At my high school, the microvate had the standard 0-9 numberpad and a start button. If you push the one of the lower numbers (I think between 1 and 5), the micr

At my high school, the microvate had the standard 0-9 numberpad and a start button. If you push the one of the lower numbers (I think between 1 and 5), the microwave would start cooking for that number of minutes. The other numbers had different pre-programed actions. One of those actions was (fortuantly) timed cook, which would then let you put the time in normally and press the start button. Its not as annoying as it sounds. Just decide how long you want to cook for, subtract that number from 5, hit the '5' button, and open the microwave when the countdown clock gets to the number you calculated earlier.