Philip Newton wrote: > On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 00:31, Peter Corlett <ab...@cabal.org.uk> wrote: >> One would have thought, what with Microsoft inventing a new PC keyboard >> layout for Windows 95 that included Windows and Menu keys, that it might use >> *those* for accelerators. But no... the key's sole purpose appears to be to >> randomly cause one's window to lose focus, or game to freeze, when it's >> accidentally brushed. > > Hm? The Windows key is used for about a dozen (IIRC) system-wide > accelerators, for things such as bringing up Explorer or the "Run..." > dialog, minimising/restoring all windows, and the like.
The point was that rather than use the Windows key as an additional modifier key, like the Apple/Command key, freeing up Control, they made it A) the most obnoxious fat finger target since Caps Lock and B) imbued it with a set of randomly assigned chords. While the Apple key is used for such common things as print, save, copy, paste, well, just look at the list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_key#Shortcuts Seems like whatever random bit of functionality they didn't already have a hotkey for was crammed in there. Doesn't justify the keyboard space or the fat fingering. Most damning is I had no idea any of those existed. And why should I? They're not in any menu shortcut I've ever seen. As hateful as the traditional keyboard layout is, it seems most mainstream tinkering just winds up with something even more hateful. http://use.perl.org/~Ovid/journal/37844 -- Stabbing you in the face for your own good.
