Comments on: Four Windows Key Uses

By: Bren

Bren — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:27:01 +0000

I used to love the Windows+D, back when I rocked the PC. Look at that, I knew a geeky thing that Jason didn’t know!

By: Alan

Alan — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:54:18 +0000

It seems I missed the point of this entry be Windows-key specific shortcuts (and I rambled on about keyboard in general). The toggle effect is cool. I’m glad to know about it. I usually forget about the keyboard and use the “Show Desktop” shortcut on my Quicklaunch bar. No more!

By: JASon

JASon — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:58:40 +0000

@Brett:

I was not aware of the toggle nature of Windows+D before this, and that has literally made my day. Thanks for that

By: Brett Kelly

Brett Kelly — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:45:35 +0000

Alan-

Windows+D works like a toggle – hit it once and everything disappears, hit it again and everything returns

I actually did a little rundown of windows key shortcuts on my blog recently.

Cheers!

By: Alan

Alan — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:34:23 +0000

I’m curious what the functional difference between Windows-M and Windows-D is? I’ve always learned the -M version meaning “Minimize”. Obviously, -D must mean “Desktop”…

The Windows world has so many interesting keystroke shortcuts. Especially useful when your mouse is on the fritz. Ones like just pressing Alt to see what next key will activate a menu in an application, so you can save/exit gracefully.

In Windows itself, using tab to move around the different focus areas (panes) of Windows Explorer is good. Use arrow keys to move up and down file/folder lists. Shift-F10 is the equivalent of a right mouse-click on an item. Alt-Left Arrow is equivalent to Back. On keyboards without a Windows key, you can pop up the Start menu with Ctrl-Esc. Though, Ctrl-Esc-D doesn’t work like Windows-D.

And one always needs to be proficient at using Ctrl-X, -C, and -V for Cut/Copy/Paste actions. Saves so much time over selecting from the menu or using right-click.