What you do with your windows button on your keyboard?
Personally nothing but when I look at it I wonder if the big bang could actually have been a white hole.
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Personally nothing but when I look at it I wonder if the big bang could actually have been a white hole.
It opens my programs menu (or start menu to use the Windows vernacular). It's still incredibly useful for me to have it that way
It's for window management related hotkeys. Obviously. All about windows. With a lowercase "w".
To open the App Menu, and for a mod key, same as in Windows
Came here to say this. Basically, the same way it's used in Windows. I hit the key, type a few characters and I launch the app I seek.
It opens up anyrun.
It's my Super key. It's used for like everything in my DE (Hyprland).
Ritual sacrifice to the penguin god
The only correct answer here.
No differently than it's used in Windows, plus a few more key-chords that utilize it. That's the default in GNOME and KDE at least, and probably other DEs as well.
I'm more interested in what people do with that strange menu key sitting next to my touch-starved right-CTRL. I know it's for pulling up the context menu, but I have literally never used it for any reason. When I'm 100% keyboard, I'm probably in a terminal and it won't do anything any way.
The menu key is a convenient place to put the compose key.
I'm using it for spell checking in Firefox — Menu, then 'o' mnemonic to add to the dictionary etc.
I don't have one. If I did, I want change the keycap.
Now... it's called a meta key https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_key ... and I use it exactly as one would on Windows, e.g. Meta-e starts the file explorer ... but I added my shortcuts too e.g. :
and I have quite a others I can't recall right now.
Its the super key, the meta key is now Alt IIRC
Not according to Wikipedia (linked to initially already) nor KDE Plasma which I'm using :
The wikipedia page you linked says otherwise.
I don't have a physical keyboard with a Windows key to verify (gave that to a friend who need an ergonomic keyboard few weeks ago) but AFAICT
xevor KDE Plasma again returnmetawhen pressed on that key.Also ZMK https://zmk.dev/docs/keymaps/list-of-keycodes list GUI as Meta
GUI (Windows / Command / Meta)and QMKLGUI(kc) G(kc), LCMD(kc), LWIN(kc)https://docs.qmk.fm/feature_advanced_keycodesMy interpretation of "Meta key, its functionality may be invoked by other keys such as the Windows key or Macintosh’s Option key" is that the Windows key is the meta key, isn't it what it says?
KDE uses "meta" to refer to the Windows key. Emacs uses "meta" to refer to the Alt key. You are correct that GNOME calls the Windows key "Super".
This causes some confusion, obviously we Linux users don't want to call it the Windows key, so the best solution is to call the keys "Super" and "Alt", those are unambiguous.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_key_(keyboard_button)
Relevant section:
As far as I am aware, the "Windows" key is generally mapped as the Super key, not he Meta key.
My bad then, as I mentioned before unfortunately I have no such keyboard available anymore.
No problem, though I must admit I'm curious about your keyboard as it is quite uncommon to not have one. Are you using an older keyboard that lacks one or one of the "winkeyless" enthusiast mechanical keyboards or maybe a really small form factor keyboard?
That's me, in fact you can see my keymap at https://github.com/Utopiah/zmk-config-zen-2/blob/main/config/corneish_zen.keymap#L27 for my Corne-ish Zen 3x6
What kind of use case for Super over meta do think I'm missing? Like I said if I do meta-e I get in KDE Plasma the file explorer, Dolphin, isn't it also the behavior you get?
I basically forced myself to use it and it was a good transition from the Microsoft Sculpt but now that I'm a 3x6 I don't want to go back ;)
Transition is always tricky and I find that NOT having a project to rush on for few weeks at least is what I need.
It isn't a different use case at all, it is that only KDE calls it meta. Everything else that I know of calls it super. If you're a KDE user, you're using it just fine, it is just weird that KDE is the odd man out, especially since meta was traditionally already associated with the alt key. I'm sure someone at KDE had some reason for it and at this point they see no reason to change.
I've used Linux since 1998, and several DEs. I've never heard the Windows key referred to as a "meta" key.
Use as
$metain my .i3/config, so .. lots of things.I don't have one. In its place I have a meta key with a diamond design on the keycap. Why would I need a "Windows" key if I haven't used Windows in over a decade?
This
I use it as a modifier key for all of the shortcuts I create since nothing uses it by default.
I map it to the panel menu that most DEs still include. Unless you're Gnome, in which case you may as well use a joy stick to navigate that GUI.
As yet another modifier key. I use XFCE, so if I bind it to the applications menu, the applications menu will also pop up every time I use any other keybinding involving the Super key, which is less than ideal.
I don't know how controversial this would be, I wouldn't mind making it like the command key in MacOS either.
meta and ctrl switched, because if there’s something apple did right it’s using the thumb as modifier key for copy/paste/etc instead of pinkie finger which is far FAR less able to deal with repeat strain
but i also type programmers dvorak because i got pretty horrible wrist pain at one point so anything to stop me damaging my wrists :p
It does nothing and has been broken for a long time. It can be used for hotkeys but there are none that I use. I only want it to open the start menu. Yes i know I can easily bind it in KDE plasma hotkey menu but i havent gotten around to it yet.
Just general command key for shortcuts?
It is probably my most pressed button because of this, also i changed the keycap to eye of horus.
i use it to open my apps menu, same as it did in windows, as well as a modifier key for desktop-level stuff... same as it did in windows lol
tho, i added one shortcut with it which i think is just neat: meta+Z to go to sleep. it's funny, memorable, easy to access yet hard to press accidentally. tbh i think it should become standard
Super key for DE keybinds or other global hotkeys. Nothing uses it so you don’t have to worry about collisions.
Switched the cap so I wouldn't have to see that ugly logo… mapped it to the super key for Hyprland
I did the same on my desktop. I haven't bought a laptop in forever though and idk what to do about them all having an AI key now.
awesome cap!
modifier for window manager nav and general OS controls like
wofi/rofiBazzite KDE default seems fine for me.
Same as I do on Windows. When I want to open an application I press it and type in the name. For example: Windows, C, M, D, Enter (I type CMD even on Linux).
I use it as the prefix key for my tiling window manager (stumpwm), and have mapped it to the "Super" X11 modifier for Emacs.
(Also, I have mapped CapsLock to the Hyper modifier, which I mostly use for user-defined commands. Not as powerful as the original space cadet keyboard, but not bad!).
BTW, one thing that is great about StumpWM is that you can define commands to script actions on GUI applications. For Example, if you are in a Firefox window, you can script Ctrl-t-B (or perhaps Hyper-B) to go to the adress bar, copy the URL, then call xsel to append the content of the buffer to a file which is called ~/bookmarks.txt, and finally open your preferred editor to add a comment.
I used to have bunch of key maps, now it's just: tap it to pull up the start menu and type software I want to open, and meta + space to change language input on my keyboard.
I guess pretty much it.
This is the only thing I thank Microsoft for. Thanks for giving us this useful shortcut key. (Use it for almost every shortcut of my desktop btw)
I always just remapped it to the super button, and most applications actually automatically map it to the super button.
by holding it i can grab a window anywhere to drag it
Hold super and right-click a window to resize it. Ymmv
Oh, yeah, and holding the right mouse and dragging to resize the window.
One-handed locking my PC as I leave my desk with Windows-L.
Left button for global shortcuts, right button for Compose
Change mine to blank transparent keycap, I generally use it for mod key
I have lots of shortcuts bound to it except I never press it because I have the caps lock key mapped to the same keycode and that's easier to press
I use my context menu key as the chording key to control any keyboard macro profiles, so that I can terminate, reload, summon for editing or summon a help file as needed.
I use GNOME on my distros so it's pretty handy for operating the system with just a keyboard.
for xmonad commands. also windows-p is dmenu.
Compose key
I use "PrintScreen" for that ....
how many times have you torn a muscle attached to your right pinky?
Oh, it's not that bad. I use UK international with AltGr to type English, program code, and German. I don't use the Compose key so often. Just for some extra symbols like Greek alpha or ° C.
That explains. I write in 5 languages :)
Mostly the same as Windows, ie for opening the application launcher menu, as well as for a variety of global shortcuts.
It is a component of the keyboard shortcuts I use to swap between virtual desktops and snap windows to the left/right side.
Left: start/stop playing music via xmms2
Right: open a zenity file selector to load music into xmms2
Meta+T opens a terminal about once every 5 minutes on my machine.
I think that's all of them.
System shortcut with combination of other keys to mainly switch between virtual desktops, open terminal, open MangoHUD config file and some more