Live Captions and Auto Translation Is Coming to More Windows PCs

Microsoft has released a new Windows 11 Insider Preview Build to the Dev Channel, which brings real-time translation and live captions to more devices. This was initially available only for Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs but is now extended to those using AMD and Intel processors.

The live captions feature now supports over 44 languages being translated into English, and it will work for live video calls, recordings, and streamed content. The focus of this rollout is on AMD and Intel-powered Copilot+ PCs with English set as the main language. For Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, real-time translation to Simplified Chinese and support for other languages such as Arabic, German, Spanish, French, and more are being released.

The update also improves real-time translation, specifically for Snapdragon-powered devices. Besides these updates, this build is similar to the one released last week. It seems like Microsoft is still trying to push AI features into its PCs, with some PCs being built with Copilot in mind.

Several issues were announced with this update, which likely means Microsoft will take care of them. One is a post-PC reset issue that may show the build version incorrectly but won’t hinder future updates. Problems with the Recall feature, like binary caching and incorrect snapshot saving messages, should be addressed in future updates.

Microsoft recommends that users update their Microsoft 365 apps for the best functionality of the Recall feature. However, opting out of Recall altogether is another great option that is probably the best thing to do until the issues and bugs are fixed.

The Click to Do feature has its own issues, like uneven highlighting in extended monitor modes and sometimes using additional context from Phi Silica. Live captions and real-time translation might also crash occasionally during first use or when switching languages while audio is playing or the microphone is on.

To make sure these new features work properly, users with AMD and Intel-based Copilot+ PCs should update their drivers via Windows Update. It’s a good idea to enable the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” option in Windows Update, or you can download drivers directly from AMD’s and Intel’s websites.

Source: Windows