Delete = Fn+Backspace.

Cool and how do I delete the entire word in front of the cursor? On windows thats easy, control + delete. On Mac, somehow I never remember how to do it and end up deleting the entire line of text. It's just stupid.

Also, want to delete a file? Yeah that's going to be a different keystroke, the delete is only for text.

But wait, you'd think that surely you could just remap that little fingerprint key which does absolutely nothing when pressed? Nope, it's unmappable. :-)

> Cool and how do I delete the entire word in front of the cursor? On windows thats easy, control + delete.

On macOS it's option+delete.

> On Mac, somehow I never remember how to do it and end up deleting the entire line of text. It's just stupid.

It's stupid that the shortcut on MacOS is different than on Windows and you can't remember it?

> Also, want to delete a file? Yeah that's going to be a different keystroke, the delete is only for text.

AFAIK there is no macOS shortcut to delete a file in Finder. There is a shortcut to move a file to Trash. This is a different action than deleting text (there is no Trash for text), so I think it's fair to use a slightly different shortcut (command-delete).

> AFAIK there is no macOS shortcut to delete a file in Finder. There is a shortcut to move a file to Trash. This is a different action than deleting text (there is no Trash for text), so I think it's fair to use a slightly different shortcut (command-delete).

There is: Option+Command+Delete.

Thanks, I forgot.

I normally get the shortcuts that I don't remember from the menu bar, but I forgot that holding option shows alternative options.

There's an app for that:

https://mediaatelier.com/CheatSheet

What I meant was that I forgot that holding option when the Menu is open will show the alternative shortcuts. No need for external cheatsheets or apps.

> how do I delete the entire word in front of the cursor?

Not at my Mac, but I’d think it’s function+option+delete?

> you could just remap that little fingerprint key which does absolutely nothing when pressed

Doesn’t it put your computer to sleep and shut it down?

Nope, nothing happens when I press it. It acts like a fingerprint sensor when you touch it, but I haven't yet figured out what it does when pressed.

> On Mac, somehow I never remember how to do it and end up deleting the entire line of text. It's just stupid.

I agree that switching hence and forth between the two systems is a bit annoying. I configured AutoHotKey on Windows to get my Mac-shortcuts there. (Command being Alt).

Fn+Backspace is only for characters though! To delete files you need Cmd+Backspace.

no delete key? what is their problem?

Every Mac has a delete key. See the upper-right corner in https://images.macrumors.com/t/1fzeYEfYshf6-8P82x5bPKhWNfY=/....

Isn't that backspace?

The word "delete" is printed on the key.

Yeah but, typical Apple, instead of doing the obvious thing it does something completely different. It back spaces instead of deletes!

What's "the obvious thing" largely depends on what you're used to.

Apple has labelled the key in the upper-right corner "delete" for the last 30 years. It deletes selected objects, or without selection letters or objects to the left of the cursor. In Terminal, it sends ASCII-127 (DEL), not ASCII-8 (BS), just like ancient DEC terminals.

Most PC vendors labelled the key in that position "backspace". Without selection it deletes letters or objects to the left of the cursor, and with selected objects it may or may not delete them. In most Windows and Linux terminals, it sends ASCII-127 (DEL), not ASCII-8 (BS).

Given all of this, it not at all obvious to me that the key should really be named "backspace" rather than "delete".

When 90% of the other computers on the planet do it differently?

I’m pretty sure that I can make some assumptions about what is going to be obvious to most based on that alone.

By that reasoning everything in Windows is obvious since 90% of the other computers on the planet run Windows. So why not just stick with Windows and stop complaining that things work differently on non-Windows computers.

That logic is perfectly sound. When something becomes ubiquitous it certainly does become the obvious thing to everybody. That's why in modern times it's more obvious for people to toast bread in a toaster and not in a frying pan like they might have done in the past.

Aside from that - explicitly having both Backspace and Delete is also obviously better than having only one of them and hiding the other beneath a multi-key shortcut.

You mistook pointing out a flaw for complaining though. I'm not complaining since I'm not stuck on a Mac. I keep one around for doing iOS things and for helping Mac users figure out how to do things.

Personally, I prefer to use a Linux desktop system that draws deeply from the Windows UI and currently that is Manjaro with XFCE. With that I get the best parts of Windows, I can customize it to do just about anything I want and it's even more stable than Mac or Windows.

Form over function any day. https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/10/25/13409258/...

It’s back now.

Yes, but the whole idea that you could take such a component away is typically Apple operating in their 'we know better' mentality. Maybe they do know better. But you don't force all of your users into a corner like this without giving them an alternative.