Left-handed ALT+TAB

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The ALT+TAB keyboard shortcut for switching between items in the task list is great... unless you're left-handed. I've been doing some searching and haven't found anything that allows a left-handed computer user to work the mouse with their dominant hand and use a keyboard shortcut to switch between items in the task list.

Swapping the TAB key with another key on the other side of the keyboard is not reasonable, they'd still need TAB for routine typing.

Using one of the mouse buttons isn't reasonable because it simply isn't as fast as using two hands which reduces the productivity speed enhancement that makes ALT+TAB task switching so usefull in the first place. And one inadvertant mouse misclick could have unfortunate consequences.

Left-handed users seem to have been left a bit out in the cold here. Someone show me the light.
 
While that's a functional answer to 'how does one switch between running
programs', it isn't a solution to the problem of lost productivity for
left-handed operators.

The value of ALT+TAB is fully realized in a data entry situation where
repeated copying, switching between applications, and pasting is routine.
Placing all of the burden for this sequence of operations on the dominant
hand of the operator, regardless of which one it is, overlooks the gain in
speed that is afforded by a keyboard shortcut that switches between running
applications.

So my original questions stands. How can a left-handed user gain the ability
to switch between running applications using a keyboard shortcut similar to
the ALT+TAB combination but on the right side of the keyboard?

If the mouse is in one hand click the taskbar.

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Allen Davis said:
The ALT+TAB keyboard shortcut for switching between items in the task list
Click to expand...
is great... unless you're left-handed. I've been doing some searching and
haven't found anything that allows a left-handed computer user to work the
mouse with their dominant hand and use a keyboard shortcut to switch between
items in the task list.
Swapping the TAB key with another key on the other side of the keyboard is
Click to expand...
not reasonable, they'd still need TAB for routine typing.
Using one of the mouse buttons isn't reasonable because it simply isn't as
Click to expand...
fast as using two hands which reduces the productivity speed enhancement
that makes ALT+TAB task switching so usefull in the first place. And one
inadvertant mouse misclick could have unfortunate consequences.
Left-handed users seem to have been left a bit out in the cold here.
Click to expand...
Someone show me the light.
 
well, my Microsoft Office [brand] keyboard has task switch hot-keys, but
they too are on the left. Sorry.

look for a keyboard macro utility. CESoftware's QuicKeys is one of the
best, but it costs $100.
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote
well, my Microsoft Office [brand] keyboard has task switch hot-keys, but
they too are on the left. Sorry.

look for a keyboard macro utility.
Click to expand...

That keystroke combination is fishy in Windows. As I recall, the system
drops the TAB part when sending it thru system wide keyboard hooks.

It might work in other macroers, but QuicKeys for Windows wont allow
ALT+TAB as an action.
CESoftware's QuicKeys is one of the best,
Click to expand...

For Mac, maybe.
but it costs $100.
Click to expand...

After buying version 1 and feeling like a beta tester, I waited forever to
get version 2 cheap ($10 USD). I have that beta tester feeling again. It is
powerful (like all macroers), but it is so buggy it is unbelievable.

I am an expert Windows user and love macroing so much I wrote my own in
C++. My macroer is the only program I write. I have tried almost all macro
recorders available for Windows. My first impression of QuicKeys was good.
QuicKeys looks nice. Then I started noticing how incredibly buggy it is.

So why $100 USD retail? Good question. You wont find QuicKeys for Windows
....at major online stores.
....at Pricegrabber.
....at iBuyer.
I bot version 1 from BUY.COM but they aren't selling QuicKeys for
Windows anymore.

There are lots of other macro recorders available for Windows. Stay away
from QuicKeys. It will even trash your system.

Here is a short QuicKeys macro which freezes your system and locks you out
of Windows.

....Using a clean install of Windows Millennium (I don't know about the
others).
....Using QuicKeys 2.0.1 (patched retail version).
....Make the macro.
.......Create - File & Folder Tools - Folders - Open a predefined folder -
Windows Temporary folder.
.......Create - Sequence Tools - Wait for Window - TEMP.
.......Create - File & Folder Tools - File handler - Delete - Specified file
or folder - *.* (the wild card abbreviation for "all files").
.......Create - Sequence Tools - Pause - 2 seconds.
.......Create - System Tools - System Specials (you better believe it) -
Empty Recycle Bin.
....Run the macro (at your own risk).

After rebooting and getting the "Invalid System Disk" error, no more file
manager! (Windows Explorer).

It locked me out of Windows for the first time I can remember since Windows
95. The installation was new. I recovered but an average user could be
totally stuck.
 
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