Why can't programmers just go "Home"?

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Ok. I converted from Windows to Mac in September. I love the platform, I love the software and I simply love my Apple experience. I just have one beef.



WHY CAN'T PROGRAMS OTHER THEN OFFICE USE HOME AND END!!!



I have used these two keys ever since I got used to a computer, and I spend about 4 hours in Word everyday using them. So why is it that when I pop into my web browser I can?t go to the address bar and press HOME?



Why are the buttons even on the keyboard if no one uses them??



All Apple Pro Keyboards ship with BOTH home AND end buttons ? WHY CAN?T THEY JUST ALL GET ALONG???

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    spartspart Posts: 2,060member
    Take it easy, man.



    They work fine in OmniWeb...probably in Explorer as well, though I'm not willing to try. Don't want to launch that crap on my new X install.
  • Reply 2 of 11
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    WHY WON'T THE CAPS LOCK WORK EITHER?!
  • Reply 3 of 11
    spartspart Posts: 2,060member
    Yeah...bold or italic fonts do wonder for emphasis.
  • Reply 4 of 11
    [quote]Originally posted by Spart:

    <strong>Take it easy, man.



    They work fine in OmniWeb...probably in Explorer as well, though I'm not willing to try. Don't want to launch that crap on my new X install.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Works in Chimera 0.6 as well... I would check IE, but well... that's a Micro$oft product (ick!).
  • Reply 5 of 11
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Just so you know, in text entry fields like the address bar, the up arrow and down arrow take you to the beginning and end of the contents, so that you can navigate around without taking your hand off the inverted T.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    [quote]Originally posted by Spart:

    <strong>Yeah...bold or italic fonts do wonder for emphasis.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    OT: wouldnt it be great if there was a keyboard function like shift that allowed italic and/or bold type automatically like caps?
  • Reply 7 of 11
    spartspart Posts: 2,060member
    Yes, except it wouldn't work well with the forums as they use tags.
  • Reply 8 of 11
    noseynosey Posts: 307member
    Being an adventurous sort, in IE the home key takes you to the top of the page, and the end key takes you to, well... the end of the page...



    I wish it work with font lists... I get tired of scrolling through so many...
  • Reply 9 of 11
    This is just a case of Mac OS X simply behaving differently than Windows. These navigation controls have been the same for us for many years. Most of these keys are the same as they were in Classic Mac OS.



    Here's a summary for you. Switchers, take note:



    Home scrolls to the very beginning of a document.

    End scrolls to the very end of a document.

    Page up scrolls one page up.

    Page down scrolls one page down.

    apple-up arrow moves the cursor to the beginning of the document.

    apple-down arrow moves the cursor to the end of the document

    apple-left arrow move the cursor to the beginning of the line.

    apple-right arrow moves the cursor the end of a line.

    option-up arrow moves the cursor to the beginning of a paragraph.

    option-down arrow moves the cursor to the end of a paragraph.

    option-left arrow moves the cursor the the left by one word.

    option-right arrow moves the cursor the the right by one word.



    control-up and down arrow do the same as page up and down.



    This is the behavior that all Mac OS X apps SHOULD inherit. It is the default behavior for native text fields. Some key binding are usually overridden in the case of web browsers (apple-left and right), but Apple makes it very clear in the Human Interface Guidelines that it is inadvisable and a major "no-no" to break these controls.



    Microsoft Office v.X is NOT a model app for Mac OS X. It breaks most of the standard key controls with its own wonky Windows-like controls. Hello Microsoft? This isn't Windows! This is a Mac!



    Chimera and Mozilla/Netscape are also not model apps for Mac OS X with regards to text entry. They also use some really strange key controls for navigation that are half like Windows, half like Mac. I really don't understand why.



    [ 12-02-2002: Message edited by: Brad ]</p>
  • Reply 10 of 11
    Thank you Brad!



    Now why can't they just put that in the manual.

    Where can I find some other tips?



    Vistago.

    --

    "Education is a companion which no misfortune can depress, no crime can

    destroy, no enemy can alienate, no despotism can enslave. At home, a

    friend, abroad, an introduction, in solitude a solace and in society an

    ornament. It chastens vice, it guides virtue, it gives at once grace and

    government to genius. Without it, what is man? A splendid slave, a

    reasoning savage."



    -Joseph Addison



    Edit: New Q.



    [ 12-02-2002: Message edited by: Vistago ]</p>
  • Reply 11 of 11
    Other tips? Hmm, just hang around AppleInsider I guess.



    By the way, I remembered a couple of other keystrokes that I use frequently:



    option-delete deletes the last whole word to the left of the cursor.

    option-del (forward delete) deletes the next whole word to the right of the cursor.



    These two are good for quickly trimming down documents as you proof-read them.



    Also, shift works with all the navigation combos I posted above for selecting text. For example, shift-opiton-up will select text from the cursor to the beginning of the paragraph. shift-option-right will select text by whole words to the right of the cursor. Of course, you can also use just shift-arrow to select normally without the word/line/paragraph groupings.



    [ 12-02-2002: Message edited by: Brad ]</p>
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