Mac users got the fun first. Now Windows catches up. The Codex desktop app has gained computer use on Windows, which means OpenAI's coding agent can see your screen, click buttons, and type into applications the way you would. Pair that with new mobile control through the ChatGPT app, and the developer workstation starts looking less like a tool you operate and more like an endpoint your agent operates for you.

Available through the Microsoft Store as Codex app version 26.527, the update brings two capabilities that had been Mac-only: GUI automation and remote steering from a phone. More than 4 million people now use Codex every week, and a sizable chunk of them have been stuck watching macOS get every interesting feature first.

What computer use actually does

Codex can operate Windows desktop apps by reading the screen, clicking interface elements, and typing through a task flow. It can use that capability to test interfaces, step through bugs, and review work where the project context already lives on the machine. The point is to handle the messy parts of software work that do not fit neatly into a repo or an API call.

Triggering it is simple. Users can mention @Computer or an @AppName in the prompt after installing the Computer Use plugin in settings. From there you describe the app, window, or flow you want Codex to drive, and it takes over from there.