Slashdot Mirror
Ctrl-Alt-Del Inventor To Retire From IBM
wherley writes "AP reports that IBM'er David Bradley, who came up with the (in)famous Ctrl-Alt-Delete key combination, is retiring. The article mentions: 'At a 20-year celebration for the IBM PC, Bradley was on a panel with Microsoft founder Bill Gates and other tech icons. The discussion turned to the keys. 'I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous,' Bradley said. Gates didn't laugh. The key combination also is used when software, such as Microsoft's Windows operating system, fails'." We featured a story on Bradley a few months back.
I would be staring at blue screen all day at work.
Thanks . . . I think . . .
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
don't you hate it when it's so wedged that even that doesn't work, and you need to pull the plug? -dB
"It if was easy to do, we'd find someone cheaper than you to do it."
Don't worry ... even if Bradley invented it, and Gates made it famous ... someone will be granted a patent for it a few years from now.
Creator of the Three-Finger-Salute, we salute thee!
(Anyone else get bit by the Linux will reboot with CRTL-ALT-DEL, but Win NT 4-XP will ask for Logon? I've rebooted machines on KVM switches by accident many a time, especially if I can't remap the salute like I usually do!)
Fellowship 9/11
There is an intersting concept here why do we need to restart a computer. Why not devise devices that just work when solicited.
This is the only guy on the planet who can pick up girls in an internet cafe. Just walk in, smooth tone, slow walk.
"You know I invented CTRL ALT DEL?"
--
The last digit of pi is four.
I three finger salute you for your influence on my day to day computing.
And who is the inventor of Ctrl-Alt-Backspace?
Wait, when we push it, it puts me in Windows...so I'm still associating bad things here.
To log in to Windows NT.
I have been pwned because my
I RTFA and here is why he chose that...He chose those keys specifically as it's not a key sequence that can be struck by accident. This straight from the previous slashdot article.
Yeah... I lost my job cause we were trained to use CTRL-ALT-DELETE to get into some S$S+3M hacking tools for NT but tried it on Linux for a web server computer and not only lost the company a lot of money, but my job as well... :(
For one thing, it's damned near impossible to hit those three keys simultaneously on accident. Other than that, there's nothing special about the combination.
On the Mac, the sequence is Command-Option-Escape.
--
the strongest word is still the word "free"
He should also be credited with solving thousands of Windows support calls...
"Well, I just don't know... Have you tried rebooting?"
crazy dynamite monkey
"Bradley chose the control and alt keys because he needed two shift keys to make the operation work, and he chose the delete key because it was on the opposite side of the keyboard. He didn't want people to hit control-alt-delete by accident."
link the article mentioned on slashdot earlier
-- If I were a fish, I'd be wet
Then, I believe, users clamoured for more convenience, so keyboard manufacturers started duplicating the ctrl and alt keys (and/or moved the del key) so that the salute could be performed one-handed.
Just think how much more time would be wasted if you had to perform a two-handed salute each time windows crashed... It certainly would add up (and I know I'm opening myself up regarding what constitutes a two-handed salute, but hey :-)
Why not?
Will add sig later...
You know you rely on the ctrl alt del keys if you use windows. About time someone made a keyboard fit to your needs.
I don't remember where I got it from, but I have an ASF of the movie. Decided to throw it up on my CMU webspace so lets see if we can /. andrew =)
CtrlAltDel.asf
Oh, the movie doesn't start 15 seconds for some reason. Wasn't me.
'I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous,' Bradley said.
Note that Bradley claimed to be referring to the NT logon procedure. Full quote is from this video.
Well, then, it must be true.
If only Gates knew how many times I had to give it to his windows os.
Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."
Gates didn't laugh.
For some reason I thought Gates had a sense of humor.
Too bad he can't even laugh at himself.
Why not Alt-Ctrl-Delete or Delete-Alt-Control?
Not that we can change it now...
Miserable failure
The most I ever give to Windows is one finger.
"I never lived in this century." --Dan Quayle
Ok, so this guy "invented" it, but anyone know any mroe history on it? I mean, is there a story beind? Why those keys? Was there a precursor? (no punn intended).
Andy
G-Force music visualization
And thus sums up the state of computing today.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Take some time to read the inittab (5) man page and you'll learn that you can specify exactly what a Linux system does when it receives a CTRL-ALD-DEL.
I remember Dave Cutler (the man in charge of WindowsNT, also the main VMS developer for DEC), when asked on why did MS use the CTRL-ALT-DEL keyboard combination to log on an NT machine, he said something like: "this combination is sure to be never used by any application". This was taking advantage of the tradition of using it to reboot the computer as everything in the DOS era was running in real mode, so nobody would use it for an application and the NT architecture enabled for the system to intercept it and use it in a supposedly better way. It was thought to be a neat idea.
Still, I think it was not really clever to teach the end-users such an important keyboard combination. I also remember some users back then thinking it would work the same in 95 as in NT, since both systems' GUI looked so similar.
- Otaku no naka no otaku, otaking da!!!
On your typical XP install the salute just brigs up the task manager. Nothing more, nothing less. Doesn't even halt (or even take precedence over, as far as I can tell) other processes.
I take issue with that, really. I need something a bit more forceful when the program I write does NOT do what it's supposed to.
Command-Control-Power. Now that's a three-finger salute! The force reboot is where the manliness of the Mac really shines through -- all three keys signify dominance. Linux and windows users have to use the hippy-dippy "alt" key, as in alt.sex and alt.drugs, combined with the "delete" or "backspace" key to signify a total lack of confidence in their own decisions. You wussies don't even have a command key!!!
...that sequence was chosen for security. From http://www.xfocus.net/articles/200103/winnt.pdf :
"After the SAS [Security Attention Sequence] is triggered in Windows NT, all user-mode programs stop. No program can trap the SAS sequence; it is the sole property of the security subsystem. If a user presses Ctrl+Alt+Del, he can be assured that his information is secure."
From left to right, what order do you see the keys in?
"Well, you didn't think I got rich by writing checks did you?"
--Bill Gates
PrtScn SysRQ
ScrLk
Pause Break
Anyone can tell me what these do???
... they just reboot.
It took me exactly 10 tries to non-accidentally get a succesful CTRL-ALT-DEL just now, by smacking the keyboard with an open palm. I tried to emulate the shape of a hand that would be snatching at something you wouldn't want to spill/drop, that being an open hand, fingers outstretched, with the ball of the hand being the first part of the body to touch the dropped object. This allows the fingers and thumb to wrap around the falling object immediately upon contact, especially if there is a strong tendancy of motion TOWARDS the falling object. With my hand held thusly, the ball of my hand was able to perfectly impact the CTRL key as my thumb and forefinger crash into the ALt and Delete keys.
And on attempt 10, the W2K Ctrl-Alt-Del menu appeared.
CTRL+SHIFT+DEL I can easily put my finger between the CTRL and Shift Key, pressing down both at the same time. Now say I accidently do that when using CTRL-DEL to do a Cut operation. Ooops I just reset my computer.
(\(\
(^.^)
(")")
*This is the cute bunny virus, please copy this into your sig so it can spread
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
Back when I used Windos 95 and 98, I used "Ctrl" "Alt" and "Del" so often that my fingers rubbed them off.
Thanks, Bradley, for your contribution to ruining my keyboard!
Using a different OS nowadays, strangely enough the affected keys are now "W", "S", "L", "A", "H", "D", "O", "T", "R" and "G". The "." is already gone!!
Thanks, UPTSO, McBride, RFID tags, Eugenia, Mars, Goatse and RIAA!
Then, I believe, users clamoured for more convenience, so keyboard manufacturers started duplicating the ctrl and alt keys (and/or moved the del key) so that the salute could be performed one-handed.
Actually some keyboards have gone a bit too far along that road. I have seen a keyboard, where you could do CTRL+ALT+DEL with just a single keypress. Yup, they really added an extra key to do just that. Some people must have used CTRL+ALT+DEL too much.
Do you care about the security of your wireless mouse?
He doesn't give a flying fuck (pun intended) about the girls anymore.
He chose those keys specifically as it's not a key sequence that can be struck by accident.
Its even harder to type on a Sun Type 6 keyboard with only one hand.
(Why? Think SunPCi.)
Its pretty sad when a commercial OS ships a debugger with their system but no compiler.
I suppose "control-alt-delete" was chosen as "work-you-fucking-program!" took to long to type in.
----
"Ours was a free culture. It is becoming much less so."-Lawrence Lessig
You would think it would be difficult to hit accientally, but my cat appears to be the exact length for just that on my keyboard... _and_ she likes to walk towards the numpad afterwards, hitting enter.
I think she has noticed how my head turns red and I leap around now. Stimuli->Response!
You insensitive clod!
http://www.keyalt.com/keyboards/datahand.htm
paintball
The OS where you press Ctrl-Alt-Del to log in, and use the "Start Menu" to shut down.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
And a BSOD cake.....with 3 finger holes in it....and then take him bowling.
Table-ized A.I.
it can't be handled by any input APIs (Win32/DirectInput)... it gets handled directly by the keyboard driver.
This kind of keystroke is called SAK (Secure Attention Key), as it's not specific to Windows NT.
SAK is an keystroke (or other event, for example sending "break" on a Sun serial port) that the OS guarantees only the Operating System can ever handle.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
One of the first thing a "REAL" linux administrator does is to disable that functionality in the hint, "inittab" . Change the binding to something like echo "Simulating stupid MCSE computer repair"
Got Code?
Lisp machines were using a 5-key chord for reboot way before IBM PC. The chord LCtrl-LMeta-RCtrl-RMeta-Del was used on TI-Explorer. The meta key is the alt equivalence in lisp machines.
He's just rebooting.
---- "If we have to go on with these damned quantum jumps, then I'm sorry that I ever got involved" - Erwin Schrodinger
"Gates didn't laugh"
I find this very humorous.
Buckethead
Oye looking at my laptop that puts those bloody keys right next to each other (well insert is seperating them) and since it's a dell that runs xp we'll call it a feature ;). Okay XP isn't that bad but still it's a feature ;).
Note also that he was clearly being very sarcastic, which Bill appropriately acknowledged with a polite right-now-i-hate-you forced smile.
There's no Power Button on the keyboard anymore.
*sigh*
It's just hold down power button on CPU for five seconds.
Or just never reboot...which is almost possible now...
Alt-Shift-Shift-Esc... now that's a toughie.
If he hadn't come up with this, just maybe, Bill Gates would have had to write software that was somewhat reliable.
hold on, have you used MacsBug? command-power drops you into assembly language level debugging, with symbolics, and audio cds carry on playing. then type 'Scream' to look at individual threads...
If opportunity came disguised as temptation, one knock would be enough.
3^2 * 67^1 * 977^1
If he had patented it MS would have chosen a diffent combination? Why the hell would they pay roylaties when there are so many key combinations that could be used for the same something?
Did anyone else when first reading about the creator of Ctrl-Alt-Del immediately think of http://ctrlaltdel-online.com/ ?
Open Your Mind. Open Your Source.
Look at an original 84 key keyboard (which is what the original PC shipped with), Control and Alt weren't duplicated on the right side of the keyboard (for that matter, control was where we expect capslock now). It would have been really hard to hit it with a single hand.
CTRL+Break was used to abort the execution of Autoexec.bat back in the days of Win3.1
Calling atheism and agnosticism a religion is like calling bald a hair color.
It makes up for that with the raw energy of "man kill".
But of course it's not the only OS, OS X includes all those as well! Ahh, the joy of a commercially widespread desktop that ships with man...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
How can we convince the old men of IT history to commit themselves to Open Source projects? We should assume that they do not need to work any more and that they have all the time they want to spend on Free projects.
How would the world benefit from their insights and contacts?
What would motivate them?
Would a "mentor" scheme help to organise OS projects? Would it work?
Oh yea? Well when I'm done wacking off I frequently let my shlong drop on the keyboard and this often results in a reboot. It kind of adds to the experience: "Your gone bitch". I smoke a cig while my machine reboots.
if he had anticipated how many times I push that sequence in a day.
However, it is a cooler sign to flash to the MSCE gangsters that hang out at my company for some reason . . .
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
Oh of course, You can easily hit the CTRL+SHIFT on accident but not CTRL+ALT because the windows key is in the way. Wow, they were a smart thinkers 20 years ago.
Ctrl-Alt-Del was chosen for the Windows login because it's a hardware interrupt. It's extremely difficult to override. So basically, you can be ensured that if you hit that combo, you're getting a legit login prompt rather than some spoofed password sniffer.
Maybe if you learned to laugh at Windows' mistakes, you could be happy all the time?
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
If he got a patent on it, and microsoft was charged $.01 per use, Microsoft would be out of business from all the crashes.
Fight Spammers!
Reset + Run/Stop (Commodore Vic20, 64 and C128)
Control + reset (I forget... just poped in my head)
The idea is that with one key you could accadentally hit this reset key and be roially screwed... But a complex keyboard combo spaced out works wonders...
Note it's not just Control Alt Del.. you gotta use the control and alt on the opposate side of the keyboard from del.
Run/Stop and reset on the Commodore 8 bits was the same way.. Reset on one side of the keyboard Run/Stop on the other.
The Commodore 128 had a hard reset button sunk into the case to be difficult (but not impossable) to hit by accadent.
Woe be it to those of us with a home made reset button on the back of an XT with a kid brother or sister who thought it was funny to sneak up and reboot.
I don't actually exist.
Because Shift+A would result in too many unwanted reboots.
WWJD.... for a Klondike bar?
Actually in the closest proximity to me are my main board - IBM model M, and my second box has a Northgate Omnikey 101 (1993).My favorite is broken - Omnikey with function keys on the left circa 1989. It has Ctrl where God intended: left of the "A".
db
Cig:
ôô
here is another short article about this.
Free as in mason.
The guy who invents CTRL-ALT-DELETE retires, so why not retire the technology and let all of those machines just go back to the Earth where they came? Out of that matter will rise a new super computing structure that will take over the world!! Mwwhahaha MWWHAHAA!
Hey, $25 /hr in 1986? Don't knock it 'til you tried it...
db
Cig:
ôô
"CTRL+SHIFT+DEL I can easily put my finger between the CTRL and Shift Key, pressing down both at the same time. Now say I accidently do that when using CTRL-DEL to do a Cut operation. Ooops I just reset my computer."
Oooops maybe you should upgrade. DOS is good, but there are newer OSes out that do not RESET when you press ctrl-alt-del or this hypothetical ctrl-shif-del.
BTW, the reason why some keyboards have single key ctrl-alt-del is because Windows NT/2K login uses that combination too, not to mention unlocking screen savers. It's not just instability of the OS or lazyness of people. It's practical.
David Bradley gets an honorary +5 Funny!
Slashdot Eds Link Anonymous Posts With Logged Posts
They Are Vermin Feeding On Each Other's Feces.
I Hate \.
So you think your logic board is failing, or your combo drive is not recognized, or you got the perpetual spinning beach ball, you've repaired permissions, etc., what do you do? You reset the PRAM while holding down the Command+option+p+r Now thats an exercise in keyboarding dexterity and fustration control.
"The key combination also is used when software, such as Microsoft's Windows operating system, fails'."
Oh, and Bill Gates, one of the other icons on the panel, is the CEO of Microsoft.
You see, by saying that Bill 'made it famous' he's really insult-
Oh. You get it.
Sorry.
this reminds me of the old, old joke...
;-)
Three engineers are in a car. An electronics engineer, a mechanical engineer and a Microsoft Certified engineer. The car breaks down.
"Hmmm", says the electronics engineer, "Let me check the wiring".
Off he goes. Five minutes later he returns saying, "Hmmm, well I'm stumped".
The mechanical engineer then says, "Let me take a look". He pulls up the hood and prods away, but eventually, he admits defeat.
Then the Microsoft certified engineer pipes up.
"Hey guys. Let's close all the windows, get out of the car, get back in the car and open all the windows. Maybe that will work".
boom (wait for it) boom.
cLive
-- Trinity in high heels carrying a whip: The donimatrix - there is no spoonerism
Hmmmm... many of us seem to be "talented" in "finger/typing usage"
There's no place like localhost
To him I owe my entire existence. Three cheers for David Bradley!
to pause a booting system so I can read/write down useful info like bios versions. Just hit enter when your done and away you go.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Umwhat? In what way is ctrl-alt-delete a hardware interrupt? It's branched out of the standard key handler earlier than other keys, and generates a (different) software interrupt, if that's what you meant... but it sure ain't what you said.
I've had this sig for three days.
Score: 3, Insightful?
I'd be more accepting of Score: 2, Contrived.
I've had this sig for three days.
You linux users have been saying that for years. Off-topic: This is the most I've ever posted, I bet they all get modded-down
-Joe
"When this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious shit"
...and then the guy tried to back out by saying he was referring to the NT logon. Yea right.
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
Linux user, I am not (OS X). I was referring to IBM-Compatible PC, not Windows...since there's really no IBM PC OS anymore. Was that not clear?
have a look at the old ps/2 keyboards. don't have a look at your current keyboard.
:)
if you think about it, you'll never ask this question again
Every problem has a solution, but every solution creates new problems.
Ha, ha - at least Microsoft tried to patent ctrl-alt-del. Why not I wonder? Already SCO IP?
I think I will remap my bindings to make shift-a the reboot command. That pretty much means this will be my last successful slashdot post. Farewell!
The full handler was: int 9, al = scan code -> calls kb translator: int 15, ah = 0x4f, al = scan code, on return al = modified scan code. The resulting scan code is looked up and dealt with as a special case or passed on up to higher level software.
Hooking this interrupt was a first dos asm program for lots of us in the old days - I haven't poked around at that level in a while so I don't know if NT had some sort of scheme to prevent those sorts of hijinks, and if so why any other key sequence would not have worked just as well.
Microsoft keyboard
I read this story and couldn't help wondering if Bill ended up helping to make the technique famous not only by advancing software that made it vital, but by demonstrating it himself -- didn't he need this to restart the machine during an OS crash that happened most precipitously while he was bragging at a trade show?
At least he was demonstrating the software as it would work... or wouldn't... in real life.
"What's the use in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes?" --Fourth Doctor, "Robot"
Actually, that's not entirely true. Command+Option+Escape displays the Force Quit pane, and it has never worked to reboot the machine. The gesture you're thinking of is probably Command+Control+Power (keyboard power key). That used to be the equivalent, until the advent of the iMac and its USB keyboard that no longer carried the power key functionality. It still works on iBooks and PBs, however. And recently, with OS X, Apple has turned the eject key into a pseudo power key. Pressing Command+Control+Eject on at least a desktop Mac will now issue a graceful shut down command. Of course, that's of little use when graceful shutdowns aren't an option. Incidentally, over the years the Command+Control+Power convention has come and gone and come back again. It usually wasn't functional on machines that featured hardware reset and interrupt switches. Here's hoping it will make its return some day. Not that OS X needs it (being rock solid), but it would be nice for nostalgia sake. I guess I think way too much about these things, but that's why I'm Apple Acolyte!
Part of the hardcore faithful who believed in Apple long before it was cool again to do so
I remember back in 1980 when I had my swanky new Commodore Pet 2001-8 that to reboot it (because I'd crashed it running hand-assembled machine code routines) I used a specially bent paper clip on the edge connecter ("Expansion port") that stuck out the right hand side of the machine. I'd always intended to fit a switch, even bought it.. just never got round to drilling the hole!
*--BigMan--- Time flies like an arrow.. but personally I prefer a nice glass of wine!
It's typical for the state of affairs in "litigation country" that even a simple key-combination is called "an invention".
The right hand "Alt" key isn't strictly speaking the same, being "Alt Gr" - Alternate Graphics. (Try using the left-hand Alt to get Euro symbol, Vertical dashed bar or accented characters) Nevertheless, Windows doesn't seem to care about using Alt Gr for the Ctrl-Alt-Del sequence. I'm not so certain that Alt Gr worked for DOS.
I beleive in any case the right hand Ctrl key isn't quite a duplication, S/W can tell if you've pressed the R/H or L/H Ctrl key.
And if I've got my left and right mixed up again, then this post makes no sense, sorry!
-- *~()____) This message will self-destruct in 5 seconds...
This guy invented the CTRL+ALT+DEL combination and Microsoft bought it and included it on Windows. BTW, has kill -9 been ported to Windows? Sometimes the magic combination doesn't work.
I would just like to know, does ANYONE use the "right-click" or "context menu" keyboard button? Or the second "Start" key. In fact, does anyone even use one Start key that often?
Besides, when faced with no mouse, I tend to fall into old habits - Ctrl-Esc to bring up Start Menu, etc.
(Yes, perhaps it's a good idea to just reboot when faced with no mouse - but sometimes one has to meddle with Device Mangler etc. beforehand).
I have never used Scroll Lock, though I think I toyed with using it in a program I was designing. (It lights an LED after all!).
Pause I do end up using sometimes to pause games, or EVEN to interrupt stuck processes (I can't remember what - I think it was a Win32 console process that I hit the break key out of frustration).
Print Screen is invaluable.
I seldom use Function keys nowadays.
Where's the ANY key, that's what I'd like to know.
-- *~()____) This message will self-destruct in 5 seconds...
Right. Back before the IBM PC, a big bitch about the apple was that there was a single reset button too close to the keyboard and it was easy to hit it accidently. Cats on keyboards can't do Ctrl-Alt-Del -- which is a good thing.
Except that at blue-screen stage, Ctrl-Alt-Del often doesn't work!
Ah there's nothing as hideous as the NT core-dump "blue screen of death".
Can that info actually be used or have they subjected end users to years of "sights wot they dare not look upon" for no good reason.
What I loathe MOST though, is individual Apps crashing and Windows asking either to "Close or Debug" (Yes, the latter is a VERY annoying thing to accidently select when one has a full set of development tools installed), or more recently "Send an error report". NO NO NO NO NO. JUST GO AWAY. I NEVER WANT TO USE YOUR APPLICATION AGAIN. Well, until I restart it at any rate.
-- *~()____) This message will self-destruct in 5 seconds...
As other posters have noticed, this was clearly sarcasm. Bradley was _not_ talking about the NT logon procedure.
Microsoft intended to replace the ctrl-alt-delete combination with dedicated "Windows" keys, but one of the marketing guys thought it was a bad idea, so they decided to use those new keys for other, less frequently used functions.
"I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you" (Freddie Mercury)
but what do i know, i'm just a model.
Note that Bradley claimed to be referring to the NT logon procedure. Full quote is from this video.
Note as well that he was obviously joking when he said he meant the NT logon procedure. See the video.
Phiwum's law: anyone that names an obvious law after himself and then puts it in his own sig is just pathetic.
However, on later Apple ][+s, they made Reset a LOT harder to push, and they made the default to requiring a Ctrl with the reset. Also, in almost all apps (except Pascal and copy-protected apps), Open Apple had to be hit with Ctrl-Reset on the //e and later systems.
My Heathkit PC clone supported a few other combinations. CTRL-ALT-INS would either get the ROM monitor program or the ROM copy of debug. (It's been a while.)
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
When Windows NT came out, touting that it supported MIPS and Alpha processors, the system boards for those chips did not have even a hint of this original hardware design. I thought that it was reasonable to drop support for that keyboard combination entirely on the software side, and special case trap it for any of the remaining hardware under x86. Drop it as a historic oddity and move on.
Instead, it was retained as a "security" feature in the NT line for logging in to a machine and locking the machine as if there were something special about pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL on all hardware -- if the keyboard even had those keys or they mapped to anything resembling the hardware on Windows NT came out, touting that it supported MIPS and Alpha processors, the system boards for those chips did not have even a hint of this original hardware design. I thought that it was reasonable to drop support for that entirely on the software side, and special case trap it for any of the remaining hardware under x86.an x86!
This alone was a big red flag to me that Microsoft didn't get it. Add to it the heavy x86 virtualization used on the other hardware and it was clear MS wasn't entirely serious about portability let alone real security.
With that, can anyone give a good reason to keep CTRL-ALT-DEL around for any function except as an old-time legacy habit for DOS/Windows users? Is there a technical reason why that combo is more valuable? I can't think of one...
A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
Well, CTRL-ALT-DEL was famous to PC users long before NT3.1 came out - sounds like the worlds best known 'easter egg' - but there's plenty of times you need to 'warm boot' w/o having to go thru a complete bios hw init and memory test, like when your tuning your startup files.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
So what is he going to do now? Travel the college lecture circuit? "Tonight at 8PM in Simpsons Hall: The Man Who Invented CTRL-ALT-DEL"
Or his last performance review at IBM: "I know you invented CTRL-ALT-DEL, but what have you done for us lately?"
At least now he has time to spend in the garage on his latest invention, SHIFT-ESC-HOME.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
Thanks Dave...
(stupid display drivers...)
Schrodinger's cat is either dead or really pissed off...
On many keyboards, the CTRL and ALT on the right side will not cause a reboot. Only the left side.
Maybe it's not a keyboard issue and a PC/BIOS issue. My Dell at work doesn't have this behavior, but my IBM and eMachine do.
With all the improvements in XP and 2003, sometimes that's the only thing that works. Who says GUI tools are always better than keystrokes?
That's why I prefer the free software. My new favorite keystorkes are CTRL-ALT-Fn and CTRL-ALT-Backspace. I don't miss not needing to use the one with delete in it as much. With all the improvements in X autoconfiguring, I won't miss needing my new favorites much either.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Many HP calculators have their own version of ctrl-alt-del, which can be used to reset the calculator to a known state, as it was when shipped from the factory. Try pressing and holding the key in the lower-left corner, and then simultaneously press the key in the top-left corner and the key in the top-right corner.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
Somebody's humor function is buggy. Or is English not your first language?
Down at the bottom of TFA is a quote from Bradley about what exactly led to the PC hardware revolution, i.e. cheap, interoperable, expandable hardware. First was IBM's decision to outsource development of the OS (Microsoft) and CPU (Intel) [giving them expertise which they later used to markey directly to clone vendors].
... if IBM senior management had fully understood what it was unleashing in 1981, I don't think it would have done this.""
Bradley: "Second, we made it an open system. We published a user manual that made it easy for other people to develop software."
The parallels with the prospects for a PC software revolution are obvious.
Another quote (by Grove): "It's hard 20 years later to realize how drastic a departure this was from the computer industry's standard practices. Computer companies at that time tended to base everything on differentiation. My software will run only on my platform. The thinking was, 'If I don't differentiate, I'm just in a commodity business.'
I think Microsoft realizes exactly what happened with IBM... they lost control of the PC hardware business, but the open platform they originated blossomed in a hundred creative directions. MS has no intention of losing control of the PC OS business.
The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. - Mark Twain
heh.
Blar.
Thanks for posting that! :D
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
I had Dr. Bradley for a course at NCSU a couple years ago and when this subject came up he said that it wasn't something that he obesessed for days on end about. They were three keys that would be unlikely to hit in a normal usage situation. Sure, there maybe better combinations or whatever, but that's what he decided on.
When my daughter was about 18 months she managed to do a tapdance on a machine's keyboard (running linux) and hit ctrl-alt-del.
For those of you about to retire, we three-finger salute you!
ctrl-shift-delete is easier to hit - at least looking at my keyboard, shift and ctrl are right next to each other while the windows key is between ctrl and alt. Of course, there was no windows key 20 years ago - anyone have an older keyboard handy?
There is no fury,
Whenever a PC dies.
Control-Alt-Delete.
-- The universe began. Life started on a billion worlds...
-- Except on one where stupidity was there first.
I'm still waiting for the keyboard that has a ctrl+c (copy) ctrl+v (paste) ctrl+b (bold) ctrl+i (italics) keys.
Talk about commonly-used combinations! Way more frequently used that SysReq or Scroll Lock. Probably way more used than the Windows key on MOST keyboards.
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
Sun has a keyboard with copy and paste keys. Don't think it had bold and italics though.
A lot of time, if the thing's completely locked, that's not responsive either, as that switch connects only to the MOBO. I prefer an actual *switch* that goes only to the power supply.
I've seen computers that could only be reset by unplugging the damned things. Newer ones, too.
My girlfriend's system was so fubared that Ctrl-Alt-Delete brought up "The program failed to run." What do you do when the Task Manager crashes?
Needless to say, that box now runs Gentoo.
Future nothing, this is already a standard feature on tablet PCs.
"Be Happy or Die." -- AoN
Seems to me that you use it when Windows succeeds. Many other operating systems just go into an unrecoverable state, leaving you a one-key option (the hardware reset button).
Since Windows keeps parts of memory protected, and uses VMs, you can have an application crash without effecting the OS itself or any other applications running. I just remember all that time spent fixing Netware servers which would crash because one little thing changed...
Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.
"Bill did not laugh." Oh, come on. You make it sound like he was pissed. If you've seen the video, he smiles light-heartedly at him and takes the joke.
He's not some evil guy--he's human like everyone and can take criticism in good fun from colleagues.
Hehe, if you were English you would have spelt humour correctly.
Mod me down, I'm British.
A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works.â"John Gaule
I'm going to name my kids Control, Alt, and Delete.
If they ever get to be a problem I'll just hit them all twice.
Problem solved.
Frink: Nice try floyd, but you were designed for scrubbing, and scrubbing is what you shall do.
Argh, my hand! You bastard!
They just GOSUB without RETURN
(stolen from some posting somewhere)
IMHO, the only thing he ever invented was a new way of creating an Illegal Monopoly. There is not the slightest trace of any technical innovation anywhere. It was all prior art, shamelessly copied, stolen or bought at an artificially low price by deception.
Maybe I am wrong, no-one has yet confessed to inventing the BSOD, so perhaps we should give him credit for that one, unless anyone knows differently. Of course, they are supposed not to happen.....
The summary says:
"I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous," Bradley said.
Reading the article, he says:
"I may have invented control-alt-delete, but Bill Gates made it really famous."
When you remove and change words in a quote, can you get away with saying "Bradley said" after it?
The key combination also is used when software, such as Microsoft's Windows operating system, fails
I was trying to remember what that key combination was used for...
If you popped the lid off there was a switch you could hit to make reset Apple-RESET (or whatever the mod key was) or just plain RESET. Plus the reset button had a pretty tight spring in it to keep it from being rolled over by a finger.
--Mike
Bill getting slammed about the three-fingered salute
Bill at the Windows 98 premiere watching the demo blue screen
I'd almost feel sorry for the guy, but he's worth more than most countries and can do whatever the hell he wants.
Hit the print screen button and open up word and then "paste." You'll get a screenshot of the entire screen from when you hit the button. Hold down ALT while hitting print screen and the paste into a word document and you'll get the contents of the active window.
Pasting into a word document is not required, print screen simply dumps the screen contents into the clipboard for later use.
I use this frequently with customers who need to give me screenshots.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
do we all have to stop using it?
In other news, SCO has just announced that Bradley didn't invent Ctl-Atl-Del it was stolen from their code. They are now starting a lawsuit against everyone who ever used this key combination.
Seppuku: Your solution to my problems!
Back in the '96-'97 timeframe I used to love playing Deadlock on Windows 95/98. Deadlock is a turn-based strategy game where you control one of up to 7 alien races vying for control of a planet. During the game, your opponents would taunt you (via movie clip with audio). One of the opponent races was the Tarth, consisting of large, brutish creatures who weren't very bright. One day I was playing and my Tarth opponent comes on the screen and blurts out:
"You're losing! Hit Control-Alt-Delete!"
It was a good 10 minutes before I could stop laughing long enough to resume playing the game.
Don't underestimate the power of The Source
I think it is appropriate that you make the British gesture of displeasure with the left hand.
Then make the American gesture of displeasure with the right hand.
Then rootate both hands 180 degrees and press the famous keys.
All Windows problems are hardware problems. Don't load it on hardware, no problems.
I used an Apple ][ way before the IBM's even came out! I was simply recalling the fondness of Bard's Tale and Open Apple - Ctrl - Reset as my Ctrl - Alt - Delete.
I love moderators that just strike posts down. May you lose all your mod points forever!
I always thought it was actually an accident of the original electrical layout of the keyboard that allowed those keys [+ their internal contacts] to pull up the reset line....but this guy was the first to realize that and codify it?
...when the ole third finger salute became the command to LOG ON to an NT server!!
BAKAS!!!!!!!!!
Way more frequently used that SysReq or Scroll Lock.
I use SysRq sometimes. Unfortunately I have multiple keyboards where SysRq doesn't work reliably. Just because some systems doesn't use the key, they shouldn't start producing keyboards where the key doesn't work.
The Scroll Lock key is the most functionally overloaded key on my keyboard. It is used as hotkey for my KVM switch and it is also used to stop scrolling. It is really annoying when you start shutting down one computer, and as you are switching to another you accidentially stop scrolling and thereby preventing the computer from shutting down.
The Windows keys are some of the least used keys on my keyboard, they really serves no purpose at all. And BTW I don't want a single key to do Ctrl+C - killing the running program isn't something you want to do by accident.
Do you care about the security of your wireless mouse?
"Cats on keyboards can't do Ctrl-Alt-Del -- which is a good thing"
That sounds like a challenge issued by Martha Stewart. I'm going to teach my cat to do that now, if the government doesn't do it first.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
This is sad...
:) This guy should be given a nobel peace prize... Because NOTHING is more satisfying than slaming on those 3 keys as your pc explodes... Even if it doesnt do a dam thing in XP now.
Its like the inventer of "the middle finger" passing away.
CTRL ALT DELETE to me, is always followed by...
"AH YOU'RE FUCKING KIDDING ME!@#~!@#!.. FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING COMPUTER... BILL GATES.. AH FUCK IT.. I HOPE I SAVED."
Ah.. yes... he'll be missed
An easter egg to get rid of another easter egg (bsod)...
They could have chosen Ctrl+Alt+PrnScr/SysRq, but since people were used to the three finger salute causing a system trap, they kept the legacy convention (they wouldn't expect any application to want to bind to it)
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
I just have the Gateway Anykey. It's the sole remaining piece of equipment that after 8 years of piecemeal upgrading of my computer.
paintball
Thanks for pointing that out, Bill.
Make money with Real Estate Investing