Microsoft launched its range of Copilot Plus PCs earlier this week, and they’re all equipped with the new hardware. Dedicated copilot switch On the keyboard. It’s the first big change to Windows keyboards in 30 years, but all the switch does now is launch a Progressive Web App (PWA) version of Copilot.
The web app doesn’t integrate with Windows anymore like Previous co-pilot experience I’ve done this since last year, so you can’t use Copilot to control Windows 11 settings or pin it as a sidebar anymore. It’s literally just a PWA. Microsoft also removed the keyboard shortcut to Copilot on new Copilot Plus computers, so WINKEY+C does nothing.
I was hoping Microsoft would develop the Copilot key into something that could be used much like the Windows key, along with other keys to launch shortcuts to apps or even AI-powered features in Windows. This would make it much more useful than just launching a PWA.
Microsoft hasn’t explained why it changed Copilot from a more integrated Windows experience to just a web app that can no longer control Windows settings. “We are also developing the Copilot experience on Windows as an app that will be pinned to the taskbar,” the Windows Insider team says in a report. Another blog post. “This allows users to get the benefits of a traditional app experience, including the ability to resize, move, and adjust the window — feedback we heard from users throughout our Copilot in Windows preview.”
Microsoft says it will be able to “more flexibly evolve and improve the Copilot experience” as a result of these changes, so perhaps we’ll see some future changes that make this decline in functionality make sense. Until then, the new Copilot key will replace the Menu key (application key) on keyboards on new Copilot Plus computers, and Microsoft has also installed the Copilot app on the taskbar so you don’t even need to use the dedicated key anyway.