Then you haven't heard of "WordStar" - a highly popular word processor from the early days of PC computing. It was one of the best examples of a raft of programs that used multiple-key hotkeys to perform commands; so popular was it that WordStar command sequences became an quasi- industry standard.

-Markham (May 22, 2010, 11:58 AM)

I've heard of it but I was using WordPerfect and Perfect Writer (a funny little program that put menus right smack dab in the middle of the screen) in those days. The Turbo Pascal 2.0 IDE which I used in those days copied some of the WordStar keys, but all I think all I remember is Ctrl-Y.

To send the hotkey sequence Alt+Space+N, simply press and hold the Alt key, then press the space bar followed by the N key. You can release the Alt key either immediately before or after pressing the N key.



Mark

-Markham (May 22, 2010, 11:58 AM)

These don't seem to work for me. It could well be a conflict with another program but I tried to close everything with a hotkey or that manipulates the keyboard and I still can't any of the double-key ones to work. I wonder if it has something to do with the fact I am running the 64 bit version of Windows 7 (and CircleDock). In either case, no biggie.

Based on the recommendations of this thread, I bought a Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard and I am liking it. Amazing it does fit in my keyboard drawer, but I hate keyboard drawers and am thinking they defeat the purpose of an ergonomic keyboard, so it is on top of my desk.

I kind of wish I had a white keyboard. I have a theory that white keyboards are easier to see than black ones, but since I am putting it on top of the desk, I am having to match it with the decor.  :mad: And I am not supposed to be looking at the keyboard anyway.  :-[

I am having some fun customizing the extra keys like "Home" and "Calculator", so I will start a separate thread asking you all what your favorite keyboard customizations are. I like Intellitype except I found some difficulty in the macro editor within (where you are trying to enter something like Win-Shift-C), although part of that was I have a program that seems to want to hold the Windows key down after the macro runs so I could never get it to work. It works fine with other programs.

The rest of this post consists of 3 minor nitpicks.

1. The extra keys like "Mail" and "Calculator" are labeled with Gray on Silver so hard to see. This is compensated for by clear labels below the keys and key sections, and the spacing which will be memorized soon I am sure.

2. The function keys are labeled with things like "Help", "Undo," "Redo" instead of their normal functions. This is why I had previously passed over this keyboard in the store. In practice the function key labels aren't much of a problem, I just ignore the extra functions and keep it on Function Lock.  The keys also have the F1, F2 labels but they are on the side facing you instead of on top -- perfect for my on-desk arrangement. I'm surprised Help and F1 aren't actually the same function, but apparently Microsoft envisions programs that actually expect you to press the Help key instead of F1.  

3. As noted in user reviews everywhere, the spacebar is keys are loud. The zoom slider can also be loud if you bump it to the edges a lot, but it doesn't get used much, unlike the spacebar.

Overall it is a great keyboard for my purposes. I was looking for ergonomics and some extra keys to customize for the heck of it. :up: :up: for the keyboard and the recommendations here.