• Microsoft has moved its AI-powered version of Bing into Open Preview, removing waitlisting for the platform.
• Those interested in trying out either the new Bing or Search need only use their Microsoft account to access it.
• New features include a chat history, the ability to compose documents, create custom images in 100-plus languages, and more.

It is now three months since Microsoft first announced its ChatGPT-4-powered version of Bing, as the company looked to pip Google when it comes to integrating more generative AI solutions into its products.

Microsoft for now has the edge (excuse the pun), and its latest announcement sees the products begin to evolve. In a flurry of updates shared last night, Microsoft has revealed a number of new features for Bing, Search, and Edge, with the first being that the platform has moved into Open Preview, meaning waitlists are a thing of the past.

“This means that it will now be easier than ever for everyone to try the new Bing and Edge by simply signing into Bing with your Microsoft Account,” the company explained in a blog post.

As for the slew of new features, Microsoft unpacked them as its “next generation”, breaking them down as follows:

• “Opening up Bing to more people by moving from Limited Preview to Open Preview and eliminating the waitlist for trial.
• Moving from text-only search & chat to one that is incredibly more visual with rich image/video answers and coming shortly, new multimodal support.
• Moving from single use chat/search sessions to multi-session productivity experiences with chat history and persistent chats within Edge.
• Opening up platform capabilities so developers and third parties can build on top of Bing to help people take actions on their queries and complete tasks.”

Looking closer at the new elements, visual improvements to search results will see more, “charts and graphs and updated formatting of answers, helping you find the information you seek more easily.”

Added to this is the integration of Bing Image Creator into the chat experience, and expanding support for more than 100 languages.

Another handy feature will be the ability to look at and search through past chats. “Starting shortly, you’ll be able to pick up where you left off and return to previous chats in Bing chat with chat history. And when you want to dig into something deeper and open a Bing chat result, your chat will move to your Edge sidebar, so you can keep your chat on hand while you browse. Over time, we’re exploring making your chats more personalized by bringing context from a previous chat into new conversations,” Microsoft highlighted.

The company looks to be placing an emphasis on helping users with documents too, as Bing is able to compose different styles of documents. It goes a step further as well, allowing users to make changes to documents based on feedback around tone, length, and phrasing.

While this will no doubt bring more questions around how much effort or work a person puts in when creating a document, especially when it comes to the education space, it appears as if Microsoft is pushing ahead with its plans in order to make Bing more than the second tier search tool that it was before OpenAI’s ChatGPT came on the scene.

If you want to see everything that Microsoft has crammed into Bing, Search and Edge for its next-generation wave, you can watch the presentation below: