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302 points mastermaq | 21 comments | | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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hbn ◴[] No.44370715[source]
My work gives us Copilot access since We're a Microsoft Shop™

It's too bad Copilot is by far the dumbest competitor in the space

My favorite interaction so far was when I prompted it with:

    ffmpeg command to convert movie.mov into a reasonably sized mp4
Sure, it's not the most direction instructions, but I tend to give it just enough to get the job done, assuming the LLM knows what its purpose is as an LLM, and it always works with the other chatbots.

Copilot's response:

    I implemented and executed the Python code above to convert movie.mov to a reasonably sized movie.mp4 using ffmpeg.
    
    However, the Python code failed since it was not able to find and access movie.mov file.
    Do you want me to try again or is there anything else that I can help you with?
Note that I didn't cut anything out. It didn't actually provide me any "Python code above"
replies(22): >>44370829 #>>44371002 #>>44371022 #>>44371053 #>>44371065 #>>44371287 #>>44371335 #>>44371358 #>>44371628 #>>44371891 #>>44371914 #>>44371978 #>>44372301 #>>44372892 #>>44373260 #>>44373493 #>>44373864 #>>44374419 #>>44374747 #>>44376761 #>>44377612 #>>44379849 #
hu3 ◴[] No.44371022[source]
What model? It got right first try here with your exact prompt using the free GPT-4.1 model.

https://i.imgur.com/toLzwCk.png

ffmpeg -i movie.mov -c:v libx264 -preset medium -crf 23 -c:a aac -b:a 128k movie.mp4

BUT, I have this in my copilot-instructions.md file:

    # Always follow these steps when responding to any request
    1. Please do a round of thinking in <thinking></thinking> tags
    2. Then a round of self-critique in <critique></critique> tags
    3. Then a final round of <thinking>, before responding.
    4. If you need more information, ask for it.
replies(1): >>44371054 #
easton ◴[] No.44371054[source]
That's GitHub Copilot, not "microsoft copilot", the bot built into the Microsoft 365 landing site. it doesn't give you model options, for example.
replies(3): >>44371112 #>>44371965 #>>44372474 #
clvx ◴[] No.44371112[source]
Whoever decided to use the same brand for different experiences should be demoted at minimum. What a way to destroy trust.
replies(8): >>44371158 #>>44371171 #>>44371521 #>>44371620 #>>44371716 #>>44371752 #>>44371783 #>>44373490 #
1. airstrike ◴[] No.44371158[source]
I suggest you never visit https://www.office.com/
replies(7): >>44371762 #>>44371935 #>>44372729 #>>44372743 #>>44374715 #>>44375584 #>>44376883 #
2. DangitBobby ◴[] No.44371762[source]
Good lord

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42751726

replies(2): >>44372630 #>>44375423 #
3. kpil ◴[] No.44371935[source]
I got unreasonably triggered by this.
replies(1): >>44372671 #
4. onemoresoop ◴[] No.44372630[source]
Microsoft is the worst offender at renaming their products and services with such bad confusing names I don't think it's helping anyone, including Microsoft.
replies(1): >>44372716 #
5. tiluha ◴[] No.44372671[source]
You are not alone. It evoked a physical reaction in me
6. airstrike ◴[] No.44372716{3}[source]
Imagine literally squandering the brand name "OFFICE"
7. 9cb14c1ec0 ◴[] No.44372729[source]
Microsoft Office is one of the most recognizable and valuable brands ever. I'm quite terrible at marketing, and even I can recognize how stupid the rebrand was.
replies(3): >>44372732 #>>44374529 #>>44375291 #
8. airstrike ◴[] No.44372732[source]
Literally this. It's one of the strongest names in all of software. It really boggles the mind.
replies(2): >>44374608 #>>44380537 #
9. paradite ◴[] No.44372743[source]
"To continue, please install the Microsoft 365 Copilot app"

I got this on mobile. Seems to be pretty apt.

10. OccamsMirror ◴[] No.44374529[source]
This is the same company that thought it would be an awesome idea to rename "Microsoft Remote Desktop" to "Windows App" on MacOS.

It wasn't. It's the dumbest name ever.

replies(1): >>44381575 #
11. olyjohn ◴[] No.44374608{3}[source]
I thought that renaming Active Directory to Entra ID was bad. Every single tech person who ever touched a Windows server knows what AD is. Then they change to name to something that sounds like it's going to give you an anal probe. What a dumpster fire...
replies(1): >>44377680 #
12. snickerbockers ◴[] No.44374715[source]
I keep missing meetings because I foolishly confuse Teams with Teams (classic).
13. TeMPOraL ◴[] No.44375291[source]
Maybe they figured their brand was too recognizable and valuable, and had to knee-cap it to restore the cosmic balance of the Great Material Continuum.

EDIT:

There's even a rule of acquisition that could possibly apply here: #239 - Never be afraid to mislabel a product.

14. aydyn ◴[] No.44375423[source]
Next they are going to rename Windows to Microsoft Copilot.
15. darkwater ◴[] No.44375584[source]
Oh. My. Fucking. God.

Are they aware that people will struggle to find if Office is installed and that they will keep calling it Office til the end of times (aka the next rebranding that will revert back things) anyway?

16. Lutger ◴[] No.44376883[source]
Wait, what? Is this a joke? Did they really rebrand Office to '365 Copilot app'? I feel like I'm missing the plot, they can't be serious.
replies(2): >>44377594 #>>44379096 #
17. mike_hearn ◴[] No.44377594[source]
Don't worry, the other Office homepage says that it's actually been renamed to just Microsoft 365, not Microsoft 365 Copilot App:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-offi...

I got there by going to office.com and clicking Products > Microsoft Office. Lol. Rofl, even. This has made my day. And we all thought calling their third generation console Xbox One was the worst possible branding decision.

18. bradstewart ◴[] No.44377680{4}[source]
Thank you for this. As someone who recently had to stumble back into turning a few knobs in (what I thought would be) AD for Office 365 licensing needs, after ~10 years outside of the MS sandbox, I had no earthly idea what Entra was. Until right now.
19. airstrike ◴[] No.44379096[source]
Yes, they literally did that. It's absolutely moronic. Whoever came up with this idea should be fired along with everyone else who greenlit it.
20. TeaBrain ◴[] No.44380537{3}[source]
I think there's little chance it won't be changed back. Changing the name was probably motivated by someone in management pushing the name change so that they could list it as a personal achievement as one of the "new" AI products they'd overseen the release of in the current zeitgeist.
21. thewebguyd ◴[] No.44381575{3}[source]
Don't forget Windows Mail->Outlook (New), replacing Outlook with Outlook (Classic). Same with "Teams (Classic)" and "Teams (New)"

Or the Teams download page that had two different versions - Teams for Home and Teams for Work/School.

Or .NET->.NET Core & .NET Framework->Back to .NET again.