Microsoft and its PC companions plan so as to add a “Copilot” key to your PC keyboards, making it straightforward and intuitive to launch Microsoft’s Copilot AI — and keep away from utilizing an AI resolution from a competitor.

PC makers seem like prepping to switch one of many present buttons within the no-man’s land grouping of keys to the appropriate of the PC spacebar right into a key that can launch Copilot on command. (Currently, you should utilize the Win + C shortcut as a substitute.)

“Over the coming days leading up to and at CES, you will start to see the Copilot key on many of the new Windows 11 PCs from our ecosystem partners, with availability beginning in late February through spring, including on upcoming Surface devices,” Yusuf Mehdi, who now oversees the Windows and Surface companies after the departure of Panos Panay, wrote in a weblog put up. Copilot is on the market in Windows, after all, and it’s now formally out there on iOS and Android as properly.

Early appears to be like on the new PCs point out that the brand new key may probably change the “menu” key on some Windows PCs like Microsoft Surface gadgets, that are hardly ever used. It may also change any “Alt” key that exists in the identical location, relying on the producer and their keyboard structure. Or, within the case of the Acer Triton Neo under, it might be a separate key completely.

Acer

Microsoft heads into 2024 making ready for a Windows revamp, most likely generally known as Windows 12, that will lean heavily on AI. Mehdi echoed that expectation.

“As we embark on this new year, we are filled with optimism and excitement,” Mehdi wrote. “We will continue to build Windows to be the destination for the best AI experiences. This will require 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 nearly three decades.”

That’s not completely true. Microsoft itself tried to induce laptop computer makers to place a Cortana key onto their laptops, and Toshiba did. Unfortunately, the addition of the Cortana key didn’t stick, and Toshiba disappeared (into Sharp), as did Cortana itself. As for the Copilot key? We’ll must see.