Copilot key will eventually be required in new PC keyboards, though not yet.
ooooh, a KRunner key!
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:::
In the name of the Beastie, the Tux, and the Holy Gnu!
I am the admin.
You’re never really the admin when it’s a Microsoft product
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Whenever something tells me to press any key to continue, I take it as a challenge. “Okay, Imma press Scroll Lock.”
And again, install Linux and get rid of this Microsoft bullshit
100%. When Windows drops support for Windows 10 I’m jumping ship to Linux Mint Cinnamon. I tried it out on my old laptop and liked it. I even liked that neat hot corners thing you could use.
Do I need to know Jack shit about programming to use it? Cause…I mean I really don’t know Jack shit about but I’m down to jump ship!
No Mint pretty much just works.
Great thing about Mint (or most Linux distros) is that you can try it by booting from a usb stick - see if you like it that way.Oh wow really? That’s actually very helpful to know! Do I need to format the USB a certain way first or will the distro website go through it?
The USB boot is actually just straight-up a part of the install process. You first boot from the USB, then click on the desktop icon that launches the installer. Of course, you can always just ignore that icon and play around on the USB boot. Based on the questions you’re asking here, you’ll be totally fine. I don’t know the majority of the words people are throwing around here, and I managed to install Linux Mint Cinnamon on a computer so old you’re not actually supposed to be able to do it. I just did some searching and followed forum tutorials. As long as your computer is less than ~12 years old, it won’t be any trouble at all.
I would say for Linux Mint Cinnamon you really only need to be able to follow directions. Just make sure you have an external backup of all your files in case it turns out you can’t. You’ll have to type some stuff into a command-line interface (I think) but the Mint Cinnamon website has links to step by step guides. Also, you know, make sure you’re either committed to getting rid of Windows, or have the ability to re-install, in case you mess up.
But really, at this point, it’s pretty dang easy.
I keep my OS on a separate partition from everything else, so all the files should be fine. Can MC read windows dism formats Luke NTFS? Or will I need to transfer my data to something more neutral?
The only thing that I think is a little complicated these days is make sure that you’re not reliant on a particular Windows-only app. For the vast majority of common apps, you’re going to be fine, and it’s sounding more and more like even gaming on Linux is not only fine, but getting to the point of being the best way to do it. If you do have a particular app you rely on, I’d look into the various ways that you can get Windows apps running on Linux (which can be a little tricky, but usually not too bad.) But even like 10 years ago, I built a machine for an elderly family member, put probably some flavor of ubuntu on it, and I never had to troubleshoot that machine.
Thanks! How are open office apps these days? Now that Word/Excel is dog shit and subscription based, that’s the only windows only app I think I’d need. Even my recording and video editing apps supposedly run on Linux.
Definitely not, I’d say the thing you need the most is the will to learn - as there are differences of course, but being willing to learn new things will go a long way.
I switched my computer illiterate family members to reduce the effort of helping them and they didn’t notice.
As a helper…
There are distributions focussed on the latest and greatest (Arch, Fedora, etc…) and ones aiming for stability (Debian, Ubuntu, etc…). Think of them as groups with different views.
So Linux Mint is Ubuntu but it has the latest Cinnamon desktop. Ubuntu is Debian but focused on fixed releases and adds ‘snaps’ and includes “non-free” by default.
People have different views on how the desktop should work. The two big desktops are Gnome and KDE.
Gnome is like Marmite. Its works completely different to any other desktop and people either love it or loathe it. Its often the distribution default.
With Windows 10/11 I think Microsoft were trying to steal some of KDE’s best features. By default it looks very much like a Windows desktop but lots of people mod it to look/act like macos. Some people struggle with the options it provides.
Then there are lots of other desktops, for example Cinnamon takes Gnome and turns it into a normal desktop.
Personally I would suggest Kubuntu as your first attempt. This is a fairly decent install guide.
Ubuntu tries to minimise the choices you need to make and the 6 month update cycle keeps it fairly stable.
Kubuntu is Ubuntu it just makes KDE the default instead of Gnome.
I recognize some of those words!
But seriously thanks for the write up. I used Ubuntu WAY back in like 2010 for media storage. I imagine it’s come a long way since then.
Yeah I’m definitely starting to lean that way with everything I’ve been hearing. Fuck windows.
copilot key will eventually be required
Fuck that, and fuck you, Microsoft
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.
Dedicated volume wheel is god tier change my mind
Welp, time to disable TWO keys on my keyboard.
Just rebind them?
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.
As an observation, companies are embracing AI to inflict things on their customers, but are avoiding it for their own purposes. Take note.
If you press the windows key I’m pretty sure it brings up search already. It definitely used to bring up Cortana on Windows 10.
I’m not sure why they would add a new key to the keyboard to achieve a function that already exists.
Emacs users rejoicing!
@Unpigged @jordanlund Linux users chuckling!
Well what else can we do when a corporation we have no affection with does weird shit we don’t really care about?
OR, hear me out, we just have it mapped to alt+win(meta) key and this will be a nothing burger.
Oh great, another key to accidentally press when I’m in a game.
“It sounds like you’re frustrated. Is there something specific you need help with? I’m here to assist you in any way I can.”
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…
Maybe even F13 to F24 if more is needed?
Because they used to exist, and support for them still does. Really handy for macro keys.I’d like them to leave F13 onwards alone, purely because it’s nice that they’ll only ever do what I want them to do
I remember those keyboard layout cutouts (were they called keyboard templates?) you got which you put on the keyboard with extra explanations of what each function key did in WordPerfect or Lotus or whatever.
I’m old.
Yeah I remember them too. Sometimes games would come with them even, to help with all the keyboard shortcuts. :)
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.
The Windows key is usually on the left side of the space bar but the key in the mock-up here is on the right, so I don’t think they’re replacing the Windows key.
Yeah, most “standard” keyboards have a second windows key on the right side where that one is.
Huh, didn’t know that. Are you sure it’s most of them though? I’m seeing more online listings with one key than two, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a keyboard with more than one before. I did have an MSI laptop with a single Windows key on the right side though.
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!
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.
