Does the Caps Lock key really have all that much utility?

[BitBuster]

I can't remember ever using it, except when I was a little kid and thought that it was fun to bang on the keyboard and explore its various functions. This was also when I thought that MS Paint was the coolest thing ever and tried to use it to draw people I knew. But I digress.

+1 for the Shift key(s).

[BigOto2]

i uSE iT vERY vERY rARELY. lESS tHAN i aCCIDENTALLY pRESS iT!

[BitBuster]

Ah, accidentally pressed keys...they need a thread of their own (cought).

Even more useless than "Caps Lock" is "Scroll Lock," but at least "Scroll Lock" is tucked away in the lifeless recesses of the keyboard (let's call it the "South Dakota" section).

The fact that "Num Lock" is automatically turned off at start-up on some systems annoys me to no end. It should be the reverse. Or call it "Redundant Key Lock" and change the function of the "Lock" key so that, when pressed, it activates the arrow keys and the other navigation tools.

[BigOto2]

Totally agreed, I have never once in my computer experience actually used scroll lock for any purpose. Num lock is also kind of pointless when it should normally be off then turned on to activate the arrow keys and such.

[BitBuster]

A while ago, on a whim, I looked up what the "Scroll Lock" key actually did. I was so unimpressed by the answer that I've long forgotten it.

On a similar note, I'm still not sure what the "Pause/Break" key does. And though I'm sure "SysRq" serves some sort of nefarious purpose (which ambiguous abbreviations like that, how could it not?), coupling it with the poorly titled "Print Screen" function unfairly scares many people away from figuring out screen captures on their own.

And I'm not entirely convinced that we need 12 "F" keys. Half a dozen should be more than enough in the vast majority of cases.

[BigOto2]

Let's see... I've never once in my life used Scroll Lock, Insert, Home, End, Pause/Break, turned Num Lock off for a real reason, or that weird dialog box key next to the right Alt. I've only once or twice found uses for the vertical bar | below the backspace.

I think we do need 12 "F" keys, since some background programs use them as hotkeys and there need to be a lot to avoid inevitable conflicts. I read somewhere that you could press Shift and an F-key to get F13, F14, and so on, but I'm not sure if that's true.

[BitBuster]

"Insert" is a vastly annoying key that really screws the shiitake out of your documents if you press it by accident.

I use "Home" and "End" quite frequently. Once you learn their value, they become addictive.

Yeah, I don't approve of the weird Windows keys that come between Ctrl and Alt on modern-day keyboards. They're sort of annoying.

The vertical bar/forward slash button does have uses (as does the tilde button), but it's wisely hidden. Ditto for the bracket-like-things-that-aren't-actually-brackets.



I guess that's true about the F keys. Most of my programs use Shift-[Letter key] for shortcuts, but I guess some programs rely on the F keys more than others.

[AdrenalinDragon]

i uSE iT vERY vERY rARELY. lESS tHAN i aCCIDENTALLY pRESS iT!

Please, no spam.

Anyway, the caps lock key is actually quite useful. I hate the Num Lock key though. It isn't needed at all.

[BitBuster]

When do you use Caps Lock? The only purpose I can see it serving would be if one desired to type a lengthy message in all Caps (but if you're gonna do that, you might as well write it in Wingdings).

[AdrenalinDragon]

When do you use Caps Lock? The only purpose I can see it serving would be if one desired to type a lengthy message in all Caps (but if you're gonna do that, you might as well write it in Wingdings).

Ironically, I need it for my netbook at the moment, because the only key that's broken is the Shift Key, so the only way I can type capitals on it is using the Caps Lock.