Microsoft is adding a new key to PC keyboards for the first time since 1994
Copilot key will eventually be required in new PC keyboards, though not yet.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/01/ai-comes-for-your-pcs-keyboard-as-microsoft-adds-dedicated-copilot-key/Open linkView original on lemmy.world537
Comments525
So now Windows bloat is extending to the physical keyboard itself.
Looking at the Microsoft blog post they haven't said exactly how they want keyboard layouts to change. So on a full size keyboard this could be either new key entirely, or replace an existing (and arguably more useful) key.
They should put it adjacent to the up arrow key so that when I hit it accidentally, copilot can ask "did you mean to press the up arrow key?", which will cause me to smash the keyboard with my fists and then I'll need to buy another one. Sales will skyrocket.
Not particularly relevant, but my friend randomly told me to press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Windows key+L one day. I’m still horrified.
I just tried this. Why does this exist? Why does this need to be a shortcut? Who uses LinkedIn so much that they need to use a 5 key shortcut to get there faster?
For anybody who doesn't want to try it, this key combo opens LinkedIn in your default browser.
It's not a setting you can change, the only way to disable it is to edit the registry.
WTF.
Lol Windows is so bad these days. What were they thinking?!
So you are saying the setting can be changed. You can even do it over terminal if you like.
They have an "Office Key" on some official keyboards. Pressing Office+L opens LinkedIn. The Office key is actually mapped to that long modifier shortcut.
Did you think the MS C-Suite does much other than bloviate on LinkedIn in-between (and during) meetings? It's for them and execs everywhere.
🤢 🤢 🤢 🤢 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮
Damn, that works in Windows 10 as well. Blech.
I mean, they did it before with the windows/super button. Before that you just had ctrl and alt there.
I use mainly keyboard-controlled WM configurations, so a Super key or a Meta key is useful for me, to separate it from Alt and Ctrl.
Which reminds us of the fact that PC keyboards didn't have those or a Windows key obviously, but Sun keyboards, from googling, did have a Super key.
So it's not them.
(And it's not bad in my opinion)
I always assumed the windows key was a late attempt at copying the “Apple” keys on Macs. then Macs stopped using that, and switched to the clover (called command), then to actual Command text.
I don't remember the last time I pressed the "right click" contextual menu key, so honestly it's not like it'll be too annoying. Unless they do replace an actually useful key, at which point I guess the people making "make Windows actually work good" apps will get to live another year.
I pressed it like, 20 minutes ago? It's a pretty normal part of a lot of coding workflow, not to mention browsing, accessing context menu keyboard shortcuts without having to move your hand to the mouse for one buttonpress.
Fair enough. Alt used to be that before we decided to have a button to annoyingly pop up the menu strip. And there's still Alt Gr for that in full sized keyboards if we want to go back that way.
Alt Gr is something else. Non-english keyboards use it all day every day for typing their charactersets.
It could probably replace the right OS key, though.
Yeah and even on many english keyboards it is used to show special characters
Been coding in vim for decades without that key
That's the key I use as a compose key
I’ve never even heard of this key that you are talking about, yet it’s mentioned several times in this thread.
the key
thanks for the picture. I don't think I've ever seen that before. Just to check, I went over and looked at my wife's work laptop and it's not on that keyboard, but it is on her external keyboard, but not as a separate key, it's part of the print screen button!
I use the app/menu all the time in Excel.
I use it as a Compose key with WinCompose.
So long Caps Lock/Scroll Lock
I remap Caps Lock to Escape.
.
.
.
.
How did you know I am a Vim user?
Same. TouchBar Macs inadvertently forced me to move to a more comfy layout.
CTRL+[ YA LUDDITES! /s
Then you had all those "for the web" Windows 95 PCs that had all the extra buttons like the Calculator and Web Browser and Sleep buttons scattered around above the keyboard that I don't think people tended to use because Windows wasn't built with them in mind. It seems they're in the keyboard standard now as if they were any other key.
Yeah there were some wacky keyboard shortcut buttons in the 90s, particularly during the dot com bubble. Perhaps we could bring back the pizza key!
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
bring back the pizza key
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
My keyboard has mail/browser/home/suspend keys in the corner. I use suspend and home (to get to the set main page in the browser) every day.
Swap it with the windows key and put the windows key as the function modified keypress. As long as I can still disable that key, it would be fine.
Before I even read it I knew it was more ads or AI of some sort and yep it's both. Sure yeah we need more ads. Can I get a Microsoft store button on mouses now? Ohoh a dedicated 2nd screen for ads on every monitor. We must please the share holders and the rich!
I'm plenty fine with all ads consolidated to a dedicated monitor, that would certainly never face the wall on minimal brightness
Attention citizen, your Economic Consumer Activity Monitor has identified error with your system and/or the Citizen Observation Rate to the unit. Your worldwide credits have been locked pending resolution.
Drink a verification can
You're joking but that literally exists
I'm plenty fine with an OS that doesn't try to abuse me in the first place.
Do you remember a few years ago, it came out that some company was working on a new idea that, when you were given an advertisement on a TV, it could require you to say the product name aloud or it wouldn't continue?
I try not to concede anything related to advertising because everything they want seems so dystopian.
Please drink a verification can.
I remember another one proposing using eye tracking on a phone's selfie camera to make sure you were watching ads, with the ads pausing every time you looked away.
There was also another patent for a TV with an eye-tracker camera in it to make sure you were actually watching the ads, another one that would unmute itself if it was muted during ads, and one designed to count the number of people in a room to charge you for piracy if you didn't buy enough tickets for everybody for pay per view shows.
Please drink verification can to continue.
Hey, finally a legitimate reason for a Realdoll!
You're right, but you also know the answer to this. Loath as I am to say it, the solution to this is simple: just use Linux.
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...
Nahh gotta place them where they're obvious in your face and a constant reminder of CONSUME PRODUCT and be accidently pressed! Can guarantee you it'll take up part of the space of a key hotspot
At least on the PC, it's easier to remap the buttons. What enrages me more are the TV remote controls with buttons dedicated to specific streaming apps. I mean... none of these services will outlive the TV itself. I'll just have to look at buttons that do nothing for years.
If you're using Android TV, you can use something like https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=flar2.homebutton to remap the button to another apps or any other functions
I need that for my Roku. I may just write an automation in Home Assistant that will switch to whatever app I programmed if I press the Paramount+ button. Unfortunately that means I need to install that app on the Roku itself.
I personally recommend tvQuickActions for remapping. Pro Version.
It is quite feature rich as well for power users
I personally find those useful, but I can never find the combination of services that works with my needs.
There's always like Vudu or Sling that just becomes a wasted button.
Anybody down to 3D print us some? :)
I get your point but at least three of those services will outlive the tvs expected life. Netflix Hulu and espn aren’t going anywhere, at most espn will be rolled into Disney+ and a software update could point that button to it
My TVs crackle and I heart radio buttons on the other hand…
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.
Here's an idea... what if we had every key do all kinds of weird shit?
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. :)
I found out recently that you can buy replacement keycap sets that have many of the Vim functions printed on them, and I thought that was pretty exciting. I am also old, lol.
After 25 years of using vim I have replaced a lot of otherwise useful reflexes and brain capacity with vim keybindings (using a swedish variant of Dvorak none the less). I am way too old for needing a cheat sheet stuck on the keyboard, and it would even then be wrong not using QWERTY.
I'm getting Bixby button flashbacks.
Ho well, my wallet's gonna cry but I'm sure the mechkeyboard community will welcome my ass
Remember when PC keyboards had two Windows logo keys? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
I remember when laptop keyboards had numpads and unabused F keys.
I remember when PC keyboards had zero Windows keys.
Mine currently does. Well they're actually Cooler Master logos, which I don't really mind. And both of them are bound to Super.
Open your wallet and prepare your credit cards it's gonna be a helluva ride!
Rebind ftw
I remapped the Bixby button to turn on the flashlight. Best decision ever.
I requested it, but I was only kidding!
Fuck that, and fuck you, Microsoft
Microsoft learns nothing from their continued pattern of going all-in on a trendy and unproven concept. Windows 8 "live tiles" that were supposed to create one look and feel across devices, Cortana was supposed to be the digital assistant of the future, they even did their own poorly executed folding phone.
OR, hear me out, we just have it mapped to alt+win(meta) key and this will be a nothing burger.
Stop being such a socialist. They need to sell more keyboards, and to make the keyboards you own unique to their brand.
Have you met keyboard people? You don’t need to do anything to sell them more keyboards.
True but we’re not interested in adding a dedicated adware/spyware button
This is me. Saw a cool keycap set the other day, and before I knew it BOOM! New keyboard.
I only have 4 (working ones) so far, but that's still probably one too many. xD
I said this above... I've had the same Das Keyboard model so long that the USB ports in the side are USB 1.0. And I will use it as long as I can because it's a great keyboard and I've never needed a new keyboard since I bought it even when I've needed a new computer. Fuck this shit.
I'm still using a Kinesis Contoured daily with PS/2 connection. Pretty impressed a new motherboard still came with a combo mouse/keyboard PS/2 port.
It’s already mapped on windows to Window button and C.
M$ can get absolutely fucked
Gee, I imagine this will go the same way as Cortana, but now there will be a key forever visible to be it's gravestone.
Oh cool, another useless gimmick just like the 'Office Key'
What about the LinkedIn key.
That’s actually a shortcut for ctrl+alt+shift+L… that is an (unconfigurable?) hotkey for opening LinkedIn in edge.
Actually, a dedicated key to open ChatGPT seems convenient. I don't hate it.
Can't you go in your desktop settings and bind whatever combination you like to do just that?
Don't you see? They're fucking with the denominator. My 60% is already technically closer to 58%. If they keep adding keys, I don't know how my mech can keep up with the shrinkflation. I can't become one of those 50% weirdos. Microsoft is just finding more ways to ruin my life.
It’s already mapped to Windows Button + C.
Yeah and I already do. But why make it a key combo when you could just have a single dedicated key instead?
It's not like anyone actually uses the menu key or the right Start key anyway. 'Bout damn time Microsoft remaps them to something more useful. Next they should do the Pause/Break key. That one hasn't been useful since the DOS days.
We should also get a chrome key
And a windows store key
And a Microsoft.com link key
A key to open minecraft
Why not a key for launching the "windows action menu" or whatever they call it
A key to open the control panel
How about a key to open the settings menu?
Why are we limiting ourselves? We should have 500 keys and at least 300 of them should be unique to windows.
Try a stream deck, each key is also a small monitor for customizable button actions.
You think you are joking but in the 90's that was a thing for keyboards.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/363221421164
it had a few hardcore fans, a quick search for RT9450 shows people still trying to get that to work up to about 2020
honestly i wouldn't mind having another scroll wheel/bar on the keyboard somewhere, in the middle above the function keys might be cool
also fyi that link can be tidied to https://www.ebay.com/itm/363221421164
Because none of those keys are useful. AI is useful and isn't Microsoft exclusive.
Once keyboards start adding the key, I'd be legitimately surprised if the major Distros didn't eventually follow suit and integrate AI into their platforms as well. Hell, it might get built right into your favorite desktop environment in a couple years.
I get your point, AI is useful for some people, but what about the rest of us who don't want it or use it? I genuinely use the menu key and would prefer to keep it functioning as it does and now I'm going to be forced to lose that key and now I have to deal with AI? It has no use for me. I also don't want something actively watching and "thinking" about what I'm doing. I want my computer somewhat dumb and to only do what I tell it to. If you want a keyboard with a dedicated AI button, get one with a macro pad or something. Don't inconvenience the rest of us by forcing a nonsensical change
Their point was that you could just assign the scroll lock key (or whatever) to open ChatGPT instead because who the fuck uses scroll lock?
Funny you say that, cause as a FL Studio user I hit that key all the time. (It switches between auto/manual scrolling of playlist, i.e. it locks/unlocks auto scrolling.)
Im pretty sure you could look up key remappers and do that already
Yes but you're missing my point entirely. What I'm saying is that I'm happy that Microsoft is making it official, so that I don't have to remap anything.
MS used to sell a keyboard with a custom button to start your web browser.
Now that web browsing is common but that key has been removed from keyboards, do you still remap a hotkey to bring up Firefox?
I’m ambivalent about all this, but I think the distinction is that a web browser button would simply open a persistent window, and therefore only really needs to be used once or twice per “session”. Copilot is designed to act more like the Start menu, in that it is opened frequently and disappears after each use.
That being said, and as much as I use ChatGPT myself, it’s hard to see this as anything more than an easy way to further the perception of Microsoft as first-class AI company, thereby justifying its high stock price for a corporation with limited new growth opportunities.
Hey! I do use menu key regularly! And same with pause and scroll lock! Print creen is obvious and everyone uses it. Right? Right!? RIGHT?!?
Print screen used to be a good button for screen capture/window capture. But now the various screenshot apps do the job better. Ctrl+Prt Scr is maybe still good for being fast
Pause is usually the compose key (diacritics starter) on Linux desktops. But I'll agree about Scroll Lock, that one is truly useless.
Excel uses scroll lock to
make people think it's brokenlock the scroll bars in case you don't want to be able to see the rest of your sheetYou can do Windows Button + C to open CoPilot.
And again, install Linux and get rid of this Microsoft bullshit
I swear I blinked and suddenly AI was so ubiquitous that I feel like I'm living, studying and writing incorrectly...
Now I know how the boomers felt when the internet went from dialup to pocketable
Boomers?
I’m a millennial and I remember that, I’m sure many Zoomers would as well.
https://imgix.ranker.com/user_node_img/50106/1002113362/original/1002113362-photo-u1
We’re in the early hype phase of a new innovation fad. It’ll die down and then we’ll find out what it’s ACTUALLY useful for.
I have a conspiracy theory that the only reason major browsers have switched to AI is to tactically deny you what you're really looking for; and keep you on their service, longer.
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.
They're so desperate for AI to be a thing.
I can't even begin to articulate my hatred for the current Microsoft business model. People used to joke how evil they were but it's only continued to get worse
The Clippy Key.
"It looks like you're trying to make 3d SpongeBob bukkake porn. Can I help?"
Bixby button, but for Windows
They should just rename the Menu key to the “Flavor of the Week” key. Then they can just rotate which pie in the sky, fetch feature is mapped to it during its period of non-use.
I’ll shut that stuff off just like I made every effort to disable Cortana.
It’s unwanted, invasive, and unnecessary.
im not going to lie this is one of the stupidest things ive ever seen a major tech company do
This is way more about advertising Copilot than actually needing a new key. M$ gonna $.
Some Microsoft exec: "Hey, remember when TV remotes started getting a dedicated Netflix button?"
You thought Clippy was dead? Think again, that monster never dies. and is not back bigger than ever in its physical form.
Whenever something tells me to press any key to continue, I take it as a challenge. "Okay, Imma press Scroll Lock."
I forget what game it was, but one of them had a "press any key" and actually reacted to Scroll Lock. Something like "I bet you didn't expect that to work."
Subnautica starts with a "Press any key to continue." and they seem to be serious. It reacts to numlock and scroll lock.
I wonder if the Fn key would work.
It wouldn't on my keyboard, because I don't think that key sends any data to the PC; it's talking to the keyboard's microcontroller.
Probably not.... but it's possible... I wonder if my GameCube Sharkboard with Fn1 Fn2 and Fn3 (shutdown the computer) would work...
I gave my wife a keyboard with an any key on it (custom design I made from wasd) and it doesn’t work for anything that says “press any key”. Quite annoying honestly.
>see headline
"Oh cool. What fun and inventive thing is Microsoft doing?"
>reads first line of article
"Oh it's for AI. Gross."
Are we finally going to get the Any key?
Another useless key? Use Scroll lock or SysRq for that. Or even better, reuse that stupid "menu" key. They'll cram one more key to the left of the spacebar and make ctrl, alt, and windows keys smaller. Or change their order.
I recommend cross-posting that support post to a general Linux support community. That doesn't sound to me like it's specific to Fedora.
The cross-section of Lemmy users who use OBS and also specifically Fedora, that just won't be incredibly huge...
I know Nobara Project was aimed at gamers/streamers, maybe check that out?
If only that other OS had keyboards tailored for it...
We could have, I don't know, Compose, Super, Meta, instead of things like Menu that serves no purpose whatsoever.
My Menu key just lost it's virginity because of this comment.
My scroll-lock key lost its virginity a few days ago, when I realized, I could use it for the Compose-key.
I remapped it for Yakuake, pretty handy for plasma.
Menu key serves a purpose when you need to access a context menu without a mouse to right click with.
Granted, I've needed that maybe a grand total of three times over the course of nearly three decades of computer use. But I don't know how you access that menu otherwise. It's a nice bit of redundancy from a company that doesn't often think of that.
Introducing you to our almighty penguin... LINUX
I bought my first gaming keyboard like five years ago and thought the Windows Key Lock button was a Windows Store button for the longest time thinking it was the windows logo in a shopping bag
I'm an idiot
Just another key to make grandma ask "OK, what does this do?"
Welp, time to disable TWO keys on my keyboard.
Oh nice so now we have a Super Key, a Hamburger Key, and now a Meta key.
Of fucking course lol. The cortana key
It's the context menu key all over again
I don't want a key to automate my hallucinations, I can do that fine enough with enough helium
please don't. if you knew how many times the windows key is pressed by accident...
I use Linux, and I actually like the idea. Not because of the Copilot bullshit, but because I've always wanted a real
hyperkey.Isn't that just
super/ win key ?Nope, there used to be a fuckton of modifiers on early keyboards. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Space-cadet.jpg
Wow, it even has a Like button. And a button to rub one out!
"Greek". They knew how to party back then! ;)
Thank you for sharing this!
It is my understanding that, because of the keyboard on a system that hasn't been used in 50 years, Unix-like systems understand 6 modifier keys: Shift, Alt, Ctrl, Super, Hyper and Meta.
Linux binds the "Windows" key on a typical PC keyboard to either Super or Meta. Seems to depend on the distro. In either case, in practice it's used to bind shortcuts and macros similar to how the Windows key works in Windows, a single tap opens the app menu, holding it as a modifier key is usually bound to shortcuts that talk to the desktop environment rather than the active application.
It was linked a little up thread, but since you're (probably) referring to the "Space-cadet" keyboard, it was seven.
Technically, they drew a distinction between the "shift" keys (of which there were three), and the other modifiers (four).
In modern times (or for Linux at least), Meta has essentially coalesced with Alt, so the modifiers we've retained are Control, Alt, and Super (Windows), with only "Hyper" having been lost along the way.
The remaining two shifts (also lost to time) were "Top" (symbols) and "Front" (Greek), with the Greek supporting combining with shift (there's a table on that Wiki page).
Here's the summary for the wikipedia article you mentioned in your comment:
The space-cadet keyboard is a keyboard designed by John L. Kulp in 1978 and used on Lisp machines at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which inspired several still-current jargon terms in the field of computer science and influenced the design of Emacs. It was inspired by the Knight keyboard, which was developed for the Knight TV system, used with MIT's Incompatible Timesharing System.^article^ ^|^ ^about^
I believe this same keyboard is why certain Vim keybindings are the way they are, like the arrow keys were on hjkl,
you could use the fn key on any QMK keyboard for that tho. or any F key. or build a keyboard with one extra key. anything else.
Gross
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."
"totally not Clippy"
Is it supposed to look like a curled up bandaid?
Even scroll lock has been used more. Nobody will want your AI crap, microsoft, not even with a dedicated key.
Okay, next plan is to start buying non-windows keyboards.
I love having a keyboard where every key is programmable.
So a... keyboard?
All keyboard layouts can be customized in software but some keyboard hardware like QMK can be programmed in hardware, which makes it especially convenient for switching computers.
Where do you use it? Do you have to use different computers at work or do you just carry your keyboard with you all the time in case you have to use some friend's computer?
You just never have to reconfigure it if you reinstall, or move to another computer, or dual-boot etc.
Work PC and personal PC on the same desk, with a KVM switch to seamlessly switch between them.
Lots of people use VMs, too.
Keyboards like Keychron are able to store BT connection info for multiple computers. So, you can easily switch between, say, your desktop, your server, and your laptop, as needed. Or bring it to work, or whatever. The point is that being able to use the same high quality keyboard with every device is nice if you do a lot of typing.
I had a quick look and yeah, $100 for a good, wireless keyboard is not that much. It definitely happened to me once or twice that I had to type directly on my Raspberry Pi fresh after installation when I didn't have my key mappings set up there. Other than that I just switch single USB cable between two computers on the same desk and that's it. If I ever have to work on a Mac again I will take another look tough. Do they have Linux software?
This sounds like a really rare use scenario.
Maybe. Or maybe it is one of those things that you think you don't need until you start using one, and then you can't believe you waited so long. :)
Portable wirless mechanical keyboards are niche, but not uncommon. I bought a Keychron for my daughter and she loves it, though admittedly I'm not sure how often she uses the ability to move it between computers.
You can also connect it to your phone, so you can use it for portable long form writing or programming with just your phone or tablet and keyboard if you don't have a laptop. I'm sure it is better than using the Surface keyboard, for example. Many laptop keyboards also suck, especially if they use an ISO standard keyboard when you already have muscle memory for the ANSI layout.
A Wooting keyboard
Now I know what to use for my push to talk key at least.
The fuck is a copilot key and why do I need it on my keyboard, hmm let's see....
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:::
So we will need another sticker to cover MS logos on every keyboard?
ooooh, a KRunner key!
If they could just make it like the ⌘ command key on macOS it wouldn't be so bad, but of course, they're going to make it just like the goddamn Windows key, yet another key that if you press, it will screw up your workflow and have some dumb pop-up thing come up. Another modifier key wouldn't be so bad (or just turning the Windows key into a modifier key that doesn't automatically pull up a dumb menu if accidentally pressed by itself). They really like beating people over the head with their useless features.
Has power management for laptops gotten any better in the last couple of years on desktop Linux? I distro hopped for a year 3ish years ago but just didn’t like the fairly significant reduction in battery life.
Nice so I can remap it to something useful… unless they’re jerks and the keyboard isn’t sending a key but a combo like that useless “office” key that they tried and failed years ago
It was made by IBM. Microsoft just added one key...
And the Keyboard Layout is standardized by regulations in multiple parts of the world, I'm not sure if Microsift can actually influence the layout there...
They got the "Win" key into the ANSI 105 key layout and the ISO/IEC 9995 layout.
I actually hate it because I end up with a Microsoft logo on hardware that is supposed to be generic.
Standardization boards aren't magical cabals of fallen-from-the-sky sage wizards. They're made of tech people appointed by the contributing parties and mayor market players, and sometimes government and academia. Which means MS, Google, Apple, IBM, Meta, etc. All sit at most of the boards of standards from ISO consultation to the W3C. That's one of the ways mega corps define the world.
They can probably just make it a requirement for OEMs that want to license Windows for a pre-install.
Two keys, and they've actually been useful. This one, errrrrrrr, not so much. Copilot is barely baked, if you ask me,
I guess the copilot key could be useful... if you remapped it to do something else.
I want them to add raise and lower so you can use custom layers on your keyboard. Not that crap.
We alrwady have a raise button - the shift key.
I mean more like the Raise and Lower keys are used in QMK, more flexibility in the keyboard layout. Turn any key into anything else you may want it to do, including full macro functions. There’s so much more that can be done than just making letters big.
How about a key for faster choosing GNU+Linux in GRUB/rEFInd/libreboot? :)
Oh no! That will fuck up my muscle memory!
Oh wait!
I don't use Winblows! Ufa!
Edit: seriously though, this whole AI super spyware baked into Windows is a privacy violation on a whole different level.
Too bad most ppl don't give a fuck.
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?
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.
Using the right WinKey+Arrows to rearrange windows with one hand was the one most important thing I liked Windows for more than my current DE. It felt so natural, just like middle-mouse navigation I'm still struggling not having on Linux. If they'd replace exactly that button, it'd be a big L in my eyes. Feels like Win10 would be my last Windows.
KDE plasma has the same win+arrows keymap.
Hm, good to know as a contender to mu setup. Have they invented the same for the middle mouse button?
What exactly is middle mouse navigation?
I've tried to achieve this middle-mouse behavior in various DEs, systems. Like. you press MM, you move mouse up and down, left and right, and the window moves accordingly. I've seen some suggestions, but none of them works like they work on W10.
This works in most linux DEs with combination of either alt or super/meta/win key + left mouse button.
Edit: meaning it could be probably remapped to just middle mouse in plasma, because plasma is so configurable.
I explained it better in a reply to another person: https://sh.itjust.works/comment/7118875
I'm yet to use Plasma. I'd see if I'd have an easy way to try it out.
You should be able to set up shortcuts for rearranging windows like that (often referred to as "manual window tiling") in most DEs. What DE do you use?
I don't know what you refer to by "middle-mouse navigation". 🙃
Xfce for now.
I've found how to use these shortcuts to drop windows to the left\right half of the screen with super+left\right AND make them fullscreen or hide them with super+up\down. But with that I'm yet to find how to achieve a placement in a quarter of a screen with e.g. super+left and super+up for a left-top quarter. Or to move window to another screen with 2x super+left. It implies that the shortcut reacts differently based on where the window's now. And the basic tool to set them obviously couldn't make condition-based shortcuts. There may be a way to add them, but I don't know of it yet.
I usually use 3-4 new windows at a time, so it was cool I can stack them like that on a whim with a couple of shortcuts.
For the middle-mouse thing: it's elastic auto-scrolling in any direction. Like on a wepbage, you press it and drag in any direction, and the more you move your mouse from the place you started pressing, the more speed this scrolling have. And this didn't mess with middle-clicks on links to open a page in a new tab etc, so it had some dead zone before starting to act I guess.
I've found some rebinding guides for a comparable behavior, but it felt a little off. For what I remember, the built-in feature to bind that got recomended wasn't auto-scrolling. It was like... How to explain it? Like holding a scrollbar and dragging it up or down, and very sensitive. And with that I usually missed the links I wanted to press with a middle button as there were no delay before starting that behavior.
It seems like to achieve the behavior I want I need to find a way to write some listening macro myself. I'm yet to come to that.
Hope I explained it right. These are little things that got written into my muscle memory by years on Win. I'm new to Linux, so maybe I don't see something obvious.
Ah, you're looking for quite specifically the workflow in Windows. That isn't quite as commonly possible and yeah, I don't think, Xfce can do it. If I remember correctly, it had separate shortcuts which you could bind specifically for the diagonal tilings. But your analysis that it needs conditional logic is correct and Xfce in general tends to err on the side of simplicity there (usually allowing for greater modularity and customizability within those simpler bounds).
Personally, I'm on KDE and I think, it essentially works the same as on Windows.
One difference is that Super+Up/Down actually tiles the window to the top half and bottom half of the screen. But if you press Super+Left and then quickly Super+Up, then it will end up in the top-left corner.
I imagine, the Cinnamon DE would also replicate this behavior, possibly even more faithful to Windows. That's kind of their thing, that they mimic the workflow from Windows closely.
For the middle-mouse scrolling, Firefox has an option to turn that on, called "Use autoscrolling".
Other than that, though, yeah, I'm not aware of that being generally available on any DE. KDE has nothing.
The middle-mouse button is traditionally used on Linux to paste from a separate clipboard which is filled whenever you select text. Kind of a weird workflow artifact, too, but lots of folks have muscle memory for that, so it stays around...
You are right at all points.
It's a little cringe to, how it's said in my language, to bring your own sacred book into another monastery. It's cringe to want the same workflow coming from Windows.
Yet I find these little things being so useful they should've been borrowed. I don't know how tho. I have some experience with writing macros, but it's all so unnative.
I mean, I started out like that, too. Looking back, I do now think that I could have just learned it proper right away, but I also remember being completely overwhelmed at the start, constantly learning new things. So, yeah, I'm not sure, it's possible. And even if you don't end up using those macros, you'll learn quite a few things about Linux, so I don't think, it's wasted time in the end.
I wasted no time. In the end, I'm not coming back. And I'm delighted how good Linux gaming is right now. My only grief is Adobe bitching, but I'm slowly adapting to either emulate their products or to find alternatives and making them just a memory.
It's all for the better.
No
Yeah, just put it where the caps-lock key is. It's the best position for "frequent" use.
/s obviously
Remove caps lock first I think
WHO NEEDS CAPSLOCK WHEN YOU GOT THE SHIFT KEY
I will never use the shift key, caps lock toggling superior.
I have caps lock remapped to compose (I use US-Dvorak, but sometimes need scandinavian letters).
When asked about not needing an actual caps lock, my go-to answers are that "I don't write SQL code often enough" or"Caps lock is only needed for the youtube comment section about videos you don't like"
In all seriousness, I don't see why wr need a caps lock key anymore. I just have it remapped as it's conveniently placed and never used.
Oh god, I had a guy on work practise a couple of weeks. He was about 15, and pressed capslock, another key, and then capslock again for capital letters.
I suddenly stormed into the room screaming, with a knife. I plucked out the capslock key, and ran out of the room, still screaming. Then I popped my head back in through the door in a much calmer fashion and told him he would get the key back after his practise time at our company.
This is actually how my wife does it. Its driving me nuts.
I'm guessing you're not a gamer.
Oh, for toggling running to always on?
I remapped caps lock to backspace so it's easy to reach. Much better use of that real estate.
Mine are set to Ctrl ...jus saying
Sick of my Corsair keyboard having a Windows keycap now.
You're all blaming Microsof, when it's obviously a devious plan from big keyboard!
You meant BIG keyboard, of course, right?
That. Is. Amazing.
Lmao Tom Hanks typing away at FAP Schwartz
I use a custom keyboard, they can add as many new keys as they want.
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.
Ah, the new sole button to summon the AI assistant.
Ha! No.
No.
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!
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.
Maybe it's more prevalent on iso Layouts?
Thanks, I definitely hate it?
Just replace the caps lock key.
Capslock is kinda useful for if you're disabled. I also found it's great on devices that are meant for one handed use too like phones.
That’s fair. You could still have that same functionality through something like double tapping the shift key (like it currently works on iPhones) but I guess that might also be hard for some people on a physical keyboard?
That would introduce a point of annoyance IMO. Just remember that in older versions tapping it 5 times would trigger sticky keys. You'd constantly accidently trigger capslock when typing fast.
LEAVE MY CAPS LOCK KEY ALONE! /s
Rule 39
No! I use the "Caps" key a hundred times a day! I have it mapped to output "Esc" though...
I had it mapped to enter at one point for faster copy pasting of code. Ctrl+c, ctrl+v, pinky capslock enter, ctrl+c etc.
Mine's set to the Application/Menu key on tap, and as a Fn modifier when held, so the WASD keys act as the arrows, Q and E as PageUp/Down, and R and F as Home and End. It's gotten so convenient I do that subconciously on keyboards that don't do that, and I end up with SSSSSSSSS or EEEEEEEEEEE.
I have ended too many mails with :wq
Google tried that once, it didn't go over very well.
@aeronmelon I hear it consistently praised as one of the best things in Chromebooks.
I briefly used a chromebook with linux on at the start of last year as a sorta dumb terminal to my desktop until I could get something a bit better. The keyboard was one of the pros, despite all the flex.
On my main laptop I now bind caps lock to super and, since it has an ansi keyboard and I live in the UK, I bind the windows key to compose. It has changed my typing significantly for the better.
That is actually my favorite part of Chromebook keyboards (also, I like lowercase)
I know they did, and I’ve only heard praise for it.
I’ve even remapped my caps lock on my Mac to be another modifier key. I can still tap it to toggle caps lock, but I don’t think I’ve ever used it for that.
Google did this for ChromeOS and I think it's great. You get the old function with Alt+Search.
You mean "properly positioned CTRL".
Atleast its AI. AI is good.
I guess I won't be buying any keyboards without replaceable key caps then.
What? No! It's not the "year of the AI PC," it's the year of the Linux desktop, like every year before and after! You can't just steal our year(s) from us!
This might have been said, but I just see this as a wild attempt to stay relevant and lock people into hardware. Windows is (very, very, slowly)
dyinggettingworseandshowingpeoplehowbaditis. Gamers are starting to leave for Linux and Proton, which will also only help the Mac gaming market share. Linux on ARM honesty seems like the future for most devices. The corporate world and anything that’s in too deep with Excel is, I feel, the last big hold out.EDIT: more accurate time scale and less doom and gloom for the future of windows lol
Reading this thread, you'd think Microsoft was fucking the mothers of the commenters here because they dare to add an other button they won't use on a handful of keyboards ...
Nobody is forcing you to upgrade the keyboard you already have.
And if you do buy a new one, you can just put on a different keycap or just put a sticker on it if it bothers you that much. Any decent OS will let you disable it software-wise.
People are ragging on it here... But it makes a lot of sense. With the way AI is going I'd be happy for a shortcut. Although tbh I don't use like 30% of the keys anyway, so would be fine to just remove irrelevant keys for it.
I know people don't like change but not all change is bad.
While I agree in principle... the word calculators that get praised as "AI" at the moment are very, very bad. Like... really bad. Pushing those unfinished, hallucinating monstrosities onto the keyboard itself is just janky. Just like Cortana was (and is for that matter)
Speaking of Cortana, it's a shame pressing Win + C doesn't already open copilot.
Oh wait, it does, and this extra key is pointless.
I have nothing against a commonly used, OS-independent shortcut key. I do have a problem with MS slapping their greasy logos on things that aren't from MS just because they have the power to strong arm their OEMs.
Windows + C is apparently already the keyboard shortcut for copilot, which is actually what I was going to suggest as an alt to a dedicated button. Actually there's a bunch of windows key combos I wasn't aware of, I can kinda see why they want a dedicated button as I don't think most people know that there are a lot of keyboard shortcuts in windows based on my experience.
Yeah but this change IS bad.