Microsoft and its PC partners plan to add a “Copilot” key to your PC keyboards that will make it easy and intuitive to start Microsoft’s Copilot AI – and avoid even thinking about using a competitor’s AI solution .
PC makers appear to be preparing to replace one of the existing keys in the no man's land to the right of the PC's space bar with a key that launches Windows Copilot on command. (Currently you need to use the keyboard shortcut instead Win + C use). In this country, Windows Copilot has not yet been officially activated in Windows 11 and can only be activated using a trick. Microsoft cites the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which applies in the EU and is intended to ensure fairer competition within the European Union, as the reason for the lack of Copilot in Germany and the EU. In close consultation with the European Commission, Microsoft wants to make the Copilot DMA-compliant. Copilot can currently be expected to launch in Windows 11 in spring 2024.
“In the coming days leading up to CES and at CES, you will see the Copilot key on many of our ecosystem partners' new Windows 11 PCs, which will be available from late February through the spring, including on upcoming Surface devices,” explains Yusuf Mehdi, who now leads the Windows and Surface businesses at Microsoft following the departure of Panos Panay, in a blog post. Copilot is not only available in Windows, but now also on iOS and Android.
Early looks at the new PCs suggest that the new key could potentially replace the “Menu” key on some Windows PCs like Microsoft Surface devices, which is rarely used. Depending on the manufacturer and keyboard layout, it could also be the one available in the same place“OldReplace “ button. In the case of the Acer Triton Neo (see below), it could also be a completely separate button.
Acer
AI will play an important role in Windows in 2024
Microsoft is preparing for an overhaul of Windows in 2024, likely to come as Windows 12 and rely heavily on AI. Mehdi reiterated this expectation in his blog post: “We enter the new year full of optimism and excitement,” Mehdi wrote. “We will continue to build Windows to be the destination for the best AI experiences. This requires an operating system that blurs the lines between local and cloud processing. The year ahead promises to be nothing short of extraordinary!”
According to Mehdi, the introduction of the Copilot key marks “the first significant change to the Windows PC keyboard in almost three decades.”
But that's not entirely true. Microsoft itself had been trying to get laptop manufacturers to include a Cortana button in their laptops, and Toshiba had done so. But the Cortana button didn't work and it disappeared again. Just like Cortana herself. Does the copilot button suffer a similar fate? We'll see.
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