
The Secret Button - ingve
http://www.codersnotes.com/notes/the-secret-button/
======
xg15
> _destructive actions should require a little more confirmation, no? It used
> to be you had to double-click almost everything if there was a chance of a
> strong side-effect;_

I grew up with Windows 98, so for me the X button would be the baseline that
feels perfectly logical and natural. But I want to ty and explain why I think
it doesn't contradict the above logic:

I think a long-standing design rule in Windows is that the X button action
should have as few side-effects as possible apart from closing the window:
Closing dialogs and tool windows typically does nothing except closing the
window - and your user expectation is that you can trivially restore those
windows if you wanted.

For "Yes/No" or "OK/Cancel" type dialogs, the X button typically maps to the
action with the least consequences - i.e. "No" or "Cancel". When all choices
have consequences is sometimes even disabled to force the user to make a
conscious choice.

In the events where closing a windows has direct, irreversible consequences -
e.g. closing a program that has unsaved data - the program is expected to show
some kind of confirmation: An "Are you sure" or "Do you want to save?" dialog.
So in effect, clicking the X button is even safe in these cases because all
that click will do is bring up a confirmation dialog.

All of this requires more effort from the developers of applications, but I
think treating the X button as a non-destructive action by default actually
gives the user more confidence to explore the UI because there is an obvious
way how to safely get back.

~~~
marcosdumay
I got to use Windows 3 and see it as an improvement over a CLI-only system,
and got to edit my X11 configuration for making my monitor don't blow (or at
least stop making that infuriating noise out of frequency monitors do - but
the documentation was adamant it would blow). I saw the beginning of the GUI
spread.

Yet, I was never able to make any sense about the Windows double-click
required standards. It just looked completely arbitrary, like any action MS
wanted to map into a click, but there was an action mapped there already, they
made it a double click. I am pretty sure the author is rationalizing that line
about side-effects.

~~~
Senji
I've never encountered a doubleclick outside launching programs, opening files
in explorer.

------
b15h0p
Beside the nostalgic value, this hidden button has a very practical use when
you use two monitors. I tend to have a window full-screened on each monitor.
To close the window on the right monitor, I just mash my mouse pointer to the
upper right corner (without having to aim precisely) and click. The pointer
will "stick" to the upper right hand corner of the screen.

That is not possible for the window on the left monitor, because there is
something to the right (the other monitor), thus, the pointer will not "stick"
and it is harder to close the window (you have to actually aim).

Enter the "invisible button": For windows on the left monitor, just mash the
mouse into the upper left corner and double click. No aiming necessary.

In Windows 10, most apps still have this button. But it seems to be tied to
using the classic Win32 APIs or something. Modern "Metro" apps like the
calculator do not have this invisible button any more. Let's hope that that
style never catches on ...

~~~
IIAOPSW
Ah the classic "everything is important to someones workflow"

[https://xkcd.com/1172/](https://xkcd.com/1172/)

~~~
b15h0p
Exactly, this is the important lesson here: Every single little feature that
you introduce will be used by someone and you either have to support it
forever (the classic Microsoft-strategy) or take it out and risk the anger of
a part of your users. Who will probably complain very loudly.

~~~
retox
See also: the recent removal of backspace to go back a page in Chrome And
Firefox. Luckily I have a 4 button mouse with dedicated back/forward buttons
or I would be mad as hell.

~~~
amluto
Good riddance. The problem with backspace is that it means "delete one
character" unless you managed to unfocus a text box, in which case it means
"lose the whole form and maybe hose the whole application flow". It was
actively harmful.

~~~
Senji
What you should be asking yourself is why don't forms behave as if the browser
had the Lazarus extension (for firefox and chrome) already installed.

[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/lazarus-
form-...](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/lazarus-form-
recovery/) [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/lazarus-form-
recov...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/lazarus-form-
recovery/loljledaigphbcpfhfmgopdkppkifgno?hl=en)

------
MaulingMonkey
Oh yes, the Alt+Space button, which I still use for windows restores
(Alt+Space+R) instead of Win+Down for some reason. And for the occasional
rescue of windows that have entirely escaped by screens.

~~~
huhtenberg
> occasional rescue

That's pretty much the only way to get offscreen windows back onto the desktop
- "Alt+Space, M, Left arrow, Up arrow".

~~~
HCIdivision17
It's gotten more interesting in Windows 10. With a hi-res surface, scaling
often plonks screens in confusing and arbitrary places when docking/undocking.
My method is now something like "Alt+Space, M, Hold Left for a few seconds,
Hold Up for a few seconds, Hold right for twice as long as Left, Hold Down for
twice as long as Up, etc". And it won't work at all on Java sub-windows, who
just scale and move any which way. And hitting Win-Left or Win-Right may not
even snap the window to a viewport, meaning the secret button _nor_ the red X
are at a window extreme.

It's certainly added a fun little extra layer of puzzle to my life. I bet this
is how Catherine felt about Atrus' door puzzle locks as she wandered Myst
Island.

~~~
Piskvorrr
Seriously? Undock _leaves windows offscreen_? Well, 10 < 95, I guess.

------
MzHN
This also exists in e.g. Chrome, if you manage to click the corner on the left
of the first tab[1]

The way Chrome's UI is handled on Windows seems quite interesting in general.
You can see glimpses of it when it breaks or some other program tries to make
sense of it, such as screen recording of Chrome windows.

[1] [http://i.imgur.com/mJSc2lR.png](http://i.imgur.com/mJSc2lR.png)

~~~
wongarsu
That window is how I always open Chrome's task manager. It's the only way I
have discovered so far to open it without remembering the keyboard shortcut.

~~~
JBiserkov
You can also do Hamburger -> More tools -> Task manager, but your way is
faster.

~~~
Devam13
Or better yet, use Shift+Escape.

~~~
joshschreuder
Not sure if I have some other program intercepting it, but Shift-Escape hasn't
worked for me on Windows in a long time.

------
everly
Another example that comes to mind is Apple's stock Podcasts app. The buttons
to skip 15 seconds forward/backward have been removed from the interface
(visually anyway) but still work if you press where the icons used to be.

~~~
informatimago
Sounds to me like the result of a fight between the developers and the
"product owner" who says "remove that button", and the developers don't want
to remove it because it is useful and used by the users. So instead of
removing it, he just makes it invisible, and everybody (but the new or naive
users) is happy.

~~~
tomcart
[http://dilbert.com/strip/2007-02-02](http://dilbert.com/strip/2007-02-02)

------
pilif
Windows 10 also still has this. There's also a keyboard-shortcut to open the
menu: Alt-Space. To open the same menu in a child window of an MDI
application, use Alt-- (Alt-Minus).

Which was intuitive in the windows 3.0 days because the icon of the top level
window was slightly longer (like the space bar) than in the MDI child windows
(like the minus sign).

~~~
Shorel
Ohh yes, the old MDI vs SDI paradigms.

MDI was used by the old Opera browser and it is what later became browser
tabs.

------
coroxout
This could be useful to know! I still used to do this on XP, where there was
at least an icon there but it seemed to be deprecated. I don't think I'd even
tried it in 7+.

Although I am wondering if it has ever bitten anyone by accident, especially
given that double-clicking elsewhere on the top bar will maximise a window
(and I do this frequently). Could be unfortunate.

Other not really documented leftovers of previous UI standards: I still
sometimes use Ctrl-insert and shift-insert for copy and paste, which still
work in a surprising number of apps, but not everywhere. I picked up the habit
in the DOS 5 era with QBasic/Edit, but it seems to have been an IBM standard
from 1987:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Common_User_Access](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Common_User_Access)

Especially useful in terminal apps/ssh clients, where you really don't want to
be pressing Ctrl-C by accident.

~~~
xefer
I use ctrl-insert and shift-insert myself which I picked up from the old "m"
editor that shipped with Microsoft's C compiler, version 2. (2 floppies and a
green 3-ring binder.)

------
Delmania
This isn't a secret button, just a result of using Aero on Windows 7, which
hides the button. It was actually something that irked me from time to time,
because I'd grab a window to move it, only to hit the button and activate the
menu.

------
nitrogen
I very frequently use Alt-Space to open this menu, then M and an arrow key to
start moving windows that are positioned on a monitor that I've powered down
and don't want to turn back on. Is its analog Alt-Minus still useful in any
programs?

~~~
jnky
To move windows between displays, you can also use Win+shift+left or
Win+shift+right.

~~~
nitrogen
I'm using a classic IBM Model M so I have to remember the ancient shortcuts
like Alt-Space and Ctrl-Esc, but that's definitely useful to know.

------
antsam
I see a little computer icon on the top left of explorer windows in Windows
8.1. Double clicking that seems to close the window as well.

~~~
TobbenTM
Same with Windows 10! Even works in all other programs using the Windows
chrome.

~~~
roblabla
Sadly, it doesn't work in Edge (Although it's a rather good thing : there's no
space in the chrome without tabs, so it would've been awkward)

~~~
b15h0p
The same holds for all "Metro" apps, apparently. The "top-left-menu" is
neither present in calculator, nor the new settings app (or weather, mail,
calendar ...).

~~~
jnky
The menu itself is present. You just have to press Alt+Space to get to it.
Alternatively, you can also right click the title bar - even in modern Windows
apps.

------
X41
it's invisible because that's where the window icon is supposed to be. the
explorer and some programs like chrome and firefox have invisible window icons
or completely hide it (steam for example)

------
cha-cho
If you want to know where Microsoft got the inspiration for the box and "X"
buttons that debuted in Windows 95, check out some images of ye old NeXTSTEP
Workspace Manager from circa 1990.

------
Codesleuth
You guys make me feel old. I'm only 32.

~~~
coldpie
:)

I was born in the late 80s, so hit the tail end of Windows 3.1 and mostly grew
up on 95 and 98. The article says,

> The familiar up/down arrows got replaced by "line" and "box" buttons, and
> the new close button appeared at the top-right. "Up and down" made sense.

I have absolutely no idea what "up and down" are supposed to mean. Z order? Y
position on the screen? No clue.

~~~
Zachery
If I am remembering correctly, it is the Z order.

------
Dylan16807
As far as secret buttons I'm most fond of the "advanced settings" dialog in
the "advanced" menu that shows up when you hit alt in the network devices
folder. Almost nobody would expect a specific folder to make a new menu
appear, and it continues to do this in the era of the ribbon when menus are
hidden 99% of the time.

~~~
Senji
I was pretty annoyed by this the first time. That menubar didn't use to be
hidden.

There's a setting to have it always displayed I think.

------
rjcz
Disable all window decorations (i.e. adjust for best performance) and it's
back - not a big deal.

------
gchokov
Exists in Windows 10 and I still use it.

Artifacts from the past :)

------
vhost-
I used to use this a lot. A coworker who was really into macs back in like '06
or '07 used it because he was used to the close button being on the left and
showed me. I totally forgot about that button.

------
tominous
Similar thing with Chrome on IOS (haven't tried on Android). If you open a new
tab there's an empty space at the top where the URL bar normally resides. You
can tap this space instead of the "Search or type URL" box in the middle of
the screen. This is also a hangover from previous versions where the top URL
bar wasn't hidden. Thanks anonymous Google engineer, you saved me from
retraining my muscle memory!

~~~
tdkl
It's the same on Android and I miss the URL bar then this hideous un-
customizable new tab page.

------
stonogo
This button exits in GNOME 3 as well, except they ruined it. Alt+Space still
brings up the menu, but they took away all the keyboard shortcuts for the menu
items themselves, so what used to be Alt+Space x to maximize now becomes
Alt+Space x, nothing happens, you reach for the mouse and click maximize.

I suspect the problem here is more related to GTK3 and the new window manager,
but I can't prove it. I just know it's broken now.

------
toypaj
I use this all the time, and people wonder what I am doing, i don't tell them
though :D

------
aaronbrethorst
This also existed in Windows Vista and Windows XP. Like the author, I don't
know if it still exists in Windows 8 or 10. I haven't regularly used Windows
since I left Microsoft in 2007 ;)

~~~
yetihehe
This still exist in windows 8, it's visible as app icon and double click still
works.

~~~
tempestn
In other words, it's actually been improved (or reverted to visible) in
Windows 8 and 10. So OP, go ahead and take the plunge; you'll probably like
it!

~~~
cocotino
It does not work for Windows 10 universal apps, but nobody uses those anyway
8-)

~~~
jongalloway2
It does if you hit the keyboard shortcut (alt-space)

------
mrweasel
Is the button hidden on purpose, or is it just a mistake?

It seems a little weird that they didn't just remove the button, except of
cause as others point out it would break the work flow of some people.

------
wirddin
"There's a secret button hidden in Windows 7. At least, it's a secret to some
people. Many modern users won't know about it, whereas some like me have used
it every day for over 25 years." 25 Years? How?

~~~
disillusioned
He literally says in the article he's been doing this since Windows 2.0... not
sure if snarking about Win7 not being that old, but the button in Windows is
27+ years old.

------
samch
Milo's backdoor into Synapse?

------
draw_down
Well, OK.

------
archiepancakes
You're living in the past, man.

------
ffggvv
SUCKERS!!! USE PLAN9!

