Your Next Windows PC Will Have This Brand New Key
For the first time in almost 30 years, Microsoft is adding a new key to the keyboard layout. Microsoft announced the change in a short video showing what the new Copilot key might look like on a Windows PC keyboard.
This is the first time Microsoft has added a new key to the keyboard since 1994, when it added the Windows key. It’s unclear whether this new key will replace the Windows key—the company said it will “join” the Windows key—though it appears to be in the same location as the Windows key in the video Microsoft shared. We’ll have to wait to see it in action to know exactly where it will appear and what it will look like.
What is a co-pilot?
This is a broad question that I answer in my in-depth explainer of Copilot , which details Microsoft’s very confusing Copilot artificial intelligence system. For now, however, all you need to know is that Copilot is Microsoft’s answer to generative artificial intelligence. It’s a chatbot that can answer questions, help you find things on your computer, and even create images.
Why is Microsoft adding a Copilot key?
Microsoft is really pushing its AI offerings, so it’s adding the Copilot key to your keyboard. The idea here is that by putting AI at the forefront, more and more people will use it, allowing Microsoft to expand and offer more features. The company and many others like it are banking on generative AI chatbots like Copilot as a major step toward reaching more people.
Microsoft has also been thinking about replacing the Start menu button with Copilot, although as far as we know, there is no consensus on this yet.
What if I don’t have Copilot on my computer?
Despite Microsoft’s push for Copilot, the service is only available on Windows 11 and is slated to come to Windows 10 someday. Currently , only about 400 million active users have Windows 11 . This is only a small portion of Microsoft’s 1.6 billion users in the Windows ecosystem, so Copilot isn’t something everyone has free access to. What if your computer doesn’t have Copilot and you buy a keyboard with a Copilot key?
Well, the good news is that it doesn’t matter whether you have Copilot or not. If you don’t have Copilot enabled or installed on your computer, pressing a key will simply open the regular Windows search engine, allowing you to still easily search your computer for any features, functionality, or applications you’re looking for on a site. time. Additionally, the key will only ship on new laptops running Windows 11, such as new Dell XPS devices .
While the change will be significant for users who like Copilot, having a keyboard with a Copilot key won’t make much difference to regular people who don’t rely on artificial intelligence to carry out their online activities. And for now, you can still openly ignore Copilot if you don’t want to get caught up in Microsoft’s AI craze. However, Microsoft will likely one day make even more use of the AI services it offers, so don’t expect it to be this way forever.