Control+ALT+Delete is still a commonly used key combination among Windows users. The combination gives you access to functions like task manager, switch users, log off among others. While most of us have grown accustomed to the combination, turns out Microsoft founder Bill Gates isn’t a big fan of Control+ALT+Delete. He acknowledged that forcing users to a relatively complex key combination was a mistake and that he wanted it be to a single button.
“You can’t go back and change the small things in your life without putting the other things at risk. But, sure, If I could make one small edit I would make that a single key operation,” he is quoted as saying by Quartz.
It’s not the first time Bill Gates has expressed his regret over the key combination. Back in 2013, Gates had admitted that Microsoft initially intended the Control+ALT+Delete to be a single button but IBM which was collaborating with the company in 80s came in the way.
“It was a mistake. We could have had a single button, but the guy who did the IBM keyboard design didn’t wanna give us our single button,” he had said.
Besides Bill Gates, another former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had also expressed disappointment on missing some opportunities. “I regret there was a period in the early 2000s when we were so focused on what we had to do around Windows [Vista] that we weren’t able to redeploy talent to the new device called the phone,” Ballmer had said.
Despite Bill Gates’ disliking for the key combination, the Control+ALT+Delete has been on Windows for a very long time. Though, the feature has been improved over the years and currently it has altogether a newer interface with additional features such as allowing users to switch between logged-in users. Apple users, however, can perform similar actions through a single button.
[“source=hindustantimes”]
