Microsoft has just announced, in its words, one of the biggest revolutions of the last 30 years on our PC keyboards. Starting this year, in fact, PC manufacturers will introduce a key dedicated to Copilot, the AI assistant for Windows 11. Surprisingly, Microsoft seems to have forgotten its own experiences in this area.
Revolutionary, really? However, this is what Microsoft seems to say in the blog post which accompanies its latest announcement. Inside, the Redmond firm mentions “the first significant change to the Windows computer keyboard in nearly three decades.” Just that. As one might expect, this modification directly concerns a tool developed by the publisher.
You probably haven’t missed it, as Microsoft has been hammering us about it for months. Copilot, the new Windows AI-powered assistant that works more or less like ChatGPT, is about to be deployed worldwide. To celebrate the occasion, the firm saw things big. Do you find that it is still too laborious to invoke AI? No problem, here is a brand new dedicated key on your keyboard.
On the same subject — Windows 11: Copilot AI could appear in the context menu
One key to launch Copilot on our keyboards this year
Currently, only the Windows+C shortcut allows you to invoke Copilot with your keyboard. This can also be found in the Start menu or on the taskbar, on which it has also replaced another button installed for several years. In 2024, Microsoft obviously plans to replace the right CTRL or Windows key that is currently found on the majority of keyboards.
“The Copilot key joins the Windows key as a central part of the computer keyboard, and when pressed, the new key invokes the Copilot experience in Windows, making it possible to use Copilot seamlessly in daily life “, Microsoft rejoices in its blog post.
From there to talking about revolution, we are a little more cautious. Indeed, this is not the first time that Microsoft has imposed its own services on our keyboards. In 2019, the publisher had already tried to integrate a key dedicated to its Office suite on its keyboards… without much success. Which could explain why he “unfortunately” forgot this episode by positioning the arrival of the Copilot button as a real novelty.