Microsoft will add an extra key to familiar QWERTY keyboards (Topic)

Unchanged for a long time, the classic QWERTY keyboard of all computers may soon change. All keys will remain in place, but one of them may change its functionality. Microsoft plans to make its own adjustments to the familiar set of buttons on all modern Windows keyboards.

Just one button

The traditional alphabetical arrangement will remain the same. The changes will affect only one key of the familiar layout of home devices. This is the context menu activation button, which can be found in the very bottom row. Microsoft wants to build a function into this key for calling and working with Office programs. Everything else remains the same. Nothing is finally decided yet, the Microsoft keyboard still maintains its usual order, and one of the context menu keys still functions. Initiator of innovations - Microsoft is now conducting user opinion research and conducting relevant polls to find out if changes are needed at all. In addition, the company has not yet decided on the final functionality of the button: pressing it will only call the Office suite, or activating it will allow you to exchange office documents with other people. Perhaps the key can be customized by users themselves.

Enviable consistency

The modern QWERTY layout has been in existence since 1994, when the location and function of each key on a full-size keyboard was determined. Thus, the classic keyboard of home computers and other full-fledged devices has retained its original appearance for a quarter of a century. Creators of gaming and compact models of keyboards allow themselves more freedom, often changing the order of the buttons on the bottom row, and sometimes abandoning some of them. Most often, one of the two Win-buttons turns out to be superfluous, while the second remains with the same functionality and retains the activation of the context menu.

Most likely, the updated QWERTY keyboard will be included in one of the next large-scale updates of the tenth Windows. Testers will get access to it initially, although Microsoft does not name final release dates and does not claim that the usual keystroke standard will change. The corporation also does not share data whether the innovation will affect only Windows 10, or it will cover previous versions of the OS. If you recall, proprietary support for Windows XP ended in 2014, and support for the equally popular Windows 7 ends in 2020.

There is no limit to perfection.

Microsoft continues to innovate its products, and the likely appearance of the Office key will continue its series of significant innovations. So, at the end of last year, the company changed the style of icons for office applications that were included in the Office 365 suite. Not so long ago, the company completely rebuilt the operation of the branded Edge browser, released in 2015, replacing its EdgeHTML engine with the more advanced Chromium. The browser retained its name, but its original performance has changed in many ways. The browser has received many features, although it retains some of the old classic version of Edge.

In addition, Microsoft has worked with the classic command line. Instead of the usual window on a black background, the output was a full-fledged application, supplemented by support for the Linux subsystem. For the first time, a full-fledged Linux kernel supplemented the Windows OS, while, unlike the proprietary kernel, it retained open source code.

The Topic of Article: Microsoft will add an extra key to familiar QWERTY keyboards.
Author: Jake Pinkman