Amazon phasing out Fire Tablets
Amazon is discontinuing Fire Tablets because they did not meet customer expectations. The company plans to announce new hardware products, but not a new Amazon laptop. (theverge.com)
Keyboard differences between Windows and Macs
unsung.aresluna.org120 points100 comments
A practical reference detailing the many concrete differences in keyboard names, legends, modifiers, input behavior, and UI conventions between Windows and macOS keyboards, with an emphasis on implications for web apps that must support both. Key naming diverges (Windows Backspace = Mac Delete; Windows Delete = Mac Forward Delete; Windows Enter = Mac Return, plus a separate numeric Enter on some Macs), and third‑party hardware usually uses Windows labeling. Mac keyboards expose four modifiers (Command, Option, Control, Shift) versus Windows’ three (Ctrl, Alt, Shift), and Apple favors symbols on keys and in menus while Windows typically uses words joined with “+”. Function keys and their OS/app assignments differ, and macOS sometimes maps extra function keys up to F19.
Input and shortcut behavior also differs: Option on Mac produces many alternate characters (e.g., Option+Q → œ) and Unicode hex input exists with a special layout; Windows uses Alt+numpad and AltGr (right Alt) or Ctrl+Alt for language characters. macOS text fields accept many Unix-style Control shortcuts (Ctrl+A/E/F/B, Ctrl+K to kill to end, etc.), and Macs support holding a key to pick accented characters. Shortcut conventions vary (redo = Cmd+Shift+Z vs Ctrl+Y; refresh = Cmd+R vs F5/Ctrl+R), and several platform-reserved keys/combinations are unavailable to apps, so designers should avoid Option- or Ctrl+Alt-based bindings that conflict with input or locale-specific mappings.
Summary generated by AI from the linked article. hn.today is not affiliated with Hacker News or Y Combinator.
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