Scroll lock is useful in excel.
Also you can use win key + pause/break to open the windows system screen.
There are some KVM switches which are triggered with the scroll lok key.
In my AHK script I remap the pause key to suspend the computer. I thought the label appropriate ;)
I've been debating with some friends about why a keyboard still has a bunch of outdated keys. Check out the image below.Orange Del to get in UEFI/BIOS :thumb:
http://i.imgur.com/MEYrik3.png?1
In my opinion everything in red is useless and in orange is debatable.
- Scroll lock and Pause break. These are possible the most useless keys, I just don't see why'd you need it these days.
- Menu key, why?
- Numpad is useful for heavy excel/data users, but honestly these days days barely anybody does that much manual number input and if you really need it, you just buy a separate board. Also those extra function key options on it are repetitive
- Insert, Home, PgUp/Dn, delete, end... I don't use any of them, except for the occasional delete or accidental (+annoying) insert. Things as Home, End and delete, I use the shortcuts and not the keys. I assume most power users rather use short-cuts?
- Capslock is debatable. I personally use it because I type quite a lot of pinyin (Chinese). It allows you to switch between pinyin and regular. But I rarely use it for its actual function. In my opinion more efficient methods can be applied to activate capslock.
What's your opinion?
Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/CWkJhuu.png)
Red is worthless to me.
Orange is not that important but can be mapped elsewhere.
Rshift because I almost always type on the Lshift with my pinky.
I've done my own map of keys that are absolutely useless to me in my every day typing and navigating on windowsShow Image(http://i.imgur.com/p4s6E0T.png)
After that I did my own map of keys that are useless to me for gamingShow Image(http://i.imgur.com/US52Fhw.png)
Between these two images I can clearly see why the HHKB layout is really nice for me for the bottom row and why it probably does well for a lot of other people as well.
I've done my own map of keys that are absolutely useless to me in my every day typing and navigating on windowsShow Image(http://i.imgur.com/p4s6E0T.png)
After that I did my own map of keys that are useless to me for gamingShow Image(http://i.imgur.com/US52Fhw.png)
Between these two images I can clearly see why the HHKB layout is really nice for me for the bottom row and why it probably does well for a lot of other people as well.
I can totally agree on this. Until so far nobody has given a real legit reason why we have these extra buttons still there. You can also get home function by Fn+left arrow, and end by Fn+right arrow.
When I'm answering recommendations for keyboards I often see people absolutely requiring the numpad (even though you could get a cheap separate one)
Frankly that's exactly why I would want to have the separate one. I don't want it next to my keyboard the entire time. I find full sized keyboards too long especially when gaming. I don't normally use the numpad for typing so I'd be fine with having it stored away until I need it.When I'm answering recommendations for keyboards I often see people absolutely requiring the numpad (even though you could get a cheap separate one)
Having a separate one is a bit of the pain, though, and it doesn't bring about the same experience. You have twice as many wires, more stuff to move around, it won't necessarily stay put next to your keyboard, etc.
I've been debating with some friends about why a keyboard still has a bunch of outdated keys. Check out the image below.
http://i.imgur.com/MEYrik3.png?1
In my opinion everything in red is useless and in orange is debatable.
- Scroll lock and Pause break. These are possible the most useless keys, I just don't see why'd you need it these days.
- Menu key, why?
- Numpad is useful for heavy excel/data users, but honestly these days days barely anybody does that much manual number input and if you really need it, you just buy a separate board. Also those extra function key options on it are repetitive
- Insert, Home, PgUp/Dn, delete, end... I don't use any of them, except for the occasional delete or accidental (+annoying) insert. Things as Home, End and delete, I use the shortcuts and not the keys. I assume most power users rather use short-cuts?
- Capslock is debatable. I personally use it because I type quite a lot of pinyin (Chinese). It allows you to switch between pinyin and regular. But I rarely use it for its actual function. In my opinion more efficient methods can be applied to activate capslock.
What's your opinion?
Caps Lock I do actually use, as work's coding standards need all SQL to be in uppercase.
Spacebar = damn that thing is a waste of space
Caps Lock I do actually use, as work's coding standards need all SQL to be in uppercase.
O_oSpacebar = damn that thing is a waste of space
Idunno, Every time I use a board without a wide spacebar, I end up with pain in my thumb :-\
Rshift because I almost always type on the Lshift with my pinky.
Rshift because I almost always type on the Lshift with my pinky.
If you're using correct typing form, you need both shift keys, absolutely. You're slowing yourself down if you only use one.
Rshift because I almost always type on the Lshift with my pinky.
If you're using correct typing form, you need both shift keys, absolutely. You're slowing yourself down if you only use one.
Eh, what works, works. The notion that there's a "correct" way to type always sat wrong with me, as long as you're touch typing you're pretty much good and speed will come with time.
Sure, the human hand is very adaptable -- but why make extra work for yourself? I'm lazy and find that spreading the work out among all 10 fingers is easiest.
They tried forcing the normal running stuff on me in back in PE and it was always super uncomfortable and bad to use, not to mention that it felt super clumsy. I really just ended up learning to run just by running around. Who cares that I couldn't run more than a few kms and then I ended up with a knee injury several years later.
Posture is the same thing. People figure it out on their own and later wonder, why they have back pain.
They tried forcing the normal running stuff on me in back in PE and it was always super uncomfortable and bad to use, not to mention that it felt super clumsy. I really just ended up learning to run just by running around. [...] Posture is the same thing. People figure it out on their own and later wonder, why they have back pain.If we didn’t wear inflexible padded shoes, and spent less time sitting in chairs and more time using our bodies, then “just running around” would be a pretty good way to learn to run, as well as a way to have decent posture.
for most people, i see it, but for me, someone who's work requires all caps text, i need my caps lock right where it is, and the escape key as well.
According to whatpulse, esc is my #2 press key, and i'm at about 400k presses for it.
Thinking more about how I type , I rarely if ever use the Windows key. Still not useless though.I've found it extremely useful for locking a computer with win+L. Win+m for minimise all is quite useful for pre-win 7 stations too. Other than that, never use it. I rebound F9 to be a winkey if I use a board without one at work.
Forgive me if this sounds noob-ish, but the actual default keycap for Ctrl on Realforce boards is useless. Why does it have a window for the LED? I don't think you can even get that led on the RF to shine through there unless you have it set to Caps Lock.
I never use right shift or the right keys on the bottom row so I normally try to do something useful with them.
I use everything except scroll lock (I hear its useful if you use excel a lot though), pause/break, num lock and menu would probably be the least used out of my used keys though.
I'm surprised by how many people don't use forward delete. I love it. Putting it on a layer would not be the same. I remapped my capslock into an extra control key.
They tried forcing the normal homerow stuff on me in back in 4th/5th grade and it was always super uncomfortable and bad to use, not to mention that it felt super clumsy. I really just ended up learning to type just by playing MMOs and chatting to folks on there.
I just feel like the best bet is to get people typing and let them figure out what's comfortable for them. Trying to force myself to type a certain way (1 finger per key, doing it some specific way) is a lot more effort then just typing however feels naturally, and my speed hasn't suffered for it, so sticking with what's comfortable is the way to go.
Are there any keys that are just completely neglected by most software? i know i have NEVER used the Pause/Break, Scroll Lock and Print Screen/ SysRq keys.
Ever.
And i often hit the Insert key but i think the only key in that cluster i use is Delete.
I don't use pause it scroll lock.
I find pg down and pg up more comfortable to use than the scroll wheel when browsing.
On Mac keyboards the f13-f15 or so. I don't think I've ever heard of those being used.
not being a Mac user (far too poor), i didnt even know they had that many function keys.
Page up/down and Home/End are easily the most useful keys outside of the alphanumeric set.
Most certainly, if you code in a beefed-up notepad.exe. I recommend using an actual text editor instead though.Page up/down and Home/End are easily the most useful keys outside of the alphanumeric set.
Those are very very usefull keys when you code.
Insert ans ScrollLock are certainly among the least useful keys. But I have also remapped CapsLock to FN on my POK3R and I'm not missing this key at all.
I would much rather have a navless than a tenkeyless keyboard
OMG!
The worst of all worlds!
That is what keeps the Model F AT with ANSI/Alt mod from being one of the truly great keyboards.
Dedicated keys are essential for people who actually work with numbers. Toggling between arrows and numbers is painful death.
Menu key is good if the mouse fails (batteries, bad cord)
Capslock has it's uses once in a great while (software codes).
Print Screen is handy for screen shots.
Scroll lock works on some KVM's to switch computers.
Pause, can actually pause your computer on bootup, while still in Bios. I've had to use it once or twice to see how much memory is in a computer and find the key to enter bios. I'm not sure if that still works, especially with UEFI.
The key that needs to be burned in eternal hellfire is the insert key. This is the only key I have never, ever found it useful.
I remap Insert to delete and Capslock to shift (some remap it as a ctrl)
During games, my left Winkey is disabled and most uncommon keys become macro keys.
I also have it auto-correct common typing errors.
the "G" key is pretty useless
I never lose
Why make a new thread when we already have https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=73835 about the same topic, active for the last few weeks?
Why make a new thread when we already have https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=73835 about the same topic, active for the last few weeks?
Yeah, i noticed that after i posted it. I was screwing around with a keyset template, wondering why the hell i should bother with keys i never use and decided to see if i was the only one. I'll probably remap the keys and use generic symbols i like. And NEVER map Insert to anything.
As someone who does a lot of numeric input, I would much rather have a navless than a tenkeyless keyboard.I agree completely. If they stick the down arrow on num 5 rather than num 2 (something I'm not quite sure of why it hasn't happened ages ago yet) I wouldn't mind using that sort of payout at all. Not the greatest fan of what IBM did to the numpad on the AT, though.
Also everyone who doesn't use home/end must really love their arrow keys or switching back to their mouse...maybe that's why people feel the need to have their mouse so close to the alpha keys...? :rolleyes:
Seriously though, honest question for those that don't use home/end. If you have to edit the middle of a sentence while you're posting, why not hit 'end' to skip to the end of the line? Or maybe you just don't make mistakes like that. :P
Also everyone who doesn't use home/end must really love their arrow keys or switching back to their mouse...maybe that's why people feel the need to have their mouse so close to the alpha keys...? :rolleyes:
Seriously though, honest question for those that don't use home/end. If you have to edit the middle of a sentence while you're posting, why not hit 'end' to skip to the end of the line? Or maybe you just don't make mistakes like that. :P
Also everyone who doesn't use home/end must really love their arrow keys or switching back to their mouse...maybe that's why people feel the need to have their mouse so close to the alpha keys...? :rolleyes:
Seriously though, honest question for those that don't use home/end. If you have to edit the middle of a sentence while you're posting, why not hit 'end' to skip to the end of the line? Or maybe you just don't make mistakes like that. :P
I wonder if that's a PC-specific thing, using the END button to move the cursor to the end of the line. On a Mac, it only seems to function for page scrolling (jumping to the bottom of whatever you're in).
I tend to use [CMD] → to jump to the end of the line, and [OPTION] → to jump a word at a time, adding [SHIFT] to select words as I go.
Also everyone who doesn't use home/end must really love their arrow keys or switching back to their mouse...maybe that's why people feel the need to have their mouse so close to the alpha keys...? :rolleyes:Have you considered that there are _other_ user interfaces?
Seriously though, honest question for those that don't use home/end. If you have to edit the middle of a sentence while you're posting, why not hit 'end' to skip to the end of the line? Or maybe you just don't make mistakes like that. :P
Also everyone who doesn't use home/end must really love their arrow keys or switching back to their mouse...maybe that's why people feel the need to have their mouse so close to the alpha keys...? :rolleyes:Have you considered that there are _other_ user interfaces?
Seriously though, honest question for those that don't use home/end. If you have to edit the middle of a sentence while you're posting, why not hit 'end' to skip to the end of the line? Or maybe you just don't make mistakes like that. :P
For example, I use VimFx in Firefox (for convenience); simple `gg` goes to the beginning of the page, `G` to the end. My preferred text editor is Emacs—then Ctrl-A goes to the beginning of the line, Ctrl-E to the end (I believe similar shortcuts work on OS X too), and Meta-[<>] jumps to the start/end of the document. There are hotkeys for jumping between sentences too…
This was one of the things that drove me nuts on my Hackintosh, luckily, there is a way to fix it with some tweaks. And yes, it's why some people rarely use them.Also everyone who doesn't use home/end must really love their arrow keys or switching back to their mouse...maybe that's why people feel the need to have their mouse so close to the alpha keys...? :rolleyes:
Seriously though, honest question for those that don't use home/end. If you have to edit the middle of a sentence while you're posting, why not hit 'end' to skip to the end of the line? Or maybe you just don't make mistakes like that. :P
I wonder if that's a PC-specific thing, using the END button to move the cursor to the end of the line. On a Mac, it only seems to function for page scrolling (jumping to the bottom of whatever you're in).
There was a recent study that also showed that the right mouse key was rarely used, this too was because the study was Mac centric, despite the authors not really clarifying that.
My wife is a Mac addict, and I can't see it, on the mouse perhaps more than anywhere else.
I use my right button and the scroll wheel constantly, although I don't use other side buttons, etc.
My wife is a Mac addict, and I can't see it, on the mouse perhaps more than anywhere else.
I use my right button and the scroll wheel constantly, although I don't use other side buttons, etc.
I use my two side buttons constantly when I'm navigating through folders or webpages.
And apparently the Delete key doesn't do much on a Mac either? I always have to right click a file to "send to trash" - why doesn't Delete...delete...it? :rolleyes:You want command + delete (that is, backwards delete), which has been the shortcut on Mac OS since before MS Windows even existed.
My wife is a Mac addict, and I can't see it, on the mouse perhaps more than anywhere else. I use my right button and the scroll wheel constantly, although I don't use other side buttons, etc.I almost exclusively use a Mac and use scroll wheel and right button constantly (or on a trackpad, two-finger scrolling and two-finger click). What’s your point?
I'm surprised at the keys deemed useless by some. Granted, as a coder, I live on the nav cluster for jumping around in code to edit / cut / copy / paste. Reaching for the mouse is just a waste of time.You know what’s also a waste of time? Reaching for the arrow keys, F keys, etc.
Hoff: you should just learn the Mac shortcuts, which are in my experience more complete, more logical, and at least as convenient as shortcuts on Windows or Linux.
Complaining that they’re different with little eyeroll emojis, because Microsoft picked different shortcuts in Windows 1.0 in 1985 or later versions of Windows than Apple was using since 1984 (or maybe earlier on Lisa or Apple II) just seems silly.
I'm surprised at the keys deemed useless by some. Granted, as a coder, I live on the nav cluster for jumping around in code to edit / cut / copy / paste. Reaching for the mouse is just a waste of time.You know what’s also a waste of time? Reaching for the arrow keys, F keys, etc.
If you have programmable firmware on your keyboard, you can do so much better.
Still faster than a mouse, but a very good point. Lately I've been using my HHKB exclusively, which allows navigation without moving from home row. My RF 87Us don't see much use these days.
Still faster than a mouse, but a very good point. Lately I've been using my HHKB exclusively, which allows navigation without moving from home row. My RF 87Us don't see much use these days.
I use those keys just as much as any programmer but you aren't really saving all that much time reaching for your mouse. Arm fatigue maybe.
I'm surprised at the keys deemed useless by some. Granted, as a coder, I live on the nav cluster for jumping around in code to edit / cut / copy / paste. Reaching for the mouse is just a waste of time.You know what’s also a waste of time? Reaching for the arrow keys, F keys, etc.
If you have programmable firmware on your keyboard, you can do so much better.
Pause Break bound to Push to Talk in Skype/Mumble.Wait.... how does it know when you've released the key? Oo
Yep! You're right. I actually complained about that very functionality on MacOS in the Bothering thread. :)) So I suppose if you use a Mac, I can understand not needing that key. :P And apparently the Delete key doesn't do much on a Mac either? I always have to right click a file to "send to trash" - why doesn't Delete...delete...it? :rolleyes: