In summary:
- Microsoft launched OneDrive Photos Restyle, an AI-powered image editing feature that applies templates and prompts to photos stored in OneDrive across iOS, Android, and web platforms.
- PCWorld criticizes the feature as unnecessary and overpriced, requiring a Microsoft 365 Premium subscription while offering similar functionality to existing Windows Photos app tools.
- The feature raises questions about value proposition, with limited new capabilities that mirror other available AI art programs at a premium cost.
Microsoft may be trying to eliminate the term “Microslop,” but the company’s latest OneDrive feature certainly seems worthy of the label.
OneDrive Photos Restyle is notable for two things: it feels completely unnecessary, and it doesn’t use the term “Copilot” anywhere.
Photos Restyle simply takes the “Restyle Image” feature of Photos and puts it into OneDrive. The idea is that you have a number of stored photos in OneDrive and you want to completely tweak them to look like scenes from a cyberpunk movie… and maybe save some time in the process, since you won’t have to launch Photos anymore?
Thing is, Restyle is already within the Windows Photos app. Normally, you’d download the photo from OneDrive, open it in Photos, and apply the AI-powered restyling. Restyling means that a user can apply a template (e.g., transforming it into a Renaissance painting or anime) or tweak it with an AI prompt. It’s really no different than what has been offered in other AI art programs and services for over a year.
The new feature is rolling out for OneDrive on iOS, Android, and web—but it requires a paid Microsoft 365 Premium subscription.
A week or two ago, this feature would probably have been branded with “Copilot.” It isn’t, and that’s a mark in its favor. But that doesn’t alter the point that this is merely another “Copilot”-esque bit of “Microslop”, even if it isn’t explicitly called out as such. Not to mention the need to pay for a Microsoft 365 Premium subscription. Two hundred dollars per year for this?! That’s simply egregious.
Microsoft likely committed to this feature months ago and decided to release it even though the tide of public opinion is turning against Copilot and AI in Windows. Eliminating the Copilot name was just a PR move. It’s ultimately wasted effort, when Microsoft should be devoting its resources to everyday issues that need fixing within Windows.
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor, PCWorld
Mark has written for PCWorld for the last decade, with 30 years of experience covering technology. He has authored over 3,500 articles for PCWorld alone, covering PC microprocessors, peripherals, and Microsoft Windows, among other topics. Mark has written for publications including PC Magazine, Byte, eWEEK, Popular Science and Electronic Buyers' News, where he shared a Jesse H. Neal Award for breaking news. He recently handed over a collection of several dozen Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs because his office simply has no more room.