History of shortcut 'Ctrl + Alt + Del'

The shortcut " Ctrl + Alt + Del " used to restart the computer and call the task manager exists before Windows was born. "It 's a mistake to log in to Windows with Ctrl + Alt + Del ", a shortcut that buys criticism as partly as Microsoft's founder Bill Gates talks about, but the big big story looks back on its history.

The History Behind Ctrl + Alt + Del - YouTube


This is " IBM PC " IBM announced in 1981.

Although it is an IBM PC that was "the most advanced," among the computers that have been made until then, he listens to the developer about the "shortcut to use when the computer has stopped" that appeared at the same time It's this movie to look back on.

That "shortcut to use when the computer stops" is "Ctrl"

"Alt"

This is a shortcut "Ctrl + Alt + Del" which simultaneously presses "Del".

That is why David Bradley, who served as an engineer in IBM in the 1980s, It seems necessary to go back to 1980 to talk about "Ctrl + Alt + Del".

Bradley's work at that time, who worked as an engineer at IBM, was to build a basic input / output system for IBM PCs.

Mr. Bradley worked with a team of engineers and designers gathered elite, but it seems that development of IBM made PC did not all go smoothly.

Mr. Bradley looked back at the time and said, "We always had the program running, but there was no workaround other than turning off the power of the system itself when this program malfunctioned."

However, the system seems to have stopped buggy once every 5 to 10 minutes.

Therefore, the team has come to feel that it is necessary to have a shortcut to restart the PC.

"After the discussion, the idea of ​​attaching a reset button to the PC has emerged, but if such a button is placed on the system, there is the danger of pressing all the data erroneously by pressing the button It will be. "

"So, we come up with an alternate idea of ​​restarting the PC using the three keys, which was of course a combination that would not push you wrong, of course."

And then Bradley invented "Ctrl" ... ...

Two keys on the left side of the keyboard "Alt" ......

It was a shortcut that simultaneously pressed the "Del" key located at the far right of the two keys.

Thus was born the shortcut "Ctrl + Alt + Del". With this shortcut, it is now possible to delete any program that is running and restart the PC.

This "Ctrl + Alt + Del" shortcut flops all kinds of tests ......

Although there were some problems, it became commercialized at that time because it did not become a big problem at the time. While looking back at the time, Mr. Bradley said "There was a" Ctrl + Alt + Del "shortcut around the 17th from the top in the problem list 100 that I have to fix," because he was not the top priority to be revised at the time , It reveals that it was to be implemented as it is.

After all, the "Ctrl + Alt + Del" shortcut is built as a development tool, and the programmer starts incorporating this function into the application ......

It will be released as it is.

For many years thereafter, the "Ctrl + Alt + Del" shortcut will continue to be used quietly without major problems, IBM's PC will celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Then "Ctrl + Alt + Del" turns into a cultural icon.

Although the "Ctrl + Alt + Del" shortcut has a big impact on the history of computing, Mr. Bradley does not believe that he did make a big contribution. "I did a lot of work at IBM, but everyone remembers" Ctrl + Alt + Del "shortcuts." "Ctrl + Alt + Del" means that I worked on a very successful product in my work Meaning, I am very proud of that, "Bradley says.