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Windows has historically has really excellent keyboard support, at least back in the Win3.1 days, where driving an entire app from the keyboard was simple, easy

Windows has historically has really excellent keyboard support, at least back in the Win3.1 days, where driving an entire app from the keyboard was simple, easy, obvious and frequently easier than using the mouse. This slipped a bit with later versions of Windows, with too many apps having unnavigable widgets. But, despite Microsoft's many mistakes, this was something they got absolutely right back at the very beginning. MacOS was much less good, with the only keyboard support being explicit accelerator keys. A Mac with no mouse was unusable. How does OSX fare?

mattkevan 11y ago
Well, that was kind of the point. The original Mac OS was designed to be mouse-first. Keyboard shortcuts were there, but only to be used as well as, not instead of the mouse. Windows had to be completely usable by keyboard as it began as a graphical overlay to a keyboard-only interface - and it wasn't possible to guarantee every machine it was on had a mouse. It's a bit like now I suppose. iOS was designed to be touch-first, with limited keyboard and no pointer support, and Windows adds a touch overlay to a keyboard and pointer-first system.
- analog31 11y ago
  The keyboard shortcuts are such a blessing. Truth be told, I learned all of them even when I used a Mac in the System 7 era. For me, the mouse [0] is not just an ergonomic problem by itself, but using it with graphical software gives me pounding eyestrain headaches and neck fatigue. The keyboard lets me divert my visual focus away from the screen, yet know "where" the commands are. To this day, programming is my favorite design activity because it doesn't require interacting with a graphical display. I can't do CAD. I always just assumed that Windows kept the keyboard shortcuts because they were such a good idea. [0] or touch pad, track ball, whatever. I've tried 'em all. The best of the bunch is the touch screen.

mattkevan 11y ago

Well, that was kind of the point. The original Mac OS was designed to be mouse-first. Keyboard shortcuts were there, but only to be used as well as, not instead of the mouse. Windows had to be completely usable by keyboard as it began as a graphical overlay to a keyboard-only interface - and it wasn't possible to guarantee every machine it was on had a mouse. It's a bit like now I suppose. iOS was designed to be touch-first, with limited keyboard and no pointer support, and Windows adds a touch overlay to a keyboard and pointer-first system.

analog31 11y ago
The keyboard shortcuts are such a blessing. Truth be told, I learned all of them even when I used a Mac in the System 7 era. For me, the mouse [0] is not just an ergonomic problem by itself, but using it with graphical software gives me pounding eyestrain headaches and neck fatigue. The keyboard lets me divert my visual focus away from the screen, yet know "where" the commands are. To this day, programming is my favorite design activity because it doesn't require interacting with a graphical display. I can't do CAD. I always just assumed that Windows kept the keyboard shortcuts because they were such a good idea. [0] or touch pad, track ball, whatever. I've tried 'em all. The best of the bunch is the touch screen.