Image: Mark Hachman / IDG
After kind of giving up on integrating Windows Copilot, now Microsoft may be kind of giving up on the Windows Copilot key, too.
In the latest build (Build 22635.4225) to the Beta Channel of Microsoft’s Windows Insider program, there’s a new control that allows you to remap your laptop’s Copilot key. Instead of launching Copilot, you can program it to launch another app instead, via a new control insider the Windows Settings menu > Personalization > Text Input setting.
The “Customize Copilot key on keyboard” setting is significant in two ways: first, it’s being rolled out in the Beta Channel, a good sign that it will be pushed to the Release Channel and then to ordinary PCs before long. Also, you don’t have to configure Windows to ask for the latest changes as soon as possible. Both indicate that Microsoft has pretty much settled upon this option.
For a time, Copilot was integrated into the Windows 11 operating system. Now, it’s an app, though it’s still front and center on your desktop.
Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft
Still, giving users the ability to reconfigure the Copilot key doesn’t speak too highly of the value Microsoft is placing on Copilot itself, or on the key itself. After all, Microsoft’s plans to add a Copilot key were released just nine months ago! Is Copilot evolving away from a general-purpose application into a more specialized tool for businesses?
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor, PCWorld
Mark has written for PCWorld for the last decade, with 30 years of experience covering technology. He has authored over 3,500 articles for PCWorld alone, covering PC microprocessors, peripherals, and Microsoft Windows, among other topics. Mark has written for publications including PC Magazine, Byte, eWEEK, Popular Science and Electronic Buyers’ News, where he shared a Jesse H. Neal Award for breaking news. He recently handed over a collection of several dozen Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs because his office simply has no more room.
