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Comment by jvzr | Hacker News Reader

I would love for Microsoft to introduce some Apple-isms in Windows: text navigation is particularly awful, and I'm far more efficient on OS X when it comes to text. The lack of forward delete key doesn't bother me or hinder me at all: command-right + delete takes care of it.

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I find text navigation in Apple less consistent than in Windows. It makes it harder to be efficient :

By default:

- Chrome / TextEdit

⌘ + → = end of line

ctrl + → = end of line

⌥ + → = next word

- Sublime / Xcode

⌘ + → = end of line

ctrl + → = next word

⌥ + → = next word

- Firefox / Eclipse

⌘ + → = end of line

ctrl + → = ∅

⌥ + → = next word

OK I realize now that I should never use the ctrl key for navigation... It's disturbing and useless !

This means you should tell a new Apple user:

For text navigation:

mac ⌥ = windows ctrl

mac ⌘ = windows alt

For pretty much everything else:

mac ⌘ = windows ctrl

Except: ⌘ + tab = alt + tab

He might kill you.

The thing is that Apple's Human Interface Guidelines (which define these bindings) were created in the 1980s, before Windows even existed, so it's a bit difficult to blame Apple for not being compatible with an OS that didn't even exist at the time.

The early Macs didn't even have a Control key, which was later added to support terminal applications that needed it.

Well, I see your point but you are using examples that voluntarily circumvent Apple's established, system-wide shortcuts.

Fortunately for us and developers, setting custom shortcuts for different commands is still supported. But this allows for devs to bypass default shortcuts.

I'm mostly using command and option and shift when I navigate in text, and it's a bliss to do so. On Windows, it's erratic and you have to use the Home/End keys to have the same results.

Anyway, minor gripes.

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