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Balancing Use Between the Keyboard and Mouse?
initialE wonders: "A friend of mine, working for a bank, mentioned to me that she had just undergone training for the migration of applications from their legacy systems (think DOS-based interface, AS400 powered) to a snazzy new web application. Whereas the younger users were impressed by the bling it provided, the older users were less happy, and the reason provided was that the application lacked shortcut keys to doing their most common tasks. The newer staff were mighty pleased not to have to learn all those arcane commands, of course. This led me to consider a few things. I administer Windows-based systems, and more and more I am choosing to use whatever key-based interface is available - I don't even use the file explorer anymore, preferring to type 'WindowsKey+R', and typing in the file path (Windows helps with auto-complete). It's better for me to keep my hands on the keyboard and not touch the mouse. It's certainly not because my mouse is bad, I just don't want to release the focus on the keyboard. And it works - I get things done a lot faster than anyone else in my department. Have we placed too much emphasis on making GUI-based applications, and left behind what was a perfectly good way of doing things?"
I have to agree that we have placed too much emphasis on the GUI where a nice key command would suffice. On OS X, I can't survive without Quicksilver, which has been referred to as a GUI CLI, combining the best of both. It can also function as a sort of "glue app," interfacing between Terminal programs and GUI apps.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
At least not the Windows Interface part. It is completely feasable to have a windows interface with lots of well defined key commands. Autohotkey is a good tool for this sort of thing, and the source is available for free as well.
Okay, if the users wanted keyboard shortcuts, why didn't the web developers include them? It's not as if HTML doesn't have support for this.
A properly constructed GUI application should be just as usable with the keyboard as older applications. Web applications throw up a couple of minor hurdles, but no real showstoppers. The question seems pointless because you can have the best of both worlds easily.
Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
Here's a complete solution for Windows:
Use AutoHotkey to make keyboard shortcuts to run programs and enter text.
Use AutoIt to simulate keyboard entries and mouse clicks and when you need complicated decision-making. Download AutoIt with the SciTE auto-completion IDE. The SciTE editor makes writing and testing AutoIt programs and compiling the finished results very easy.
Both these programs are very sophisticated, the best available, and FREE. AutoHotKey comes with source code. Both are programmable.
For example, I've written an AutoHotKey program that uses a shortcut to toggle between Windows shortcut keys and WordStar/Brief control-key editing commands. I like to avoid taking the time to touch the mouse.
AutoIt is great for automating installations of software.
Both allow programming your own GUIs.
Don't forget to contribute to these efforts.
I've recently made the switch to OS X, and this is one of the few aspects of Windows that I miss.
:)
Not *quite* the same thing, but if you go to the Keyboard & Mouse System Preference, then to the Keyboard Shortcuts tab, you'll find at the bottom "Full Keyboard Access" -- change that to All Controls and you'll be able to tab to most controls. In that same Preference tab you'll find a metric crapload of navigation shortcuts for moving keyboard focus among windows, Dock, menus, etc.
Also, there are a ton of sometimes poorly documented Mac UI keyboard shortcuts that even long-time users don't know about, but which will speed your usage tremendously. There are various places to learn about them -- the Help menu in the Finder is a start, but also see http://www.macosxhints.com/ for the occasional gem.
And finally, as I mention elsewhere in this story, if you haven't tried http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/ you haven't experienced Macintosh.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
Here is a list of shortcuts.
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http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75
Also, most menus have key shortcuts listed on the Mac, and the best part is the consistancy between applications on what the shortcuts mean and do.
I actually find myself using shortcuts more in OSX than I did in Windows.
-I just work here... how am I supposed to know?