Microsoft is adding a new key to PC keyboards for the first time since 1994

So now Windows bloat is extending to the physical keyboard itself.

Looking at the Microsoft blog post they haven't said exactly how they want keyboard layouts to change. So on a full size keyboard this could be either new key entirely, or replace an existing (and arguably more useful) key.

Before I even read it I knew it was more ads or AI of some sort and yep it's both. Sure yeah we need more ads. Can I get a Microsoft store button on mouses now? Ohoh a dedicated 2nd screen for ads on every monitor. We must please the share holders and the rich!

If only keyboards would have function keys for this purpose, named F1 to F10 for example, so any program could use them for their specific functions...

I'm getting Bixby button flashbacks.

Ho well, my wallet's gonna cry but I'm sure the mechkeyboard community will welcome my ass

And yet another feature no one ever requested or ever will

copilot key will eventually be required

Fuck that, and fuck you, Microsoft

Microsoft learns nothing from their continued pattern of going all-in on a trendy and unproven concept. Windows 8 "live tiles" that were supposed to create one look and feel across devices, Cortana was supposed to be the digital assistant of the future, they even did their own poorly executed folding phone.

M$ can get absolutely fucked

OR, hear me out, we just have it mapped to alt+win(meta) key and this will be a nothing burger.

Gee, I imagine this will go the same way as Cortana, but now there will be a key forever visible to be it's gravestone.

Oh cool, another useless gimmick just like the 'Office Key'

I swear I blinked and suddenly AI was so ubiquitous that I feel like I'm living, studying and writing incorrectly...

Ugh. Why do keyboards have to have Microsoft logos. I hate it. I want nothing to do with them.

And again, install Linux and get rid of this Microsoft bullshit

They're so desperate for AI to be a thing.

I can't even begin to articulate my hatred for the current Microsoft business model. People used to joke how evil they were but it's only continued to get worse

I would imagine this isn't going to go over very well with a lot of companies. I would bet many already ban employees using copilot or other AI assistants because they don't want their company's proprietary data being sent to Microsoft or Google or whoever. Stick a key on the keyboard that, if accidentally hit, brings up copilot (and maybe sends data to Microsoft), and those keyboards might be banned.

Some companies will probably just deal with it by setting up their PCs so that copilot is disabled and that key does something else. But, other companies will either not be technically savvy enough to do that, or will not want to take a risk of someone accidentally reverting to the default behaviour.

The Clippy Key.

They should just rename the Menu key to the “Flavor of the Week” key. Then they can just rotate which pie in the sky, fetch feature is mapped to it during its period of non-use.

Bixby button, but for Windows

This is way more about advertising Copilot than actually needing a new key. M$ gonna $.

im not going to lie this is one of the stupidest things ive ever seen a major tech company do

Some Microsoft exec: "Hey, remember when TV remotes started getting a dedicated Netflix button?"

You thought Clippy was dead? Think again, that monster never dies. and is not back bigger than ever in its physical form.

I really hope it's the "Any" key. I have upwards of 40 ys of modal forms from which there is no escape because they demand I press any key to continue...

I’ll shut that stuff off just like I made every effort to disable Cortana.

It’s unwanted, invasive, and unnecessary.

>see headline

"Oh cool. What fun and inventive thing is Microsoft doing?"

>reads first line of article

"Oh it's for AI. Gross."

Cool, I'll remap it

Are we finally going to get the Any key?

Permanently Deleted

Another useless key? Use Scroll lock or SysRq for that. Or even better, reuse that stupid "menu" key. They'll cram one more key to the left of the spacebar and make ctrl, alt, and windows keys smaller. Or change their order.

Just another key to make grandma ask "OK, what does this do?"

Welp, time to disable TWO keys on my keyboard.

I bought my first gaming keyboard like five years ago and thought the Windows Key Lock button was a Windows Store button for the longest time thinking it was the windows logo in a shopping bag

I'm an idiot

It's the context menu key all over again

please don't. if you knew how many times the windows key is pressed by accident...

Of fucking course lol. The cortana key

Oh nice so now we have a Super Key, a Hamburger Key, and now a Meta key.

Gross

I use Linux, and I actually like the idea. Not because of the Copilot bullshit, but because I've always wanted a real hyper key.

I don't want a key to automate my hallucinations, I can do that fine enough with enough helium

Even scroll lock has been used more. Nobody will want your AI crap, microsoft, not even with a dedicated key.

Oh great, another key to accidentally press when I’m in a game.

Is it supposed to look like a curled up bandaid?

I love having a keyboard where every key is programmable.

The fuck is a copilot key and why do I need it on my keyboard, hmm let's see....

I just got done learning how to turn off Copilot in group security policy, yay! Get away from me, even if you worked according to the spec in the marketing hype. I am the admin. I drive you out! :::holds up holy water and a crucifix:::

So we will need another sticker to cover MS logos on every keyboard?

ooooh, a KRunner key!

Now I know what to use for my push to talk key at least.

Okay, next plan is to start buying non-windows keyboards.

Wait, the keyboard layout standardization has been done by Microsoft?!

If they could just make it like the ⌘ command key on macOS it wouldn't be so bad, but of course, they're going to make it just like the goddamn Windows key, yet another key that if you press, it will screw up your workflow and have some dumb pop-up thing come up. Another modifier key wouldn't be so bad (or just turning the Windows key into a modifier key that doesn't automatically pull up a dumb menu if accidentally pressed by itself). They really like beating people over the head with their useless features.

Nice so I can remap it to something useful… unless they’re jerks and the keyboard isn’t sending a key but a combo like that useless “office” key that they tried and failed years ago

Has power management for laptops gotten any better in the last couple of years on desktop Linux? I distro hopped for a year 3ish years ago but just didn’t like the fairly significant reduction in battery life.

Oh no! That will fuck up my muscle memory!

Oh wait!

I don't use Winblows! Ufa!

Edit: seriously though, this whole AI super spyware baked into Windows is a privacy violation on a whole different level.

Too bad most ppl don't give a fuck.

I want them to add raise and lower so you can use custom layers on your keyboard. Not that crap.

Emacs users rejoicing!

How about a key for faster choosing GNU+Linux in GRUB/rEFInd/libreboot? :)

Sadly Microsoft didn't specify where on the keyboard the key has to be.

In order to find out, hit the keyboard with your head; wherever your forehead touches the keyboard first is where the key is supposed to be.

Using the right WinKey+Arrows to rearrange windows with one hand was the one most important thing I liked Windows for more than my current DE. It felt so natural, just like middle-mouse navigation I'm still struggling not having on Linux. If they'd replace exactly that button, it'd be a big L in my eyes. Feels like Win10 would be my last Windows.

Yeah, just put it where the caps-lock key is. It's the best position for "frequent" use.

/s obviously

Sick of my Corsair keyboard having a Windows keycap now.

No

No

Remove caps lock first I think

I use a custom keyboard, they can add as many new keys as they want.

You're all blaming Microsof, when it's obviously a devious plan from big keyboard!

No.

I swear if this becomes mainstream I'm going back to ancient keyboards again. That's rediculous lol I am already annoyed at the volume buttons they have on my keyboard and that is not in the way.

Ha! No.

Ah, the new sole button to summon the AI assistant.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The exact positioning, and the key being replaced, may vary depending on the size and layout of the keyboard.

If nothing else, this new key is a sign of how much Microsoft wants people to use Copilot and its other generative AI products.

Plenty of past company initiatives—Bing, Edge, Cortana, and the Microsoft Store, to name a few—never managed to become baked into the hardware like this.

If Copilot fizzles or is deemphasized the way Cortana was, the Copilot key could become a way to quickly date a Windows PC from the mid-2020s, the way that changes to the Windows logo date keyboards from earlier eras.

Chipmakers like Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm are all building neural processing units (NPUs) into their latest silicon, and we'll likely see more updates for Windows apps and features that can take advantage of this new on-device processing capability.

Microsoft says the Copilot key will debut in some PCs that will be announced at the Consumer Electronics Show this month.

The original article contains 543 words, the summary contains 165 words. Saved 70%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

If it's gonna be the windows key being replaced... Why not just use that (just wild assumptions based on the mock up). Tho they can't stop me from sending that key back to it's original purpose with via.

Thanks, I definitely hate it?

At that point ill just buy a PC2 adapter and go back to the kids faithfull

Just replace the caps lock key.

Microsoft Chief Marketing Officer Yusuf Medhi called 2024 "the year of the AI PC" in today's announcement.

What? No! It's not the "year of the AI PC," it's the year of the Linux desktop, like every year before and after! You can't just steal our year(s) from us!

This might have been said, but I just see this as a wild attempt to stay relevant and lock people into hardware. Windows is (very, very, slowly) dying gettingworseandshowingpeoplehowbaditis. Gamers are starting to leave for Linux and Proton, which will also only help the Mac gaming market share. Linux on ARM honesty seems like the future for most devices. The corporate world and anything that’s in too deep with Excel is, I feel, the last big hold out.

EDIT: more accurate time scale and less doom and gloom for the future of windows lol

So, I'd have to buy a new keyboard to update windows? I use Ghost Spectre for my windows by the way

Reading this thread, you'd think Microsoft was fucking the mothers of the commenters here because they dare to add an other button they won't use on a handful of keyboards ...

Nobody is forcing you to upgrade the keyboard you already have.

And if you do buy a new one, you can just put on a different keycap or just put a sticker on it if it bothers you that much. Any decent OS will let you disable it software-wise.

People are ragging on it here... But it makes a lot of sense. With the way AI is going I'd be happy for a shortcut. Although tbh I don't use like 30% of the keys anyway, so would be fine to just remove irrelevant keys for it.

I know people don't like change but not all change is bad.