We all know Copilot. We see it embedded in all Microsoft's apps. Yet, we don't know what Copilot is, because it is several distinct apps with unique features.

Ibrahim Diallo

A developer shares a humorous story about spending an entire sprint exploring Microsoft Copilot after a coworker claimed to rely on it heavily — only to discover the coworker actually meant Cursor. Along the way, the post untangles the confusing Microsoft Copilot ecosystem: GitHub Copilot, Copilot for Microsoft 365, Windows Copilot, and Copilot Chat are all distinct products despite sharing the same name. The confusion highlights how 'Copilot' has become a generic term for AI coding assistants, much like 'Kleenex' for tissues.

What is Copilot exactly?

My team decided to “try” GitHub Copilot, primarily for two reasons: 1) it has a lot of models, 2) it has a JetBrains plugin.
After a couple of weeks or so, I totally stopped using the plugin. It’s junk. In “ask” mode, the “better” models don’t give usable responses. In “edit” or “agent” mode or whatever, I don’t care for the diffs.
My go-to at the moment is <code>pi-coding-agent</code>, using the GH CP subscription. In this way, I’m essentially provider-agnostic. If my company decides Claude is the way to go, I just connect a new account…
All that to say, I’m sort of happy for because I really don’t like Microsoft these days. If I could move us away from GitHub, I would.