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Bill Gates admits the CTRL-ALT-DEL was a mistake


Randomizer

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After years of inflicting it on Microsoft users from DOS to Windows, Bill Gates finally admits that CTRL-ALT-DEL was a mistake and it should have been a one button command.

 

One of the many news reports quoting the conference where Bill Gates was questioned.

 

If you catch the video you can see Gates trying to pass off responsibility and try to avoid acknowledging it was a mistake.

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Fearful, desperate, exhausted, by my own machine accosted,

Knowing now my work was lost, I pushed my papers to the floor.

“Ah, ye gods!” I started screaming, “All is lost! I must be dreaming!”

The computer sat there seeming to enjoy the great furore,

Sat there saying the same saying that it said so oft before:

Control, Alt, Delete

-----

-Nightwatcher

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Ctrl-Alt-Delete was not a mistake. Back in Win98, presumably earlier as well, hitting it twice would force an immediate reboot, not something you'd want to accidentally do (which is quite easy to do if the method is one button rather than three awkward ones simultaneously).

 

Nowadays it serves as a questionably-useful security mechanism if Windows is configured to do so. Since it's captured directly by the OS it can give users one more layer of security when authenticating (note that in programs like Remote Desktop or VirtualBox you have to either click a button or have a special key combo to send it, you can't do it and "pass it along" because the programs Can't Touch It). It's not a robust method by any means, but at least it's something.

 

And really, if you use Ctrl-Alt-Del so often that the convoluted key combo bugs you, you are doing something wrong with your workflow or your machine. The only real valid reason to be mad about it is if you have a motor disability or something else that makes it extremely difficult (but in this case, I'm sure there exists (and if not, it's easy enough to make) a keyboard rearranged to make that easier, making that point moot).

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I guess that I have just gotten so used to Ctrl-Alt-Del that it doesn't bug me. And since I currently have three machines on my desk that I have to frequently shift back in forth between, while making sure that each is locked when I am not using it, I do the combo a lot. I am far more inconvenienced by password length and complexity rules than I am by Ctrl-Alt-Del.

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Bill Gates doesn't have to do a thing and he still can laugh at the world. Although he has done some kind acts. A man with 5 kids, no money ran into Gates at a mall. The guy apparently had no money, 2 jobs and the world caving in. Gates wrote him a check of 5 million and said now you don't have to worry. That was a nice thing to do even though he didn't need the money. I lalways thought he was cool, after reading that it proved it to be true.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nikki, are you saying that it's untrue that you can't Ctrl-Alt-Del without your thumb, or that it's untrue that you actually can? Because Little Fyora's post has white text underneath the main text. Text that I only noticed when you quoted the post.

 

Yes.

 

(didn't see the white text either)

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