Microsoft, please disable your Caps Lock keys immediately

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Dec 8, 2003 by DAVE JOHNSON

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I spent the weekend with my in- laws. And the conversation inevitably turned to the same topic it does nearly every year: why computers don't work the way they should.

Sure, things have improved. In 1997, I remember complaining about the difficulty of connecting devices to the serial port (Which one is COM2? How can you tell?) and why USB never worked right. Before that, it was configuring games to play well in DOS (Are you loading it into HIMEM? Be sure to update your VESA driver).

These days, computers work so much better that I sometimes feel I have no right to complain at all. But complain we did, trading our most hated Windows features over plates of pumpkin pie.

My top gripe with Windows? It's a surprisingly little thing, actually - but one that is infuriatingly annoying. It's a matter of focus. The active application - the one that's selected and taking input from your keyboard - is said to have "focus" in Windows. But Windows is notorious for stealing that focus and giving it to unrelated dialog boxes that occasionally pop up, all without your permission.

Your e-mail app failed to log in and get your messages? Windows pops up a dialog box in which to type your username and password. If you're not paying attention, you can type half the Gettysburg Address into the password box before you realize you're not in Word anymore. Argh. Windows should collect all these sorts of messages and leave them in the System Tray for you to review and resolve all at once, at your leisure.

And speaking of typing, there should be a way to permanently disable the Caps Lock key. It serves almost no purpose - the last time I wanted to type in all caps was sometime in 1996. Yet I routinely hit that key by accident and end up with a quarter-page of ACCIDENTAL SHOUTING. There is a feature called ToggleKeys that beeps every time you press the Caps Lock key (you can access it from the Control Panel), but it's just not enough.

Another key that should be permanently disabled: the Insert key, which sends Word and other applications into Overwrite mode instead of Insert mode when typing. Good grief - does anyone like to overwrite text they've already typed? Kill it, please, Microsoft.

If you've ever had a problem with your PC and needed to boot into the BIOS setup or Windows Safe Mode, you've probably also discovered one of the newest annoyances to hit PCs: "quiet" boot modes that hide the old DOS-like startup screen. Sure, it's more aesthetic to see a picture of your computer-maker's logo, but what's also missing is the instructions on the computer screen - press F1 to enter BIOS, for instance.

Without the scrolling DOS startup information, how do you know when to press F8 to enter Safe Mode? Those tasks are hard enough - and scary enough - to begin with. And now we have to contend with these extra annoyances that make troubleshooting a PC even harder.

On a different note, thanks to the two dozen folks who attended my first digital photo seminar last month. The next one is Saturday. It's a four-hour clinic filled with photo tips, tricks and advice. You get a copy of my book and a few other goodies as well, all for $99. R.S.V.P. by calling 649-9513 or learn more at www.bydavejohnson.com.

Dave Johnson is a local technology writer. You can reach him at dave@bydavejohnson.com