That's a standard apologist response, but those are not marked on the keyboard. If you think users are going to dig through documentation, hunting for functions that they don't even know exist... you're unrealistic to say the least.
How do you take, a screenshot on a windows machine? do you hit the Screenshot key? no? there isn't one.
But there is a Print Screen key, maybe that's it?
No, that key,
by itself, does nothing!
You have to type ctrl+printscreen. WHERE is that marked on the keyboard? or is that buried in some documentation for windows somewhere?
And, just speaking for myself, I use screen caps at work (to assist users in resolving their issues) far more times a day than i use the forward delete key.
Lets take a more generic example. It is marked on every keyboard that the symbols are above the number keys, and you know you use the shift key to use them. By your point, shouldn't the keyboards also show that you need to use the shift key to get capital letters? Or do you pretend that "everyone" just magically knows this?
Ha ha, nice strawman. More like: Historically, Mac users are so used to crippled functionality that they just continue to laboriously drag things around with the mouse, and use double the keystrokes to delete characters while editing. You can pretend that "everyone" just magically knows and uses the invisible hotkeys, but they don't. Those that do are a small minority, and statistically way more likely than other users to visit sites like this one.
What you should be calling out is the absurdity of having to use two hands to delete a character. Every other manufacturer manages to fit this standard key on even the smallest keyboard.
Standard? What about "Delete" tells you that it's going to remove the character in front of the cursor?
What about Back"space" tells you that it's going to delete the character before the cursor? if anything, it should be entering a blank space character before, not removing the character.
This isn't even a Windows-specific issue.
Oh sure, because all of the text editing functions in Vi are clearly printed on a keyboard of Linux aren't they?
And in your citation of hidden hotkeys above, we can also ask: Why are there different hotkeys to trigger deletion in one app vs. another? On a proper keyboard, deleting the highlighted item is always done with the same key: Delete.
fn+backspace works in every app, as do the others I mentioned.
Apple is the company that made fun of IBM for expecting its users to read manuals. Yet Apple makes a habit of burying basic functionality under invisible hotkeys and even hidden menus that can only be discovered by
1. Guessing that they exist.
2. Searching for them IN A MANUAL.
They're not in a manual. Have you read the manual that comes with a mac? doesn't tell you anything. Because you don't need it. I think you overestimate how other people who aren't you use their machines. The average user of any computer system doesn't need a forward delete. You know where the key above the Return key is and what it does. you use it with your right hand. there is no delay or disadvantage to using a modifier key with your left hand at the same time. You can't type another character while deleting anyway, so it doesn't delay your touch-typing speed or anything because the act of making the correction has already done that.
