*** This bug is a duplicate of bug 161960 ***
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/161960
** Description changed:
Nearly all keyboards have a Windows button like this one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33359...@n00/3635330369/
When using Windows, pressing this key brings up the Start Menu, the
central starting point for launching applications and accessing folders
and documents.
Ubuntu's equivalent to the Start Menu is the Main Menu at the top left
of the screen on a default installation (Applications / Places /
System).
Currently the Windows button is not mapped, which seems like a waste of
a button that's not going away any time soon. To most users coming from
Windows, the most intuitive behaviour would be if said button opened
Ubuntu's Main Menu. This is easily doable through System -> Keyboard
Shortcuts, but most users don't change default settings.
This would be a good papercuts candidate as it requires no coding, just
a change in default keyboard shortcut preferences for the next Ubuntu
edition.
+
+ Update:
+ It was rightly pointed out to me that this has been previously reported and I
have now marked it as a duplicate. However, the duplicate bug comes to the
conclusion that the Windows key should not be mapped because "Ubuntu is not
intended to be compared to or mimic the Windows OS in any way".
+
+ I disagree, here's why:
+
+ - 90% of the world's computer-using population use or have previously
+ used Windows. Nearly all Ubuntu users are current or ex-Windows users.
+ Making the transition as easy as possible will maximise successful
+ transitions.
+
+ - The behaviour of the Windows key has become ubiquitous among the vast
+ majority of computer users the world over, just as the left mouse button
+ is known to select things, the right mouse button brings up context-
+ sensitive menus, F1 brings up help, directories are known as folders and
+ the close button is always at the top right of a window. Changing any of
+ these things would drive users away. Applications not appearing after a
+ push of the Windows button simply confuses people as the behaviour (or
+ lack of) is unexpected.
+
+ - Most people don't care about the Linux ideology. Avoiding common UI
+ design implementations for the sake of "not mimicing Windows" simply
+ makes it harder for new users to get started. Gnome mimics Windows in
+ more ways than most Linux DEs (and is also the most successful). Why
+ should the Windows key be any different?
+
+ - Doing a quick Google search reveals that this is a very popular
+ modification for Ubuntu users:
+
+ * http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/5182/
+ *
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/use-the-windows-key-for-the-start-menu-in-ubuntu-linux/
+ *
http://blog.myjotnotes.com/2008/12/21/setting-up-the-windows-key-in-ubuntu/
+ *
http://gandhiakshay.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/map-windows-key-to-start-in-ubuntu/
+ *
http://ubuntulinuxhelp.com/10-things-to-do-after-installing-ubuntu-linux/ (item
7)
+ * http://iamyouruser.blogspot.com/2008/12/ubuntu-windows-key.html
+ *
http://fixlog.blogspot.com/2006/09/windows-key-to-access-ubuntu-start-menu.html
+ *
http://www.pcmech.com/article/linux-mint-the-ubuntu-that-should-have-been/ ("In
[Linux] Mint I can pop up the apps with the Super key alone and I dig that.")
+
+ Why are we forcing users to google the solution when it could just be
+ fixed by default?
--
Windows button should open Main Menu by default
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/388534
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