Microsoft announced today that (many) future Windows 11 PCs will ship with a new key on the keyboard. The Copilot key is the first major change to the keyboard since the introduction of the Windows key almost 30 years ago.

Microsoft has big plans for 2024 in regards to AI. While the company has been tight-lipped, it is almost certain that it plans to release a new version of Windows in the year. Whether it will be called Windows 12 or something else is up for debate. It is also unclear if it will be provided as an update for Windows 11 or launches alongside Windows 11 as a separate system.

What is clear is that Microsoft is going to push AI in that new version of Windows. While Microsoft did introduced Copilot in Windows 10 and 11 already, it feels more like a rushed response to AI taking over the world by storm. Whether the next iteration in Windows Next will change that remains to be seen.

Microsoft did introduce several Copilots already in its products. There is Microsoft Security Copilot, Microsoft Copilot, GitHub Copilot, as well as Copilots for Microsoft 365, Sales, Viva or Service among others.

The company's next Surface devices will come with dedicated AI chips and it is almost certain that many Microsoft partners will follow the lead.

The Copilot key "joins the Windows key as a core part of the PC keyboard" according to Yusuf Mehdi, Executive Vice President, Consumer Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft.

Some might argue that it will become another key on the keyboard that most users will ignore for the most part. A tap on the key opens the Windows Copilot interface. Mehdi did not reveal if Microsoft is adding more functionality to the key than that. It is possible that certain shortcuts, e.g. Copilot key plus another key or multiple keys, could launch specific functionality.

Want Copilot to generate an image? Press Copilot + I on the keyboard, something like that. Microsoft partners will introduce PCs and devices with the Copilot key in 2024 according to Mehdi. First devices will ship with the dedicated key as early as February 2024.

Dell, which is a Microsoft partner, published its vision of a Windows AI future recently.

Windows users may interact with Copilot by clicking on the icon on the taskbar or through the dedicated keyboard shortcut Windows-C.  Users may disable Windows Copilot and it remains to be seen if this is going to brick the dedicated Copilot key on the keyboard. An option to remap it easily would certainly be welcome.

Microsoft appears dedicated to making AI the central focus of Windows going forward. All signs seen so far suggest an interesting 2024 for Windows users.

Now You: what is your take on the Copilot key? Madness or progress?