remap the Copilot key to one thing else

Proper or improper, Microsoft thinks that one of many massive causes to improve to a brand new Copilot Plus PC is a devoted key to launch its new AI assistant. Smash that button the place trusty proper ctrl was, and also you’ll be handled with a popup chat window for Copilot. Helpful, however what if you wish to use that key for one thing else, say launching a greater AI mannequin?

I’ve been utilizing the Microsoft Floor Laptop computer (seventh gen) for a few months now and am having fun with the Snapdragon X-powered expertise for probably the most half. Nevertheless, I can in all probability rely the variety of instances I’ve clicked that Copilot key on my fingers. It’s not that I don’t discover AI helpful; I take advantage of ChatGPT pretty frequently, particularly for coding. It’s extra that Copilot is, effectively, only a bit naff by comparability, and why accept an inferior possibility?

Bored with the doubtful responses, I’ve changed Copilot with a devoted ChatGPT key. Right here’s how you are able to do the identical.

Earlier than we get into remapping the Copilot key, you’ll must determine what you need to change it with. Me, I desire ChatGPT (even the free model) however you may launch any utility or net app utilizing the strategy outlined under. Since there’s no official ChatGPT utility for Home windows, I put in the ChatGPT web page as an Edge (or Chrome) net app. You might do the identical for Google’s Gemini or another service for which you’d relatively use the Copilot key.

You’ll be able to set up any net web page as an app through Settings > Apps > Set up in Edge or Settings > Forged, Save & Share > Set up web page as app on Chrome. When putting in, ensure that to create a desktop shortcut (you may delete it later). If it’s good to create a brand new shortcut for an put in app, you are able to do this below edge://apps or chrome://apps, relying in your browser.

OK, now to exchange the Copilot key. Microsoft supplies a technique to remap keys, nevertheless it’s not native to your Home windows set up. As a substitute, you’ll must seize Microsoft’s PowerToys utility. This app permits an enormous vary of helpful Home windows extras, together with picture resizing straight in Explorer, Fancy Zones for managing a number of home windows, a RGB coloration picker, and lots extra. The function we’re concerned with is Keyboard Supervisor.

As soon as put in, navigate via the prolonged PowerToys menu to seek out Keyboard Supervisor and allow it. On the backside of the menu, you’ll spot the “Remap a shortcut” button. Open this. Right here, we are able to remap the Copilot button to one thing new.

Now, the Copilot key isn’t truly a particular perform. As a substitute, it’s merely a shortcut. Urgent the important thing prompts the “Win + Shift(left) + F23” shortcut, in order that’s what we have to put into the shortcut area. Scroll via all of the choices to seek out them; see the picture under. The following step is a bit trickier, as we have to configure launching our utility.

First, change the shortcut motion to “Run Program.” Subsequent, it’s good to choose the App to launch after we hit the shortcut, which for Edge apps is msedge_proxy.exe within the Edge utility folder, and the Begin In folder that incorporates that .exe file. Lastly, you have to present arguments, together with an essential app ID, for launching the precise net app we put in earlier. The easiest way to do that is to examine the ChatGPT shortcut you made in your desktop earlier, separating out the Goal area into the App and Args fields. Once you’re completed, hit OK.

The completed setup ought to look one thing like this for an Edge app:

• App: C:Program Information (x86)MicrosoftEdgeApplicationmsedge_proxy.exe
• Args: --profile-directory=Default --app-id=YOUR_ID_HERE --app-url=https://chatgpt.com/ --app-launch-source=4
• Begin in: C:Program Information (x86)MicrosoftEdgeApplication

After all, you possibly can set this shortcut to launch any utility, resembling your favourite messaging app, relatively than another AI chatbot, or just remap the important thing to a distinct normal shortcut. You simply must level the remap to the right utility, shortcut configuration, or URI.

As I mentioned earlier, I don’t actually like Copilot in comparison with a number of the alternate options on the market. Microsoft’s AI expertise has its deserves, resembling picture era through DallE3 built-in and the power to look the online straight. Nevertheless, you will discover comparable capabilities from different companies and they’re typically higher in different methods, particularly when you should use the newest ChatGPT 4o mannequin free of charge.

I’ve a few main issues with Copilot that I don’t have with ChatGPT. First, Copilot tends to waffle and provides oblique solutions to questions when it could possibly be way more particular. Under is an effective instance; I requested the fashions to estimate how lengthy a easy crusing journey may take. Copilot doesn’t present an acceptable reply with out additional prompting, because it fails to understand the query could possibly be theoretical. The overly chatty, fake useful tone can be an irritating hallmark of Copilot. ChatGPT is way extra direct, offering a number of theoretical solutions and displaying its math for me to examine.

Secondly, Copilot is commonly horrible at following longer conversations. It could generally really feel such as you’re ranging from scratch relatively than taking the context of earlier messages into consideration. That is essential when, say, modifying a code snippet.

Within the instance under, I requested each fashions to assist write a really primary Python script to examine RSS feeds. I then requested them to counsel alternate options to the widespread feedparser library that each used of their first code instance. ChatGPT supplies some correct alternate options, full with code to implement them as a result of we have been already writing code. Copilot as an alternative prattles on about various RSS purposes resembling a Python library for Google Information and RSS purposes like Inoreaer and Feedly. That’s barely a solution to the query I requested, not to mention following our authentic coding mission.

It received worse for Copiliot as soon as I requested it to “adapt our code to make use of the bs4 library.” It determined to disregard the code we’d beforehand labored on in favor of copying one thing else from the online that was way more difficult and didn’t embody a number of the monitoring options I’d requested for. ChatGPT nailed it, integrating the brand new library with the prevailing options and even offering an in depth breakdown of how the brand new code works in comparison with the unique.

And that’s only a small overview of the litany of points I’ve had with Copilot in comparison with the way more competent ChatGPT. So sorry Copilot key, you’ve been changed, and I doubt I’ll be coming again any time quickly.