In message , pyotr
filipivich writes:
"J. P. Gilliver (John)" on Mon, 15 Jul 2019
03:39:09 +0100 typed in microsoft.public.windowsxp.general the
following:
[]
There seems to be a lot of hatred of the Caps Lock key/function!

The _main_ reason for the dislike (not the only one, granted), seems to
be from people who hit it by mistake and don't realise until they've
tyPED SEVERAL WORDS WITH IT ON.

Some of use learned to type back when computer keyboards had the
tab key above the shift key, Which, probably was a carry over from
typewriter keyboards.

Interesting hypothesis! I'm not saying you're wrong, though I think all
the actual typewriters I've used had the caps lock - an actual little
mechanical lock! - more or less where it is, which I'd have thought was
for practical mechanical reasons - easier to lock that which you're next
to. Maybe this is a difference UK (where I am) to US. I can't remember
where the tab key was, though I think it might have been top left, or
even not in the main tastenfeld at all.
[]
I do mind the CapsLock placement, since I'm still hitting it when
I mean to use a tab, or because my finger slipped on the keyboard.

Understood.

There doesn't seem to be the same hatred of Scroll Lock, which I'm
unaware of having _any_ function since DOS days;

It is also way over there, out of the way, and not in any place
where my fingers are normally going to be seeking out something else.

Again, understood.

(I'm still a bit hacked off that holding down the shift key and typing
"EG" doesn't get "E.G." as I expected.)

(Wouldn't that be "EG"?)

Sounds like a cue for [an entry in] autocorrect (-:! (Though assuming
you mean the abbreviation for "exampla gratia" = "for example", I rarely
capitalise it anyway - if at the beginning of a sentence I'd probably
capitalise the E, but would usually weasel out of the decision by
rewriting the text so that it wasn't at the beginning!)

I've very occasionally come across a novelty or utility that
uses it. Granted, it's harder to hit accidentally, but at least
Caps Lock _has_a function

It isn't the functionality which hacks people off, but the "wrong
placement". Sort of like when function keys were shifted to the top
of the keyboard.

I see both sides now. For people who hit it accidentally just through
enthusiastic typing, I still think the "Toggle Keys" bleeps are a good
idea. For those like yourself who hit it because you have muscle memory
of something else being there, remapping seems a good idea (though to
tab [or whatever you remember being there] rather than nothing might be
preferable?).

Not sure about F keys left versus above. I do remember the left
positioning (hell, I remember from well before PCs altogether), but in
those days I didn't actually use them much: I can't honestly remember,
but if anything I probably found they got in the way (shoving them up
top made me less likely to hit them in error).
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

At the age of 7, Julia Elizabeth Wells could sing notes only dogs could hear.