Everyday shortcuts
Like most college students, I have become quite proficient at putting things off until the last minute. Likewise, even if when I have plenty of time, laziness always holds an easy victory over being proactive. These tendencies are ever more present when it comes to using my computer; even with a decently powerful system, I become agitated if it does not respond fast enough—note that "fast enough" is a universally ambiguous term that will never actually be, in fact, fast enough. Fortunately for me, and for you, the smart folks behind computer systems have thought of everything ahead of time.
In Windows, there are many keyboard-based shortcuts that, when used effectively, quickly speed up daily tasks. Primarily, these shortcuts allow you to move from application to application, even among menus, without wasting precious seconds moving your hand from the keyboard all the way to your mouse. Truly, that two-second speed boost could make all the difference.
In general, Windows systems use three primary shortcuts, where the ALT key is central to all of them. Inside of any application, hold ALT and press any combination of letters to open the corresponding menu (such as File, Edit, etc) for that window. In order to determine which letter to press, look at the menu in question—in all cases where there is a shortcut key, the shortcut letter will be underlined: File or Edit. The same principle is applied inside of each menu, as pressing ALT + F and then pressing P will generally print the current page (or N to create a new document, S to save, etc...) Further, simply pressing ALT will highlight the first menu, allowing you to use the arrow keys to move between menus and options.
The second shortcut relates to moving between applications. Where the previous shortcut allowed you to switch between menus using ALT and a letter, this time you will use ALT and TAB. Hold them together once, and you'll immediately switch to the next window; hold ALT and press TAB consecutively to see a snapshot of each window—hold ALT + SHIFT + TAB to move in the opposite direction.
Last, but not the proverbial least, is the all-encompassing Windows key. Not surprisingly, the key is placed between CTRL and ALT and has the infamous Windows logo implanted upon it. Similar to the ALT key, holding this key and pressing one of several letter keys will produce an interesting result—for a summary, Win + R opens the "Run..." dialog; Win + D minimizes all windows and takes you to the desktop; Win + S opens the search dialog; Win + Pause/Break opens the System Properties window; and, finally, Win + E opens "My Computer."
While Mac OS X operates similar to Windows, the keys and combinations vary. For most functions, the ALT key is replaced by the Option key and the CTRL/Windows key is (appropriately) replaced by the Command (also referred to as the "Open Apple" or "Apple") key.
This isn't the end to the joy of keyboard shortcuts, however. In addition to the more complex options listed above, there are many keys that often go unused. Most prominently are the TAB, Home and End keys. While working in a web browser, the TAB key will cycle your text cursor from form element to form element, or from link to link, each time you press it. While working on a paper, the Home and End keys are quite useful, as pressing one or the other moves your text cursor to the beginning or end, respectively, of the current line—holding CTRL and Home/End will move the cursor to the beginning or end of the entire document or web page.
There are, understandably, many more popular shortcuts than I can cover in this one column. Referring to the help documentation in specific programs (found under the Help menu) will normally yield more specific information, however you can always find your way around the program by remembering the signs: The shortcut letter in question will always be underlined. Keep these tips in mind for your next late-night term paper... it might just safe your [metaphoric] life.