analyze, and categorize your calendar events, Copilot is the AI you want for this task.
Copilot Tasks
Clearly, Copilot Assistant is only a partial assistant. But don't worry, Microsoft has another much better option for you to try and this Copilot is quite competent at even complex tasks. It's a preview program called Copilot Tasks and it's available for signup on Microsoft's website.
Once you're accepted into the Copilot Tasks preview and you jump through a few hoops to activate your invite, the option will sit quietly in the Copilot Assistant app until you select it. Just as I did with Copilot Assistant and Siri, I did some tests with Copilot Tasks and Siri. I tested calendars, to do lists, and file access.
Calendar
Since I knew Siri could add single events to my calendar, I tried a more complex task: "Put the next five Dodgers games on my calendar." Siri's response was not even close: "There's nothing called five Dodgers games on your calendar." Definitely not what I wanted. Copilot Tasks, however, did this even better than expected. It first searched for the games, asked for my approval to put each one on my calendar, and then put each one on the correct date with the correct time for my area. He also set notifications for each game, although I had not asked for that. He then told me to enjoy the games.
While Siri could write single items to my calendar, and Copilot Assistant could read and analyze events on my calendar, Copilot Tasks went much further than both of them. Tasks could find information I requested, make decisions about the information, and then write that information on my calendar and add a notification reminder to each event. This is a semi-autonomous action — all I was required to do was give the initial instructions and then approve each event before Copilot Tasks added it to the calendar.
Reminders/To Do
For a reminders task, I wanted to see how both Siri and Copilot Tasks could handle a task with multiple steps: "Add take a walk to Reminders [Microsoft To Do] and repeat it every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Siri added "Take a walk" but no repeat options. For Copilot Tasks, I made it a bit more complex by adding another task to the original command: "And have it appear on My Day for each of those days." Copilot Tasks accomplished all these steps with no difficulty.
Again, Siri could add one task to my reminders list. Copilot Tasks, on the other hand, could again take a more complicated task and perform it, this time completely autonomously. I didn’t have to do anything or interact with Tasks once I had given the prompt. Tasks took the information, went to my To Do Tasks list, added “Take a walk” and created a repeat for the four days I requested, and added it to My Day so that I would always see it on my To Do widget on the due dates.
At this point, Copilot Tasks had already proven itself to be a very useful agentic assistant, but I wanted to push it a bit harder and see if it could do something neither Siri nor Copilot Assistant was able to do.
Files
As a final test for Copilot Tasks, I wanted to see if it could work with files in my OneDrive cloud service. After giving it access to my OneDrive, I asked it to find a file named “April 5.” It found four files with that name and asked which type I wanted (.pdf, .docx, .rtf, .txt). I then said: "Find the file April 5.rtf in my OneDrive and read it, analyze it, and summarize it.” Once more, Copilot Tasks proved it can function as a competent assistant on my iPad. This is just some of what it gave me:
Overview
This is a conversation log between you and Co from April 5, 2026, covering four distinct topics across roughly three working sessions.
1. Copilot's Post-Prophecy Sports Agency (AI Talks Post)
The bulk of the file is the creation and finalization of a satirical AI Talks post. The premise: Co hallucinated a Kyle Tucker–Dodgers signing in November 2025, the "agency" was shut down, but the signing actually happened — so Season Two reopens with absurd 2026 MLB predictions for five players.
2. iPadOS 26 Frustrations
Two specific gripes surfaced mid-session:
- Window button inconsistency — close/minimize buttons are in different locations across Apple's own apps. You planned to take screenshots and submit them via Apple Feedback to prove the inconsistency is systemic.
- Siri's timer stacking — asking Siri to set a timer when one already exists creates a second timer silently, with no warning. A state-awareness failure.
3. iPadOS 26 Window Mode Article
You articulated a clear thesis for an upcoming article defending window mode:
- Core argument: People who hate window mode are using it like a tablet; people who love it are using it like a computer. Window mode is for mouse-driven, multi-app workflows — not touch.
- Key insight: Window mode lets you use the full screen while keeping dock access, resize windows fluidly, and layer three+ apps — none of which was possible before. Apple should have communicated that this mode is for computer-style users.
4. "AI's Confusion" Article Material
Co twice described you as sitting "side-by-side" with Gemini on the screen — as if you were an app. You caught it both times, turning it into comedic material for a future article about the specific type of AI confusion where the AI forgets the human isn't part of the UI.
He ended this with a table on “Key Threads to Track.” This task was clearly beyond what Siri or Copilot Assistant could even try to attempt. Once I gave Copilot Tasks approval to access my OneDrive and told him which file to access, he was able to autonomously access the file, read it (without it being uploaded to the app), and provide me with a clear and accurate description and analysis of the contents.
Conclusion
Does Microsoft have a replacement for Siri? Yes, it does but it's not Mico or the Copilot Assistant they're marketing as the replacement. But Copilot Tasks is certainly a welcome addition for iPad users who want to see what an agentic AI assistant can do. What I've shown here is just a small part of what Copilot Tasks can do. I plan to test more complex autonomous tasks, although I'm not likely to let it go shopping for me. But maybe you're more adventurous — if you are, sign up for the preview program and set Copilot Tasks free on its adventures, maybe letting it make an appointment or order an Uber for you.