

Gates calls Ctrl+Alt+Del command a mistake - rb2e
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24283185

======
Pxtl
In hindsight, the standard PC keyboard is covered in absurd anachronisms.
Never-used commands get to own their own keys, while frequently-used actions
can require complicated chords. I mean, I can't even tell what Scroll Lock
does, and Caps Lock is the source of constant rage... but if I want to switch
to the previous tab in any tabbed interface? Why that's just CTRL+SHIFT+TAB.
How simple!

Leaving soft-reboot on a complicated mess like CTRL+ALT+DELETE makes perfect
sense. Using that combo to _log on_ or access a perfectly useful menu is
hopelessly moronic.

~~~
sp332
Actually it's just Shift-Tab. Unless you want to switch to the next tab to the
left in Firefox, then yeah. Edit: oh tabs! Never mind...

~~~
Pxtl
It's not just Firefox - any Windows UI that uses tab-panels will support ctrl-
tab (and ctrl-shift-tab). This applies to SSMS windows, properties windows,
the task manager, etc.

------
JonnieCache
Miss the three fingered salute? Then enjoy the linux kernel's Mystic SysRq Key
Combo of l33tness!

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_SysRq_key](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_SysRq_key)

~~~
wink
The difference is that I have needed SysRq once a year or even less. As long
as you have a second internet-capable device, you can look it up.

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crazygringo
I don't know... there's something about Ctrl+Alt+Del that was so uniquely
satisfying -- maybe because it required two hands? Because it was so arcane
and unintuitive? And the awesome power to restart your computer via simple key
presses, no matter how locked-up it was?

It's bizarre to say, but I almost miss having something like it on my Mac. A
single, obvious power button just isn't as much "fun".

~~~
hvs
Go nuts:
[http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1343](http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1343)

------
sigkill
On a tangentially related note, it took me a while to make the connection that
HALT on x86 is 0xF4 -> Alt+F4 = close in Windows.

~~~
astrodust
I'm not sure those are anything but coincidentally related.

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artie_effim
don't forget, it is actually a Secure Attention Key (SAK) - really awesome -
I'll miss it when it's gone for good.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_attention_key](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_attention_key)

------
rb2e
Full Interview is here
[http://youtu.be/cBHJ-8Bch4E](http://youtu.be/cBHJ-8Bch4E) and he talks about
ctrl + alt + delete being mistake at around 16:33.

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ChuckMcM
So a funny story which relates. The actual "feature" of resetting the system
(sending it the appropriate non-maskable interrupt) was handled in early PC's
by the keyboard controller, which was a chip on the motherboard. I was at a
company and we were building our own "lights out" server system, no keyboard,
so the hardware engineer deleted the keyboard controller from the schematic.
The issue was that the BIOS we got from AWARD couldn't deal with the fact that
there was no controller, it would enable the interrupt anyway and I guess the
pin was simply not connected on the interrupt controller so we'd get random
interrupts. Back and forth half in English and half in Chinese to get the BIOS
fixed, every time an update came it would be broken again. It became such an
issue that the HW engineer built a small board that had the controller on it
that could be 'blue wired' into the circuit so that we could continue to
debug/build stuff while the BIOS guys were in a 'broken' cycle. In later
versions we switched to AMI and had a much better time of it but sheesh it was
a pain.

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acchow
What's the alternative? I'd like some sequence of keystrokes that goes
directly to the OS and can't be intercepted by other programs. I want to know
that the dialog I'm typing my password into is really the OS.

~~~
sp332
There should be a single button on the keyboard, instead of requiring 3.

~~~
meepmorp
Sure. But what do you do about the tons of legacy hardware in the world?

~~~
Groxx
fall back to ctrl-alt-del.

~~~
acchow
So you're saying Microsoft didn't make a mistake. The keyboard manufacturers
did.

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Arjuna
_" [...] Ctrl+Alt+Del because it was impossible to press with just one hand."_

At first I thought, _" Well, not impossible, really..."_, because you can
"play the chord" with your right hand:

Pointer (Ctrl) + Thumb (Alt) + Middle (Delete)

But...

The older keyboards [1] only had a single "Ctrl" key and a single "Alt" key.
They were located on the left side of the keyboard, while the single "Del" key
was located on the right side.

So, with that configuration, it actually was impossible to perform the
combination with a single hand.

[1]
[https://www.google.com/search?q=%22IBM+5150+Keyboard%22&tbm=...](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22IBM+5150+Keyboard%22&tbm=isch)

~~~
bluedino
For some reason, cartain PC clones didn't let you do CTRL-ALT-DEL with the
right-side ctrl and alt keys. I can remember the early models of eMachines not
allowing it, not sure if it was the keyboard itself, the BIOS, or what.

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zwieback
Which fingers do you use? For me it's left index and ring and right middle.

~~~
R_Edward
Heh... as a pianist, I'm used to unusual hand positions. I use my left hand,
put the thumb on the right-hand [Alt], left index on the right-hand [Ctrl],
and then left flipper, ring, or pinky, depending on where [Del] is located.
I'm amused that people think you have to use two hands.

On my laptop, [Ctrl] and [Alt] are next to each other, so it's right thumb on
both of those, and right index for the Del key.

~~~
zwieback
What chord do you hear in your head when you're doing that? Probably some
diminished thing.

~~~
R_Edward
I didn't realize anyone else heard chords with multiple-key presses. For me,
the [Ctrl] is an A (435), the [Alt] is a C(5), and the [Del] is an F#(5), so
it's a D7 minus the root. A fairly bland chord, when it comes right down to
it, but then I imagine a G#(2) underpinning it, to give it just a little
character, but still resolve to the nice, bright G.

------
dromidas
If it was a single key I would have to have one of those plastic shields
installed on top of it like you see in the cockpit of jet fighters. Gotta flip
it up and then push it lol.

~~~
mhurron
It has a name - Molly Guard

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_red_button#Molly-
guard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_red_button#Molly-guard)

------
Sharlin
Which use of ctrl-alt-del exactly does he consider a mistake? I can't believe
that anybody could consider allowing the computer to be rebooted with a single
accidental keypress a good idea.

~~~
eli
Ctrl-alt-del doesn't reboot a Windows computer (without additional input) and
it hasn't for quite some time. Even Windows 95 had a "Close Program" dialog
box.

~~~
Sharlin
I know; that's why I asked. The article didn't make it clear whether he
opposed it already in the DOS era (he mentions that it was IBM who originally
came up with the combination) or only its more recent incarnations.

~~~
eli
Perhaps DOS wouldn't have restarted on that keyboard interrupt if it had been
a single button?

------
snuze
These days I much prefer CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.

------
smaili
Hindsight is 20/20 Bill :)

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AsymetricCom
I think the good thing about making it three buttons is that you have to learn
something kind of complex and arcane to gain a bit of power over the machine.
It tells you something about the machine in order to interrupt it this way.

