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Ctrl-Alt-Del Inventor To Retire From IBM 459
wherley writes "AP reports that IBM'er David Bradley, who came up with the (in)famous Ctrl-Alt-Delete key combination, is retiring. The article mentions: 'At a 20-year celebration for the IBM PC, Bradley was on a panel with Microsoft founder Bill Gates and other tech icons. The discussion turned to the keys. 'I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous,' Bradley said. Gates didn't laugh. The key combination also is used when software, such as Microsoft's Windows operating system, fails'." We featured a story on Bradley a few months back.
If it weren't for this guy (Score:5, Funny)
Thanks . . . I think . . .
Re:If it weren't for this guy (Score:2, Funny)
Bill? (Score:4, Funny)
if only it always worked (Score:2)
Re:if only it always worked (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:if only it always worked (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:if only it always worked (Score:4, Informative)
It's possible for this to have been disabled in the BIOS, however the only PCs I've ever seen with no support for this at all are some old low spec Compaqs.
Re:if only it always worked (Score:2)
Re:if only it always worked (Score:5, Funny)
Re:if only it always worked (Score:5, Funny)
Re:if only it always worked (Score:5, Funny)
Not really (Score:3, Informative)
A lot of time, if the thing's completely locked, that's not responsive either, as that switch connects only to the MOBO. I prefer an actual *switch* that goes only to the power supply.
Re:if only it always worked (Score:2)
I guess if Microsoft ever succeeds in getting manufacturers to use WinCE we will have to have little reset buttons on just about everything!
(sorry I couldn't resist)
Ownership... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ownership... (Score:2)
No wonder this guy is "retiring."
Destroy microsoft. (Score:5, Funny)
Salute! (Score:5, Insightful)
(Anyone else get bit by the Linux will reboot with CRTL-ALT-DEL, but Win NT 4-XP will ask for Logon? I've rebooted machines on KVM switches by accident many a time, especially if I can't remap the salute like I usually do!)
Re:Salute! (Score:2)
Re:Salute! (Score:2)
Safer login--you know you are logging into the real deal and not some fake password box.
Re:Salute! (Score:2)
Re:Salute! (Score:2)
More precisely... (Score:5, Informative)
This kind of keystroke is called SAK (Secure Attention Key), as it's not specific to Windows NT.
SAK is an keystroke (or other event, for example sending "break" on a Sun serial port) that the OS guarantees only the Operating System can ever handle.
Re:More precisely... (Score:5, Interesting)
Close, but not exactly correct. It gets handled by "msgina".dll, which is loaded before logon, before anything else. msgina hooks the keyboard IO, and then traps any ctrl+alt+del presses before they reach other running programs. Modified versions of msgina.dll can be used to allow other programs to receive ctrl+alt+del presses.
This page [216.239.53.104] gives a brief explanation of how things like Novell catch ctrl+alt+del, by replacing msgina.dll.
Re:Salute! (Score:5, Informative)
You mentioned remapping the salute, but it was vague on which OS you meant, so I thought I'd just clarify.
You can change the program that is run when you press CTL-ALT-DEL on Linux by editing
Re:Salute! (Score:3, Informative)
To actually change the key sequences, change what gets mapped to 'Boot' in your kernel keymaps file. On Debian, this is /etc/console/boottime.kmap.gz; I'm not sure about others.
Re:Salute! (Score:2, Interesting)
Here at work we use a modyfied win98 boot disk to install a DOS ICA client, and I must say - it works like a charm.
Re:Salute! (Score:2)
Old developers don't retire ... (Score:5, Funny)
Real Linux Administrators (Score:5, Funny)
*jealous* (Score:5, Funny)
"You know I invented CTRL ALT DEL?"
Re:*jealous* (Score:3, Funny)
Re:*jealous* (Score:5, Funny)
You just know that when he does try that line the girl will either be a mac user or still be running Win98 and the inevitable explanation will be even dorkier. Best to stick with, "I'm highly paid in the tech sector." Avoid saying 'programmer,' wear clean pants, and shower!
Bad thing is (Score:2)
Thank you David...... (Score:2, Funny)
... then hit Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to restart X. (Score:5, Interesting)
screw that - give me Mac OS X (Score:5, Funny)
Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X (Score:3, Informative)
That also reminds me, on OS 9, you could press command-power, and escape to a prompt. The only command I know of was 'go', which would take you to the Finder. Great on the older installs of At Ease
Does CMD-Power work on OS X? Here goes....
Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X (Score:2)
the great thing about MacsBug is that it automatically invokes itself when anything even thinks about crashing. my server (runs OS 9) has MacsBug installed along with a script that will log debug information and then restart the computer.
speaking of... that log must be getting pretty full after 4 years of this configuration...
Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X (Score:3, Interesting)
that prompt sucked, what needed to be installed was MacsBug [macupdate.com], then you could do all sorts of fun commands in the OS wide debugger
the great thing about MacsBug is that it automatically invokes itself when anything even thinks about crashing. my server (runs OS 9) has MacsBug installed along with a script that will log debug information and then restart the computer.
speaking of... that log must be getting pretty full after 4
Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X (Score:3, Funny)
As a OSX lover, I should laugh...
As a Linux lover, I should be slightly ticked off...
As a Windows disliker, I should roll on the floor while laughing...
So I'll settle for a cross stare, while I laugh (2x) and roll on the floor.
Re:screw that - give me Mac OS X (Score:5, Funny)
Now (Score:5, Funny)
Wait, when we push it, it puts me in Windows...so I'm still associating bad things here.
to be pendantic... (Score:2, Informative)
"After the SAS [Security Attention Sequence] is triggered in Windows NT, all user-mode programs stop. No program can trap the SAS sequence; it is the sole property of the security subsystem. If a user presses Ctrl+Alt+Del, he can be assured that his information is secure."
Re:to be pendantic... (Score:2)
Yeah? Tell that to a misbehaving MSIE or Media player that has decided to arbitrarily start thrashing disk and doing something that on a very old 'nix system I would call a fork() bomb... Press the three-finger salute, and it merely ignores you.
Of course, both of those, as MS programs, no doubt have special exemptions to any sort of rules keeping normal user-mode c
Yeah Yeah Yeah (Score:3, Funny)
Credit (Score:5, Funny)
"Well, I just don't know... Have you tried rebooting?"
New Windows Keyboard (Score:5, Funny)
Ctrl-Alt-Del Movie (Score:5, Informative)
CtrlAltDel.asf [cmu.edu]
Oh, the movie doesn't start 15 seconds for some reason. Wasn't me.
Re:I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous (Score:5, Informative)
'I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous,' Bradley said.
Note that Bradley claimed to be referring to the NT logon procedure. Full quote is from this video. [techtv.com]
Re:I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous (Score:3, Informative)
Three finger salute... (Score:2)
Why that order? (Score:4, Funny)
Not that we can change it now...
Take a look at your keboard... (Score:2, Informative)
I don't have a standard keyboard... (Score:2)
http://www.keyalt.com/keyboards/datahand.htm
Re:Why that order? (Score:2)
Three Finger Salute? (Score:5, Funny)
State of computing (Score:5, Insightful)
And thus sums up the state of computing today.
NT used it for logging on. (Score:5, Interesting)
Still, I think it was not really clever to teach the end-users such an important keyboard combination. I also remember some users back then thinking it would work the same in 95 as in NT, since both systems' GUI looked so similar.
Re:NT used it for logging on. (Score:5, Insightful)
XP's killed the glory... (Score:4, Insightful)
I take issue with that, really. I need something a bit more forceful when the program I write does NOT do what it's supposed to.
Re:XP's killed the glory... (Score:2)
Re:XP's killed the glory... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:XP's killed the glory... (Score:2)
Three keys (Score:2, Interesting)
ScrLk
Pause Break
Anyone can tell me what these do???
Re:Three keys (Score:3, Informative)
SysRq - Not sure on this one, never used it, - possibly from mainframe terminal keyboards.
Pause - Paused the exeuction of the running program (remember: this was before OS's capable of multitasking), still used occasionally in games.
Break - killed the current program, well at least it was supposed to. You had to add a CTRL to it when pressing. I believe
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Three keys (Score:3, Informative)
I still use the pause key (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Three keys (Score:4, Informative)
For more details, study
Very useful. Far more convenient than pressing some chord that brings up a GUI screen with buttons to press. The framebuffer may be corrupted, for instance, or the mouse non-responsive, or the GUI server frozen, etc.
The stuff legends are made of! (Score:4, Funny)
Ctrl+Alt+Del and keyboard weathering (Score:2)
Back when I used Windos 95 and 98, I used "Ctrl" "Alt" and "Del" so often that my fingers rubbed them off.
Thanks, Bradley, for your contribution to ruining my keyboard!
Using a different OS nowadays, strangely enough the affected keys are now "W", "S", "L", "A", "H", "D", "O", "T", "R" and "G". The "." is already gone!!
Thanks, UPTSO, McBride, RFID tags, Eugenia, Mars, Goatse and RIAA!
Re:Ctrl+Alt+Del and keyboard weathering (Score:2)
Most browsers have this cool feature called bookmarks that allows you to get to slashdot using a single mouseclick rather than typing all that out!
The Origin (Score:2, Funny)
Only in Windows... (Score:5, Funny)
Billy better not laugh (Score:5, Funny)
Lisp machines (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Lisp machines (Score:4, Funny)
He's not retiring (Score:5, Funny)
He's just rebooting.
Thanks a lot. (Score:5, Funny)
Celebrities for Open Source (Score:5, Interesting)
How would the world benefit from their insights and contacts?
What would motivate them?
Would a "mentor" scheme help to organise OS projects? Would it work?
Smart for DOS, stupid for Windows (Score:4, Insightful)
When Windows NT came out, touting that it supported MIPS and Alpha processors, the system boards for those chips did not have even a hint of this original hardware design. I thought that it was reasonable to drop support for that keyboard combination entirely on the software side, and special case trap it for any of the remaining hardware under x86. Drop it as a historic oddity and move on.
Instead, it was retained as a "security" feature in the NT line for logging in to a machine and locking the machine as if there were something special about pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL on all hardware -- if the keyboard even had those keys or they mapped to anything resembling the hardware on Windows NT came out, touting that it supported MIPS and Alpha processors, the system boards for those chips did not have even a hint of this original hardware design. I thought that it was reasonable to drop support for that entirely on the software side, and special case trap it for any of the remaining hardware under x86.an x86!
This alone was a big red flag to me that Microsoft didn't get it. Add to it the heavy x86 virtualization used on the other hardware and it was clear MS wasn't entirely serious about portability let alone real security.
With that, can anyone give a good reason to keep CTRL-ALT-DEL around for any function except as an old-time legacy habit for DOS/Windows users? Is there a technical reason why that combo is more valuable? I can't think of one...
Retired (Score:3, Funny)
Or his last performance review at IBM: "I know you invented CTRL-ALT-DEL, but what have you done for us lately?"
At least now he has time to spend in the garage on his latest invention, SHIFT-ESC-HOME.
HP Calculators (Score:3, Informative)
Great quote at the bottom (Score:3, Insightful)
Bradley: "Second, we made it an open system. We published a user manual that made it easy for other people to develop software."
The parallels with the prospects for a PC software revolution are obvious.
Another quote (by Grove): "It's hard 20 years later to realize how drastic a departure this was from the computer industry's standard practices. Computer companies at that time tended to base everything on differentiation. My software will run only on my platform. The thinking was, 'If I don't differentiate, I'm just in a commodity business.'
I think Microsoft realizes exactly what happened with IBM... they lost control of the PC hardware business, but the open platform they originated blossomed in a hundred creative directions. MS has no intention of losing control of the PC OS business.
My favorite Bill Gates video moments (Score:4, Informative)
Bill getting slammed about the three-fingered salute [xohost.com]
Bill at the Windows 98 premiere watching the demo blue screen [xohost.com]
I'd almost feel sorry for the guy, but he's worth more than most countries and can do whatever the hell he wants.
Re:Why only that combination? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Why only that combination? (Score:3, Funny)
Well, then, it must be true.
Perhaps he would have put them right next together (Score:3, Funny)
However, it is a cooler sign to flash to the MSCE gangsters that hang out at my company for some reason . . .
Re:Why only that combination? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Why only that combination? (Score:3, Informative)
On the Mac, the sequence is Command-Option-Escape.
Re:Why only that combination? (Score:5, Funny)
I think she has noticed how my head turns red and I leap around now. Stimuli->Response!
Novell Netware (Score:2)
Re:Isn't quite as fun as the Task Manager (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Why only that combination? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Why only that combination? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why only that combination? (Score:2)
Regarding "Bill did not laugh"... (Score:4, Informative)
He's not some evil guy--he's human like everyone and can take criticism in good fun from colleagues.
Re:Why only that combination? (Score:2)
Re:Why only that combination? (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually some keyboards have gone a bit too far along that road. I have seen a keyboard, where you could do CTRL+ALT+DEL with just a single keypress. Yup, they really added an extra key to do just that. Some people must have used CTRL+ALT+DEL too much.
ObSimpsonQuote (Score:2)
--Bill Gates