News Microsoft kills Win + C shortcut to promote dedicated Copilot key, drive PC sales

[Admin]

Microsoft's latest Windows 11 insider preview completely gets rid of the Copilot keyboard hotkey shortcut in an attempt to steer people towards a Copilot+ PC, which has a dedicated Copilot key on the keyboard.

Microsoft kills Win + C shortcut to promote dedicated Copilot key, drive PC sales : Read more

 

[Deleted member 2731765]

But, this isn't the first time that the Win + C shortcut has been nuked and evicted though.

It was previously the quickest way to invoke "Cortana", before MS decided to pull the plug on this so-called AI assistant.

It was then given the job of opening 'Teams', which was part of Microsoft's bid to capitalize on the work-from-home boom. And now, we had it as Copilot's hotkey.
Who knows where it'll end up next?

So no, a direct correlation to promote a dedicated copilot key seems a bit off in this case, at least in my opinion. Although, we know the hype being generated by the latest AI and Copilot+ PCs can't be overlooked.

 

[CmdrShepard]

Microsoft kills Win + C shortcut to promote dedicated Copilot key, drive PC sales e-waste​

FTFY

 

[DS426]

Pure. Greed. What a waste of development resources and definitely a slap in the face to this supposed marriage to the idea of "climate change is the existential threat of our time" when retiring not that old PC's isn't an issue at all in the name of this crazy AI rat race. Love how big tech fakes morality when green is and always will be the main motivating factor for any major business decisions -- I mean, how not when you're a publically-traded company!?!?

 

[ThomasKinsley]

This is a step in the right direction. First kill the shortcut. Then kill CoPilot. I don't see anything wrong with this.

 

[USAFRet]

"drive PC sales"?

I doubt anyone is buying a whole new PC, instead of maaaayyybeeeee a new keyboard.
Laptop users? Again...that function could be invoked in multiple ways.

 

[KnightShadey]

The funniest part to me was that as I was reading this I was thinking the same thing that was confirmed at the bottom of the article: pfft.. just use AutoHotkey, you could remap it.
Good to hear they found the alternate key combo instead of having to create a shortcut/script.

I have had a remapped key for a sleep timer shortcut (CMD shutdown /s at home , /r at work) for over a decade when doing tasks after I walk away.
Before that, since the time of Napster, it was a folder full of timers (still have that in docs), over the years default timer also changed from 30mins to 1hr to 3hrs.🫤

Also annoying when laptop mfr scrimp on keys. 🤬

Seems like a work-around was inevitable, we'll see how serious M$ is about not further annoying savvy users (who aren't swayed by these tactics only pushed further away) as to whether they try to stop this by whack-a-mole-ing something 9x% of users won't even know exists.

 

[KnightShadey]

This also can't be good for accessibility where folks who rely on things being where they are and doing what they are supposed to do instead of constant change. Especially for people who might want to use Copilot voice prompts instead of desktop navigation because they are visually impaired. 🤔

I have a feeling even M$ might provide a not widely publicized workaround just for that consideration, unless.... they don't care. 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[USAFRet]

This also can't be good for accessibility where folks who rely on things being where they are and doing what they are supposed to do instead of constant change. Especially for people who might want to use Copilot voice prompts instead of desktop navigation because they are visually impaired. 🤔

I have a feeling even M$ might provide a not widely publicized workaround just for that consideration, unless.... they don't care. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Copilot hasn't been around long enough for people to get that used to the key combination.

 

[endocine]

Not buying a new PC unless it has a copilot key. This is a step in the right direction. Win11 not working at all unless a PC has a keyboard with a copilot key should be mandatory in a future update.

 

[USAFRet]

Not buying a new PC unless it has a copilot key. This is a step in the right direction. Win11 not working at all unless a PC has a keyboard with a copilot key should be mandatory in a future update.

I sincerely hope you're joking with this.

(sarcasm often doesn't work in text)

 

[KnightShadey]

Copilot hasn't been around long enough for people to get that used to the key combination.

True enough, although it was quietly previewed last fall and proudly announced in January, seems like another example of M$ wasted time&effort

Introducing a new Copilot key to kick off the year of AI-powered Windows PCs

Today, we are excited to take the next significant step forward and introduce a new Copilot key to Windows 11 PCs. In this new year, we will be ushering in a significant shift toward a more personal and intelligent computing future where AI will be s

blogs.windows.com

A quick look shows there have already been some designs with them included (including Dell of course), and according to ars' article about the new key (which also details the F23 tie-in) and earlier interview with a Dell rep in April said they weren't supposed to be reprogrammable. So any early adopter would be affected if they relied on it.

Copilot key is based on a button you probably haven’t seen since IBM’s Model M

Left-Shift + Windows key + F23

arstechnica.com

I haven't seen any of them in person (maybe while walking by them at BB perhaps), but I also wasn't the target market, I have no idea how may are affeceted. 🤷🏻‍♂️

It was an afterthought to me too, but as I have a few friends and family who are involved with the CNIB and I have had to work with accessibility features for co-workers, and know the PITA of that, it did pop-up as a potential issue for a minority of folks after my initial reaction.

Anywayz, it just seems like a dumb misstep in a long list of missteps by M$ recently, especially about CoPilot, which gets less attractive with every announcement.

 

[USAFRet]

True enough, although it was quietly previewed last fall and proudly announced in January, seems like another example of M$ wasted time&effort

Right.
Previewed in Insider.

I've built software dedicated to accessibility. Blind or near blind.
Cutting edge software is not where they operate. Or at least my user community doesn't.

 

[KnightShadey]

Not buying a new PC unless it has a copilot key. This is a step in the right direction. Win11 not working at all unless a PC has a keyboard with a copilot key should be mandatory in a future update.

Got a solution for you.... 😜

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

There is absolutely no reason for Microsoft to remove the Win + C hotkey.

I can think of one: It's too close to Ctrl+C.

 

[KnightShadey]

Right.
Previewed in Insider.

I've built software dedicated to accessibility. Blind or near blind.
Cutting edge software is not where they operate. Or at least my user community doesn't.

I agree, it's an edge of an edge case, and like I said I haven't even seen any with them yet, but for what to me would appear as a good use-case to just get yanked for PR/marketing purposes is annoying. Especially for what is a default platform/app, not cutting- edge specialized software.

I've just seen far too many 'updates' that completely break accessibility, especially readers, that it kinda always occupies a tiny space of my thinking of these things even if it's not an issue yet. Call it my Karen "won't somebody PLEASE think of the Children!" moment.🥴

And lastly, as I mentioned before when talking about CoPilot+, it seems like M$ has NO IDEA how to market this, focusing on BS like image generation and webcam backgrounds and intense activity tracking instead of things like ( hey you can do tasks that are a PITA simply in moments with just your voice, like pivot tables, or searching and summarizing PDFs/spec sheets/compliance documents, etc, 🤔

Yeah, I'm probably way overthinking it, but I'll take that criticism vs M$ likely having a large team dedicated to this button and failing in less than a year. 🙃

 

[USAFRet]

hey you can do tasks that are a PITA simply in moments with just your voice, like pivot tables,

If you need a voice prompt thing to create pivot tables, you don't know enough about pivot tables or the environment to create pivot tables.

 

[KnightShadey]

If you need a voice prompt thing to create pivot tables, you don't know enough about pivot tables or the environment to create pivot tables.

Usually, I would agree with you, but it would/would've save(d) myself and a former colleague a LOT of time and trouble vs showing work friends how to do it, and then refreshing them ever 6-12 months when they have to present to a customer or VP, etc.
Even YouTube tutorials tend to lose a lot of those folks initially, although work best for refreshers.

That people don't know how to fully use a tool doesn't mean it can't be useful, especially if they see someone else using it effectively and them then saying the dreaded words "How did you do that ? " 😑

 

[USAFRet]

Usually, I would agree with you, but it would/would've save(d) myself and a former colleague a LOT of time and trouble vs showing work friends how to do it, and then refreshing them ever 6-12 months when they have to present to a customer or VP, etc.

And for those people, I'm not sure how a voice prompt or "AI" will help.
They don't appear to know enough about the situation to tell the system exactly what they want.

Or worse, when what the AI gives them is wrong.

 

[KnightShadey]

And for those people, I'm not sure how a voice prompt or "AI" will help.
They don't appear to know enough about the situation to tell the system exactly what they want.

Or worse, when what the AI gives them is wrong.

I don't think you realize how easy it is in CoPilot for 365, it's ridiculously simple; and since you're using known/owned datasets and common Excel & PowerPoint actions/functions there are no hallucinations. It's pretty nice, you can quickly show them the prompts to get/filter/organize and convert to tables/charts, export, etc, vs having them dig through menus and clicks (which is where people get lost and forget).

I've already shown it to folks with Copilot in 365, and also videos showing them how easy it is (which does better than me explaining it usually anyways). And while it's not worth the ongoing subscription unless... someone else is paying for it anyways... even at $20 for a one time use that saves these folks hours already pays for itself and lunch. It also gives them more prep time and time to review/check for errors.

I am just starting to play around with it in Visio, and once I can feel comfortable that it will do what I want correctly (it does have it's own learning curve), it'll probably let me diagram proposals quicker, saving me time. And as a dyslexic it might finally help me in M$ Project which has always been my PITA.

I don't need Ai to draw dogs surfing on sharks with lasers on their heads for me, I need Ai to simplify task I already know how to do but would love to do quicker & better.

Understand... I'm no M$ fanboi , in fact I still hate them from some of their past sins (hence the acronym) , but if I must use them, might as well make the most of what they offer.

Anywayz, that's my situation, your mileage may vary.

 

[USAFRet]

I don't think you realize how easy it is in CoPilot for 365, it's ridiculously simple; and since you're using known/owned datasets and common Excel & PowerPoint actions/functions there are no hallucinations. It's pretty nice, you can quickly show them the prompts vs having them dig through menus and clicks (which is where people get lost and forget).

I've not much messed with CoPilot (actually, not at all).

But having seen a couple of the junior members at work show off their AI generated code and functions...
Yes, it "works". But many of them are disturbingly inefficient, and some, just plain wrong.

Like (paraphrased) "How do I get to the end of the driveway"
And it leads you around the back of the house and then up and over the roof.

Yes, you end up at the end of the driveway. But.....

 

[CelicaGT]

I've not much messed with CoPilot (actually, not at all).

But having seen a couple of the junior members at work show off their AI generated code and functions...
Yes, it "works". But many of them are disturbingly inefficient, and some, just plain wrong.

Like (paraphrased) "How do I get to the end of the driveway"
And it leads you around the back of the house and then up and over the roof.

Yes, you end up at the end of the driveway. But.....

One of the better descriptions of AI in its current iteration.

 

[brandonjclark]

Hrmmm, WindowsLogo key+C on MY computer does a copy function.

But that's because I'm using a Mac often.

 

[KnightShadey]

I've not much messed with CoPilot (actually, not at all).

But having seen a couple of the junior members at work show off their AI generated code and functions...
Yes, it "works". But many of them are disturbingly inefficient, and some, just plain wrong.

Like (paraphrased) "How do I get to the end of the driveway"
And it leads you around the back of the house and then up and over the roof.

Yes, you end up at the end of the driveway. But.....

Oh yeah, but that's a bit different, this is known (often owned) controlled data source in a dedicated environment, it's shockingly simple and pretty good, which is why i think it's an M$ marketing miss/fail.

We also use it in other more technical areas at work, but it's usually a similar situation with captured or created data and known purpose built processes , so it's less likely to introduce errors.

I get your apprehension though, a friend/former roommate of mine uses it with python code for work and prototyping. During a chat in the spring he spoke of his experiences with the tools he's using, it helps him get 90% of the way there, but then he has to spend time troubleshooting and stitching together bits & pieces (and Ai can help him there too). But it saves him all the ground work, and repetitive stuff (especially if he has some of his existing code to pull from), and while it takes days to check, that's versus the weeks it would've taken to get there without the tools.
It doesn't hurt that he has years of experience in connected wearables/devices and commercial sensors before that, so he knows where he wants to go and what it should look like when he gets there.

And I agree it's being pushed everywhere as a panacea, and mainly misunderstood by most folks, the hype has outpaced the reality by leaps and bounds, and I'm not trying to contribute to pumping that up. However, there are ways it can be very useful for folks that were already doing those tasks without Ai., and just needed a little speed boost or help with the more mundane aspects.

Anyways, I don't wanna derail thread too much from the original topic, but I understand your apprehension, I agree with you 88.8% of the time. 😉

 

[NedSmelly]

However, there are ways it can be very useful for folks that were already doing those tasks without Ai., and just needed a little speed boost or help with the more mundane aspects.

Agreed. Speaking from a visual creative perspective, we’ve found AI tools really useful with doing things that were previously very tedious and mundane - like noise reduction and dust removal. In that regard it’s a time saver. The complexities begin with the generative stuff. Quite amusing a few years ago when Gigapixel AI kept randomly adding Ryan Gosling’s face to people’s photos.