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Tech Tip Tuesday: Keyboard Shortcuts – A New Way Around

While your keyboard is typically your main interface with your computer, if you think about it, using your computer without a mouse or touchscreen would be impossible. Right? Well believe it or not, you can actually navigate around all aspects of your computer using just your keyboard. This is possible because every click of your mouse or touch of the screen correlates to a keyboard command or “keyboard shortcut”. Honestly, if you truly wanted to learn ALL of these and utilize only a keyboard, get ready to learn a new language. Heck, you may as well become a “programmer”. Ugh!

For the majority of us users, the mouse is the key to efficiently moving around the screen, selecting, clicking etc. and I don’t think that will change soon. However, there are a few common actions that we use multiple times per day that keyboard shortcuts may help with. For instance the simple Copy/Cut and Paste. These commands are typically initiated via right and left clicks of the mouse. But sometimes you might find that having to continuously move, click, move, right click, left click, move, click, click, click … well you get the picture. So by keeping your non-mouse hand on the keyboard you can now use both hands for navigating and initiating commands much quicker. For instance, select some text using your mouse click and drag feature. With your other hand hit “Ctrl + C” on the keyboard to copy that selection. Move to another location and click to place your cursor there. Then hit “Ctrl + V” to paste what you copied. Don’t like what you just did? Hit “Ctrl + Z” to undo the action. Do you work with multiple windows/apps open at the same time and need to switch between windows quite often? Use “Alt + Esc” to switch between open windows or “Alt + Tab” to show all windows and choose which one. Use Tab to move forward when filling out a form. Misspelled something? Hit “Shift + Tab” to back up. And lots more. If you’re really ambitious, just Google “Keyboard Shortcuts” and go crazy.

I’ve included a list of the most common and helpful keyboard shortcuts below. Look through them and make a goal to learn one per week. I’ll be honest, it takes some practice at first. But before you know it you’ll be working both hands constantly and navigating like a pro.

 

Alt+Esc Cycle through items in the order in which they were opened
Alt+Left arrow Go back
Alt+Right arrow Go forward
Alt+Page Up Move up one screen
Alt+Page Down Move down one screen
Alt+Tab Switch between open apps
Ctrl+A Select all items in a document or window
Ctrl+C (or Ctrl+Insert) Copy the selected item
Ctrl+D (or Delete) Delete the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin
Ctrl+V (or Shift+Insert) Paste the selected item
Ctrl+X Cut the selected item
Ctrl+Y Redo an action
Ctrl+Z Undo an action
Shirt + Delete Permanently delete the selected item
Tab Move foreward from one window element (buttons, links, text fields and so on) to another
Shift + Tab Move backwards from one window element (buttons, links, text fields and so on) to another

 

CPU, Processor… COMPUTER BRAIN!!

All three of these words actually refer to the same part in a computer. Definition: The electronic circuitry within a computer that carries out the instructions of a computer program by performing the basic arithmetic, logical, control and input/output (I/O) operations specified by the instructions. Yeah, how does that help you? I’ll give you some explanation of more common terms you will come across regarding processors when considering a new computer that will hopefully help you make a better choice … for you.

History

As with most things, long ago computers were more simple and there were less choices. I remember Dick Lawless telling me he once worked on a computer that was built inside of a good sized room! Years later Allen Bloch was a sophisticated young accountant sporting one of the first portable computers … about the size of an old sewing machine. These days your cell phone has a ton more computing power than any of those early computers. With technology advancements moving faster and faster all the time, everything is getting smaller, faster and “smarter”. The main ingredient in all of this … The Processor.

Manufacturer

There are many different manufacturers of processors for many different equipment applications but for retail personal computers you  will likely only come across two mainstream products: Intel and AMD. This is truly a Ford vs Chevy situation where some people will swear by Intel while others will argue the benefits of AMD. You can find benchmark tests on websites that show a bunch of confusing statistics of each ones performance given a certain application.  This tends to make the competition pretty fierce so each of them work to come out with a new model line seemingly with the changing of the season’s. So what you end up with is a plethora of choices that can befuddle the typical laymen.  Aye Yai Yai!!

Clock Speed

While there are other factors that affect the overall speed of a computer, this is where the rubber meets the road. The clock speed refers to how fast a processor can perform all of the operations listed in the afore mentioned definition. How does this help you? Well, the higher the clock speed is, the better the performance you will get out of your computer when comparing the same model processor. It will seem faster because it’s actually processing faster. Clock speeds are shown as a decimal and generally range from 2.1 GHz to 3.8 GHz. Unfortunately, this high performance is always synonymous with higher prices as well. $$$$  So as any good manufacture should do, they each offer a budget class and a premium class. AMD’s premiums are their A-Series, E-Series and FX and their budget class includes Phenom, Athlon and Sempron. While Intel has the “i7”, “i5”, and “i3” for their premium and Core 2, Pentium and Celeron for their budget class. Each one of these has multiple models with different specs and generations. A little Google research shows that the FX models are AMD #1 and the “i7” models are Intel’s best. With Intel currently showing as the strongest in most current benchmarks.

Other Specs

You will also see 32 bit or 64 bit processors and possibly L1, L2 Cache. The bit rate essentially refers to how much RAM the processor is capable of utilizing. 32 bit is good for computers with 4 GB of RAM and less while 64 bit is good for 4 GB of RAM and more. It’s important to point out that a 64 bit processor must be matched to a 64 bit operating system and a 32 bit to a 32 bit OS. But that will likely be taken care of for you. Also, software applications are written in 32 or 64 bit. A 64 bit computer can use 64 or 32 bit applications, but a 32 bit is restricted to only 32 bit applications. And finally, the L1, L2 Cache refers to what can be considered as the processors own built in personal RAM. Simply said, the more the better.

Summary

So as with everything else, what it boils down to is your own personal needs for computing and your budget. Sure, if money was no object I’d say go out and buy the most expensive and advanced computer you can buy. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. However, I believe the majority of us can’t do that. Once again, think about what it is you want to do with your computer. Web browsing, emailing and general use does not warrant the best performing computer available. But at the same time an online gamer is going to be disappointed if they go with a bare bones budget computer. I’d say look at your needs, look at your bank account, and find the best deal that you can afford. Given the details I’ve shown in this three part article of course. 🙂