Keyboard Shortcuts You Really Should Know

Ghery said:
You still have a T-42? I was happy to trade mine in, but I had to take the HP option as the Lenovos have cameras. Same reason you'll wind up with an HP when you refresh.
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It's my test/dev box now...I have a Dell e6500 for my primary now.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
My Lenovo T400 doesn't have a camera; it was my upgrade from the T-42...
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We don't have a choice. IT chooses for us. And I'm surprised to hear about the Dell. Wasn't an option when I got this HP earlier this year. IT has flopped again.
 
I'm wasting enough brain capacity with my memorization of the theme song to Gilligan's Island. On moral grounds, I refuse to occupy any further brain stuff to hold Windows magic key sequences, beyond the "necessary one".
-harry
 
JeffDG said:
The screen on my -42 died, so it's now a desktop with a monitor for me, but also with a keyboard too so I don't have to worry about that!
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My T-60 has a windows key
 
One of my favorites is CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to bring up the task manager. You can do it with one hand.
 
jesse said:
From the perspective of keyboard shortcuts -- Mac OS can be incredibly annoying. Mostly if you're a Windows user used to certain shortcuts.
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And vice versa! I mean, I can easily hit command-W with one hand, but Alt-F4? Who's freakin' bright idea was THAT? :frown2::nono::mad2:

Anyway, here's some Mac equivalents...

SkyHog said:
Backspace - Goes back in your browser
Shift-Backspace - Goes forward in your browser
Tab - Moves forward through fields
Shift-Tab - Moves backwards through fields (see the two arrows on the key...the backwards one's on top right? Shift)
Alt-Tab - Moves through applications
Alt-Shift-Tab - Moves backwards through applications
Ctrl-P - Print in almost every program.
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The above are the same on Mac and Windows except on the Mac you use the Command key instead of the Alt or Control key.

Windows-L - Lock your Desktop (USE THIS!)
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Hmmm. Dunno. My machine is pretty much always in my sight, so I don't lock it at all.

Windows-D - Minimizes all windows and goes to the desktop. Press twice to return to where you were
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This actually changed for me - Used to be F11 or something, now F3. It's configurable (through the Exposè control panel) to be whatever you want, though - And there's a few different things you can do: 1) move all the windows aside to get to the desktop, 2) show this program's windows miniaturized and tiled, 3) show ALL programs' windows miniaturized and tiled.

Windows-R - The Run Dialog. Often works on locked down computers too
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If this does what I think it does (launch programs), the closest analog on the Mac is Spotlight, which you can access with command-space and works great for both finding programs and documents and launching/opening them, really fast.

ALT-F4 - Closes the program you are currently running
CTRL-F4 - Closes the window that is open in the current program, leaves the program running
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On the Mac, it's Command-W to close a window, Command-Q to quit a program entirely.

CTRL-Enter - send email in Outlook
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Funny thing - I use this one so much I'm not even sure what it is - My hand just does it! Command-Shift-D or something? :dunno:

Another one I use a lot is Command-L in Safari to select the contents of the location bar, and Command-L followed by a Tab to Google something. I'm sure there's quite a few more that I use without even really realizing it.
 
ron22 said:
I still use Shift-Delete and Shift-Insert to cut and past how do you feel about that?
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I'm with you, except I use Ctrl-Insert to copy instead of Shift-Delete to cut. I consider keyboard shortcuts in this category to be essential, since some windows don't have menus from which to select copy and paste.
 
Function Key F5 refreshes, or in Powerpoint presents the slides to show mode,
The B key will whiten out the presentation so all eyes are on you instead of the slide when you need your audiences attention on you.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
And vice versa! I mean, I can easily hit command-W with one hand, but Alt-F4? Who's freakin' bright idea was THAT? :frown2::nono::mad2:
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I'm confused. How does Alt-F4 take two hands?

Another one I use a lot is Command-L in Safari to select the contents of the location bar, and Command-L followed by a Tab to Google something. I'm sure there's quite a few more that I use without even really realizing it.
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Yes - Alt-D or F6 on a PC does the same thing. And it makes typing URLs so easy. I hate using the mouse when I don't have to.

Stupid Douglas Engelbart
 
SkyHog said:
I'm confused. How does Alt-F4 take two hands?



Yes - Alt-D or F6 on a PC does the same thing. And it makes typing URLs so easy. I hate using the mouse when I don't have to.

Stupid Douglas Engelbart
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I think CTRL L will select the contents on a PC as well - but it's been so many years since I've used one that I could be wrong.

ALT F4 is a one hand ordeal for me
 
Rotor&Wing said:
So why does it matter to you how someone else uses their computer? Do you also complain about how your neighbor mows his yard, or washes his car if it's not to your way of doing it?
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My pet peeve is people using "their" instead of "his or her", but I rarely make posts on forums about it. ;)
 
SkyHog said:
I'm confused. How does Alt-F4 take two hands?
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I said easily. You can easily do it with two hands, or you can awkwardly do it with one hand. Compare to command-W (or whatever's-immediately-left-of-your-space-bar-W) which is very comfortable and easy with one hand, even for those with small hands.
 
dmccormack said:
:yesnod::yesnod::yesnod::yesnod:

But, it's a bow to PC-talk. The same way "Gender" is used when they mean "Sex."
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Hmm, hadn't thought of that. I always figured people were just lazy. "His or her" is significantly more typing or speaking than "their." The PC-talk makes sense, too.

My 7th grade English teacher would find me and beat me with an 18" ruler if he heard me making that kind of greivous grammatical error, and I'm glad to have had someone who cared that much about my proper use of the English language in my life.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
My pet peeve is people using "their" instead of "his or her", but I rarely make posts on forums about it. ;)
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I'm the same way, except mine is using apostrophe's for plural's. :D
 
jesse said:
I think CTRL L will select the contents on a PC as well - but it's been so many years since I've used one that I could be wrong.

ALT F4 is a one hand ordeal for me
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As does ALT+D.

Also, Kent, Command+K will take you directly to the search box (without having to hit tab out of the address bar to get there).
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I'm glad to have had someone who cared that much about my proper use of the English language in my life.
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I did too, but have since learned there is an entire academic behemoth dedicated to proving there is no such thing as "proper English."

They've summarized the reasoning thusly: "Says who?"
 
CTRL-L opens the open dialog in IE6, and Alt-D, as mentioned earlier, does the same thing that Command-L does on the Mac.
 
dmccormack said:
I did too, but have since learned there is an entire academic behemoth dedicated to proving there is no such thing as "proper English."

They've summarized the reasoning thusly: "Says who?"
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Try that reasoning when writing a cover letter for your resume and see how far it gets you!
 
JeffDG said:
You know, the fact that Macs now actually have a command line and things like vi [snip]
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um, the Mac has had a command line for years. Heck, for those that
couldn't work without one there was MPW. I was using that back
in the early 90's.
 
dmccormack said:
But, it's a bow to PC-talk. The same way "Gender" is used when they mean "Sex."
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My dad told me he had a journalism professor who used this line to imprint the difference into his brain:

"Words have gender: People have sex."

:blush:
________
vaporgenie
 
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dmccormack said:
*I* don't use that reasoning, but there is an entire generation being taught that there is no such thing as "standard English."
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Yeah. That's a whole nother thing.

:frown2:
________
weed
 
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Back on the original topic:

I am now resigned to the use of a mouse, but during the switch from DOS to Windows, I really hated moving from the keyboard to the mouse, then back to the keyboard. I love using keyboard shortcuts. But finding them is like looking for [software] Easter Eggs--not always easy to find, but fun once you know where to look!

Thanks for starting this thread!
________
YZR-M1
 
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Erice said:
Back on the original topic:

I am now resigned to the use of a mouse, but during the switch from DOS to Windows, I really hated moving from the keyboard to the mouse, then back to the keyboard. I love using keyboard shortcuts. But finding them is like looking for [software] Easter Eggs--not always easy to find, but fun once you know where to look!

Thanks for starting this thread!
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I was the same way. In the days before the Windows Key, I did most of these with the keyboard anyway:

Ctrl-Esc brings up the start menu
F5 refreshes both internet browsers as well as Windows Explorer
Ctrl-Shift-Esc - Opens Task Manager

And some more. I still use some of those (even ctrl-esc, instead of the windows key...I need to get over that). Its actually faster to use keyboard shortcuts, because the mouse is so slow (even on its fastest pointer speed, which I always use)
 
SkyHog said:
Its actually faster to use keyboard shortcuts, because the mouse is so slow (even on its fastest pointer speed, which I always use)
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Not to mention the time it takes to take your hand off the keyboard, find the mouse, then get back in position.
 
dmccormack said:
*I* don't use that reasoning, but there is an entire generation being taught that there is no such thing as "standard English."
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I was using "you" in the generic sense; I didn't mean to imply that you personally bought into the idea.

Theoretically, they're right, since languages do evolve, but if carried too far, that idea can have negative consequences in the real world.
 
Erice said:
Back on the original topic:

I am now resigned to the use of a mouse, but during the switch from DOS to Windows, I really hated moving from the keyboard to the mouse, then back to the keyboard. I love using keyboard shortcuts. But finding them is like looking for [software] Easter Eggs--not always easy to find, but fun once you know where to look!

Thanks for starting this thread!
Click to expand...

A Yahoo search for keyboard shortcuts turned up several Microsoft lists, among others, but this one for Windows 7 appears to be the most complete:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Keyboard-shortcuts

Before the advent of search engines, I think the only place I knew to look them up was a Windows 286 manual!
 
Note that there may be undesirable side-effects of using keyboard shortcuts on windows. Maybe it was just windows 2000 or XP, but crtl-w had the side-effect
of reseting folder display preferences. very annoying. This experience has
"trained" me to avoid keyboard shortcuts on all windows computers, except for
the cut, copy, and paste shortcuts.
 
AdamZ said:
whats the short cut to take a screen shot?
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Take a picture of the whole screen

⌘-Shift-3

Take a picture of part of the screen

⌘-Shift-4, then drag to select the area you want in the picture.

To cancel, press Escape.

Take a picture of a window, a menu, the menu bar, or the Dock.

Press ⌘-Shift-4, then press the Space bar. Move the pointer over the area you want so that it's highlighted, then click.

To drag to select the area instead, press the Space bar again. To cancel, press Escape.
 
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