The era of PCs with artificial intelligence has arrived, and with it a lot of unnecessary clutter. Fluff, that is, the outrageous abandonment of the completely respectable right-hand Ctrl (Menu) key in favor of the shiny up-to-date Copilot key. Apart from signaling to others nearby that you’ve got an amazing up-to-date computer, by default this key does nothing other than open the Copilot AI assistant. Well, that’s it was thing.
It looks like we’ll soon be able to actually apply the Copilot key on our keyboards, because Microsoft is currently considering this idea allowing us to remap it to open other applications. This originally appeared to be currently rolling out in testing for Windows 11 Preview version 22631.4387, but Microsoft clarified that “this feature will be made available to Insiders in the Preview version of Windows 11, version 23H2 at a later date and will not be deployed is not yet available with this update.”
It’s not that simple though, as the original (now crossed out) text stated that the key could open another application, but only one “in a signed MSIX package”, which “ensures that the application meets the security requirements and privacy standards that will ensure “Your safety.”
MSIX applications apply a up-to-date packaging standard that is intended to be more secure than previous EXE and MSI versions, but currently there are few such applications. Still, some is better than zero, right? Especially when the alternative is to have an entire physical key dedicated to opening the AI assistant.
The creation and addition of the Copilot key caused some confusion when it was unveiled in January, largely because it was the first time in nearly 30 years that a button had been added. (Of course we should really say “replaced” not “added”).
Earlier this year, it was also recognized that a PC must be considered an AI-enabled computer. You know, apart from all the powerful NPU stuff that really counts. There’s been less talk about key requirements since then, but the damn things are still there on all up-to-date AI-powered computers, so you’d better get used to them.
If they stay here, I suppose it would take a teaspoon of sugar to poison them to allow them to be reassigned *cough* medicines are falling. Not necessarily in the most delightful way, but it’s better than nothing. Fingers crossed this will go through testing soon and more apps will become compatible.
