ArticlesI have used keyboards with the Caps Lock key above the Shift key.
I have used keyboards with the Caps Lock key below the Shift key.
For some time, I have thought that there is only one correct position for the Caps Lock key…
…at the back of the computer, near where the power cable plugs in.
I never use Caps Lock, and find it to be nothing more than a mild nuisance.
When using X Windows, I tend to xmodmap it to another CTRL key.
When using Microsoft Windows, I tend to turn on the accessibility option called ToggleKeys. The PC then beeps whenever I accidentally hit the Caps Lock, Num Lock or Scroll Lock keys.
More recently, I have another set of keys that I want to relegate to the back of the PC, next to the power cable – the Power key. I am not sure why someone would put a power button in an easy-to-hit-accidentally position in the first place – especially on an OS where there is no confirmation.
I noticed a spider on my keyboard. A few minutes after removing it, I noticed a second one. I picked up the keyboard to see if there were any more surprises waiting to jump out, only to bump the Power button and to lose my unsaved changes.
Comment by Alastair on October 10, 2006
Agree++ on the capslock key. I map it to another ctrl key on all my computers. On windows I use Ctrl2Cap. On MacOS X I use the system keyboard preference pane. On Linux I use… well nothing because I always access it through an X terminal on windows or MacOS.
Old keyboard nostalgia is what all the cool nerds are into these days. So in that spirit I have to proudly declare that I have in my possession one of the best keyboards ever made, the Apple Extended Keyboard Pro II. Also known as the “Saratoga” after the aircraft carrier it (mostly) represents. Lovely keyboard with a very nice action (but not a noisy buckling spring either). Despite its obsolete ADB interface, lots of people use them even to this day (via an ADB/USB converter which are themselves getting harder to find).
I have been putting off the plan to ressurrect it and put it back into service for one important reason: the capslock key. It’s a toggle switch which really does lock down when pressed. So no good even if I re-map it to ctrl, the toggle action will annoy me. The plan is to unsolder it and swap it with a non toggling key that I don’t use so much (numlock maybe?), but I just haven’t got my act together yet.
To bring this comment back on topic, let me observe that this keyboard, like all Apple models, also has a power key. This key is only used for turning the machine ON, and not for turning it off. The moral of the story: don’t blame your hardware when you can blame the OS. (And don’t blame the OS when you can use it as an excuse to buy more hardware 🙂
Comment by steve on October 30, 2006
I have a Mac, and I use System Preferences to remap:
Caps => Control
Ctrl => Alt
Alt => Apple
This has the effect of moving the modifier keys around the left, with the control key to the left of the A like it always should have been.
It has the side effect (ok, main effect) of making my IBM Model M keyboard work properly when plugged in, as it has no Windows key.
Comment by Peter on January 25, 2007
I’d have to raise the issue of the ‘Start’ button. Nothing worse than playing a first person shooter, flying a helicopter at low altitude with 8 team mates on board, then accidently hitting Start instead of Ctrl. Hello Desktop! Hello Start menu! Bugger! Desperately Alt+Tab, we’re all dead. Joy.
I have been known to remove the Start key. God bless Microsoft and their influence.