January 15, 2010 | Misc

Slashdot is reporting that Lenovo is removing the SysRq key.

Actually, it’s only being removed on its lower end consumer model. The story is also being followed by Computer Nerds, Witty Reads, and Boing Boing.

I think this is OK for low-end laptops used by novice-level users, and also for power users who need a smaller laptop and are willing to up with the inconvenience of not having a full keyboard.

Since the SysRq key shares space with the PrintScrn (PrintScreen) key in most keyboards, this also means people won’t be able to take screenshots (if that’s something you need to do from time to time) without installing one of those $19.99 shareware screenshot utilities. Pressing the PrintScreen key takes a screenshot in Windows and Ubuntu Linux.

Lenovo is also turning the F1-F12 function keys off by default and replacing their functionality with various laptop-oriented actions like change brightness, wifi on/off, turn off webcam, etc. You can still access the function keys by pressing the Fn key first. This is again oriented toward novice users who don’t know what the function keys are for. They don’t open menus with their keyboard. They don’t press F2 to rename a file in Windows Explorer. In fact, they can barely find files at all, much less rename them.

There are some people, such as this comment on the Lenovo blog, who question all of the following keys:

Caps Lock
PgUp / PgDn
Insert
Pause / Break
Scroll lock
SysRq (what is that?)
Half of the F# keys

So, here’s what either these keys (and some others) are for or what I use them for:

The “weird” keys on keyboards

Caps Lock Key

Like the label implies, it locks the keyboard into capitals mode so you can type uppercase letters. Since English has both upper and lowercase letters, it seems fairly obvious that you’d want a way to type both without individually holding Shift for each letter.

I use it to type headings in caps. Often certain programming code needs to be in upper or lowercase as well. Yes, we could live without it, but we could also live without heated car seats, or for that matter, computers, too, right?

PgUp/PgDn Key

What? Does nobody use PageUp and PageDown to move up and down in a browser? It’s used in almost every other program that displays a lot of text, or even lists. Microsoft Word, Windows Explorer, Nautilus File Manager, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.

If companies actually paid attention to what their officer “workers” did, they might find that they spend half their time picking up the mouse and painstakingly holding down the scrollbar after missing a few times, and then dragging all the way up or down, or rotating the scrollwheel about a hundred times. Ctrl+Home or Ctrl+End to go to the beginning or end of a document must seem an alien concept.

Insert Key

Changes the editing mode from insert to overwrite. Normally when you start typing, you are adding characters to the ones already there. If you’re in overwrite mode, you are replacing the characters already present with the new ones you’re typing. This removes the need to first select and delete text that you want to change.

In insert mode, the cursor (or caret as it’s called in Windows) which indicates the point where the current typing position is a slim line wedged in between two existing characters. In overwrite mode, it’s a solid rectangle which overlays the existing character which will be replaced when you type another. The modes are indicated in most text-editing or word-processing programs by the words INS or OVR in the status bar at the bottom.

Pause/Break Key

Pauses screen output. It also stops the execution of a program. It stops execution in a different and more forceful way than Ctrl+C does. Granted, non-programmers could probably live without this.

In Windows Win+Break is a handy shortcut to bring up the System Properties dialog.

I think the Pause function should be put to good use in games and web browsers. They Pause key could pause execution of a game. It could also pause the playing of a YouTube or other Flash movie playing in a web browser.

Multimedia programs should also use it to pause playing of movies and MP3s (but they don’t, preferring the space bar instead).

Scroll Lock Key

Activates a special mode in Excel that allows you to move the view of the spreadsheet without changing which cell is currently selected. That’s actually a function that I think should be used in more programs. When you’re editing a document, sometimes you want to view what you’ve written above or below, but you don’t want to lose your place. Without Scroll Lock, you can’t move your view without moving the caret.

Also used in Linux to stop terminal output.

Function Keys

F1 Help
F2 Rename. Also used in spreadsheet programs like Excel or OpenOffice Calc to edit the current cell.
F3 Used to go to the matching item when doing a search in many programs.
F4 Used in conjunction with Alt to terminate a program in Windows and Ubuntu. By itself, it drops down a drop-down list in Windows. It also drops down the list of past addresses or files in Internet Explorer or Windows Explorer.
F5 Used as Refresh in numerous programs, chiefly web browers and file managers.
F6 Used to move around tabs or different locations on the screen. Often used with Ctrl to switch tabs.
F7 Alt+F7 is “move window” in Ubuntu.
F8 Alt+F8 is “resize window” in Ubuntu.
F9 Alt+F9 is “minimize window” in Ubuntu.
F10 Used in Windows and Ubuntu to open the main menus.
F11 Used to go to full screen mode in a lot of programs, including Firefox and GEdit.

SysRq Key

SysRq stands for System Request, and it shares space with the PrintScrn key, as noted above. If you get rid of the SysRq key, you’ll get rid of PrintScreen as well.

As for what it does in its own right, it’s meant to talk directly to the operating system in when some kind of fault occurs. It’s used in Ubuntu and Linux to bring the system down in an ordered way without losing data.

Delete/Backspace Keys

Delete deletes characters to the right of the caret, while Backspace deletes characters ot the left. The trend is to leave out delete on smaller keyboards. I still want it on a full keyboard, though.

Home/End Keys

They go to the beginning and end of a line. Combined with Ctrl, they go to the beginning and end of a document or a web page.

Control Key

Used for numerous shortcuts. The most prominent being:

• Ctrl+C: Copy
• Ctrl+X: Cut
• Ctrl+C: Copy
• Ctrl+Z: Undo
• Ctrl+Y: Redo
• Ctrl+O: Open
• Ctrl+S: Save
• Ctrl+N: New
• Ctrl+P: Print
• Ctrl+A: Select All
• Ctrl+B: Bold
• Ctrl+U: Underline
• Ctrl+I: Italic
• Ctrl+Break: Stop (works in the terminal or command window)

Alt Key

Alt stands for Alternate (though I’ve never seen it spelled out on an actual keyboard). Used to access down the main menus in Windows and Linux. Also used to activate the underlined shortcuts in dialogs in Windows and Linux.

It’s part of the the infamous Ctrl+Alt+Delete which was used to reboot Windows. (In Windows XP it brings up the Task Manager.) In Ubuntu it brings up a dialog that allows you to restart, shut down, or hibernate the computer.

Windows Key

This brings up the Windows Start menu in Windows. It’s sometimes (though not always) used to bring up a similar menu in Linux. That’s how I like to set it.

It’s also used as as shortcut in Windows for various actions:

• Win+R is the run command dialog.
• Win+E brings up Windows Explorer.
• Win+D shows the Desktop.

Should keyboards be simplified for noobs?

Well, for small keyboards for netbooks and the like, I can understand this. But not for desktops and larger laptops. I think there’s an undercurrent of feeling that many keys are truly useful only for software developers. But the trend towards removing functionality conflicts with the general geekification of society.

There are millions of blogs out there, and the vast majority are not operated by programmers. Wouldn’t Joe Blogger want to post a screenshot of a video running in his web browser for a post of his? How would he do this without the PrintScreen key (shared with the SysRq key)?

Anymore, everybody alive is going to be people who have used computers since the age of three. They’ll have had plenty of time to experiment with the Home and PageUp keys. The funny thing is, people will be terrified by the seven keys of the apocolyse (Insert, Delete, Home, End, PageUp, PageDown, and Scroll Lock), yet they’ll have no problem operating a stereo system with untold keys:

Conclusion

Drop the keys for low-end portables, but not for standard ones.

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