14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is believed to be considering a new key on the keyboards of PCs and laptops running Windows, as the company wants its users to work with the Office productivity suite in a more efficient manner.
The software giant has recently started an internal survey to determine how useful an Office key would be on PC keyboards, trying to get feedback from company employees on a series of ideas.
Discovered by Microsoft watcher WalkingCat, the survey also includes a concept revealing that the firm wants the Office key to be very similar with the Windows sibling, with the only major difference obviously represented by the icon of the productivity software.
But as per the survey, this Office key would come with support for various shortcuts, like Office key + O, T, W, X, P, D, N, Y, and L to perform a series of tasks in the productivity suite faster. Microsoft says the Office key + S hotkey would allow users to quickly share a document, which could indeed come in very handy given that the company is pushing hard for the collaboration side of its software.
Office 365 now a top cash cow
The survey also asks respondents if they want an Office key on their keyboards and laptops, so the likelihood of this happening probably depends on the initial feedback that the company receives.
There are no other specifics available at this point and it’s not yet know if Microsoft sees this idea as a priority in the long-term, which would make a lot of sense since Office 365 has become one of the largest cash cows for the company.
An Office key, however, can’t just show up overnight, as Microsoft has a lot of work to put into such a project, not only in terms of software, but also when it comes to hardware, as manufacturers would have to somehow integrate this button in the existing keyboard layout without compromising usability in any way.