Poll: Honestly, how often do you use the escape key?

[mkubal]

How often do you really use the escape key?

I've never seen any use for it besides force quiting when things get locked up. So I was wondering why we really need it? We could just as easily use command-option-F1. Or what would be even cooler is if you had to hold down the F,O,R,C,E,Q,U,I and T keys. That would be hillarious to see. It's actually pretty hard seeing as how I just tried it.

About the only other use for the escape key that I can find is for completely deleting what you've written while you are typing a post. Go ahead, try it. It's lots of fun. I'm actually thinking about popping the escape key off just because I've deleted my posts twice on accident.

I'd say I use the escape key about twice a week on average.

Can you guys think of any other important uses for the escape key?

Matt

[Mr. Anderson]

You don't play games do you? Or use emacs....

D

[mkubal]

Originally posted by dukestreet
You don't play games do you? Or use emacs....

D

Games: rarely. Emacs: never.

Guess thats my problem.

Matt

[Rower_CPU]

Some good uses of the escape key you might not know:

Instead of clicking "Cancel" in dialog boxes, hit escape.

Cancel a drag-and-drop

Cancel a screen grab

Escape is pretty much an all-purpose "cancel" command. Try it, you'll like it!

[springscansing]

Barely ever, mostly for force quitting in OS 9. :-)

[Over Achiever]

Never mind.

[jelloshotsrule]

it's good in maya to kill renders.

and canceling in general, as the dawg already said.

word

[mc68k]

Originally posted by Rower_CPU
Escape is pretty much an all-purpose "cancel" command.I use it all the time for this purpose too. The less mouse-clicks, the better.

I also use it a jillion times a day when I'm editing in vi to switch back to command mode from input mode.

A very useful key. A very useless thread...oh wait. :)

[mkubal]

You're right it's completely useless. Please stop posting on this thread. What idiot came up with this thread.

j/k :D

Seriously, I think for everyday users who just use their computer for basic functions, they rarely have use for the escape key. Not that I'm trying to boycott the key or anything. It was an epiphany.

Matt

[Mr. Anderson]

There are other keys I use a lot less - the enter key on my TiPB and probably the caps lock. That gets hit only when I miss the tab key.... ;)

I use it for general cancelling as well - Lightwave renders/dialog closing.

D

[Choppaface]

I use it a lot in illustrator to jump out of text objects to the selection tool (a feature that I really wish indesign had... )

on a related note, what are the home, delete, and end keys commonly used for?

[Over Achiever]

Home: Jump to the beginning of your selected text, your webpage, etc. Doesn't seem to work on the mac tho' :confused:

End: Same thing.

Delete: The opposite of the backspace ;)

[scem0]

I use it a lot. It can be useful in photoshop too.

[wdlove]

I'm not sure the number of times that I use it, on average one a week. About 50% of the time it works in Mac OS 9, quiting the offending program. I'd be lost without this feature. :)

[Mr. Anderson]

One more: getting out of a quicktime movie when on fullscreen display. Its more used than you might imagine.

D

[King Cobra]

I use the key for force quitting, or for getting out of full screen movies.

If I had to get into home, I would use the internet, not a keyboard.

http://forums.macrumors.com/images/icons/icon13.gif
:p

[bousozoku]

Thankfully, I don't use it for vi, but plenty of other times, I do. It's great for canceling a dialog box, doing things in Unreal Tournament, Adobe applications, Corel applications, other applications.

You get the picture?

[Hemingray]

Originally posted by Over Achiever
Home: Jump to the beginning of your selected text, your webpage, etc. Doesn't seem to work on the mac tho' :confused:

Well evidently you're not using Chimera. ;)

[GeeYouEye]

I'm sorry to say, I use it often enough in EV Nova. Getting to the point where I don't TOO often, but I still use it.

[eyelikeart]

I use the escape button maybe a few times a day....usually in key with the "Option" & "Apple" keys to force quit an application...

as for games...nah.... ;)

[BenderBot1138]

Probably one of the most overlooked uses for the escape key follows the use of the Apple-Option-Esc key combination.

If you simply hit Esc after force quitting your application, you'll not have to click that odd little red button in the Force Quit Dialog. I find the odd size of the buttons on that Dialog enough to make me thankful for the Esc option.

Just in case you're wondering... Houdini never used the Esc key.

:cool:
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[Stelliform]

I use it alot, however I have used solely PC's since 1990. Esc is your friend in the PC world. :)

[evildead]

Its all about VI baby... Esc needed