Even Microsoft’s retro holiday sweaters are having Copilot forced upon them

Microsoft has not one, not two, but three new sweaters available for $60 to $80.

I can take or leave some of the things that Microsoft is doing with Windows 11 these days, but I do usually enjoy the company’s yearly limited-time holiday sweater releases. Usually crafted around a specific image or product from the company’s ’90s-and-early-2000s heyday—2022’s sweater was Clippy themed, and 2023’s was just the Windows XP Bliss wallpaper in sweater form—the sweaters usually hit the exact combination of dorky/cute/recognizable that makes for a good holiday party conversation starter.

Microsoft is reviving the tradition for 2025 after taking a year off, and the design for this year’s flagship $80 sweater is mostly in line with what the company has done in past years. The 2025 “Artifact Holiday Sweater” revives multiple pixelated icons that Windows 3.1-to-XP users will recognize, including Notepad, Reversi, Paint, MS-DOS, Internet Explorer, and even the MSN butterfly logo. Clippy is, once again, front and center, looking happy to be included.

Not all of the icons are from Microsoft’s past; a sunglasses-wearing emoji, a “50” in the style of the old flying Windows icon (for Microsoft’s 50th anniversary), and a Minecraft Creeper face all nod to the company’s more modern products. But the only one I really take issue with is on the right sleeve, where Microsoft has stuck a pixelated monochrome icon for its Copilot AI assistant.

This year's "Artifact" sweater is mostly retro icons, but with some decidedly anachronistic modern ones included too.

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File Explorer fans will find a lot to like on the back.

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A black and green Xbox-themed option.

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And a Zune-themed option for the truly hardcore.

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Sometimes it feels like Microsoft is set on pushing Copilot into flagship products like Windows, Office, and the Edge browser. But this sweater proves that even explicitly retro-themed vanity projects aren’t immune to the company’s AI push. In sweaters and in Windows PC keyboards, you’re getting a Copilot icon whether you like it or not.

If the icons aren’t doing it for you, Microsoft is also offering a black-and-lime-green Xbox-themed sweater and, most horrific of all, a brown-and-orange Zune sweater complete with back and play/pause buttons.

Microsoft’s holiday sweaters are always available in limited quantities, and as of this writing (about an hour after the store listing went live), most sizes of the Artifact sweater are already sold out. Buyers can still place orders, though, and Microsoft says that they “will be filled once the stock becomes available.”

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Posted Tuesday 2 December 2025 at 5:06 pm AEST (my time).

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