There may be a use for the Copilot key after all, but not quite yet—Microsoft is toying with the idea of allowing us to change what it opens
The age of the AI PC is here, and with it lots of unnecessary fluff. Fluff, that is, such as the outrageous ditching of a perfectly respectable right-Ctrl (Menu) key in favour of a shiny new Copilot key. Apart from signalling to others nearby that you have a snazzy new computer, by default this key does nothing other than open the Copilot AI assistant. Well, that was the case.
It looks like we might soon get some actual use out of the Copilot key on our keyboards, because Microsoft is currently toying with the idea of allowing us to remap it to open other applications. It originally seemed like this was rolling out in testing right now for the Windows 11 Preview Build 22631.4387, but Microsoft has clarified that "this feature will roll out to Insiders in Release Preview on Windows 11, version 23H2 at a later date and is not rolling out yet with this update".
It's not quite as straightforward as this, however, because the original (now-struckthrough) text stated that you can make the key open a different app, but only those "in a signed MSIX package" which "ensures that the app meets security and privacy standards to keep you safe".
MSIX apps use a new packaging standard that's supposed to be more secure than the previous EXE and MSI ones, but such apps are currently few and far between. Still, a few is better than zero, right? Especially when the alternative is to have an entire physical key dedicated to opening an AI assistant.
The creation and addition of the Copilot key caused somewhat of a stir when it was unveiled back in January, in large part because it was the first time in almost 30 years that a button had been added. (Of course, we should really say "replaced" rather than "added".)
Early in the year it was also deemed a requirement for a PC to be considered an AI PC. You know, apart from all the powerful NPU stuff that actually matters. Since then, there's been less talk of the key requirement, but the damn things are still there on all these new AI PCs, so we'd better get used to them.
If they're here to stay, then I suppose making them remappable might be enough of a spoonful of sugar to make the poiso- *cough* medicine go down. Not necessarily in the most delightful way, but it's better than nothing. Fingers crossed this does actually get pushed through testing soon and more apps become compatible.