There are some handy keyboard shortcuts for Windows. The parenthesis, better known as Ctrl + Alt + Del, is certainly a term that every user is familiar with. Today, Microsoft founder Bill Gates regrets the key combination – and blames IBM for its creation.
It’s just annoying: you’re about to enter the next level in your favorite game and the screen freezes. If the PC hangs, only the Task Manager can help. But very few Windows users know the right keys to call the helper in need. Are you thinking about the key combination Ctrl + Alt + Del? This will also take you to the Task Manager, but there is a much more elegant solution.
Alternative trick to open Task Manager
With the key combination Ctrl + Alt + Del, an intermediate menu opens. There, users then have to click on the tab for the Task Manager. But there is a faster way – the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Esc, which leads directly to the Task Manager. The shift key means the shift key. However, the window does not appear in the foreground because of the frozen image.
But for this case there is a little trick.
- Open the Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
- Then type the first few letters of the game or the hanging application.
- Finally press Delete.
When everything is typed correctly, the computer wakes up from the freeze phase and users regain full control of their device.
Ctrl + Alt + Del was an “Error”
By the way: The widespread key combination Ctrl + Alt + Del dates back to the early days of Windows. It took a long time to log into a Windows computer, to restart the computer in MS-DOS times, or to open the Task Manager. However, this key combination was never really practical, after all you need both hands to execute it. And in fact, even Microsoft founder Bill Gates sees it that way – today he regrets the introduction of the clamp handle.
Already in one Interview at Harvard University in 2013, Gates referred to the parenthesis as a “bug.” He was later asked about it again at an event. Loud “QuartzGates explained at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York: “Obviously, the people involved should have chosen a different key for this task.”
When asked if he regrets the decision today, Gates replied, “You can’t go back and change the little things in life without endangering others.” At the same time, he added, “Sure. If I could make one small change, I would put it on a key.”
Also Read: 25 Windows Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know
Designer at IBM is to blame
Gates blames a designer at IBM for the complicated Ctrl + Alt + Del key combination, also known as the “bracket grip” or “monkey grip”: “We could have had a single key, but the guy at IBM that keyboard design didn’t want to give us a single key.”
The “guy” who originally developed the combination to restart a PC is called David Bradley. He countered Gates’ statement in an interview: “I may have invented them, but Bill made them famous.”
In Windows 11, 10 and 8, the key combination Ctrl + Alt + Del no longer really plays a role – partly because of the new login screen. However, it can still be used to access the task manager, for example. Even those who still know (or still work with) the older versions of Windows 7 or XP will use the parenthesis even more frequently.