The Windows logo key—also known as the Windows key, the home key, the meta key, the start key, MOD4, or the flag key (sometimes shortened to flag)—is a keyboard key which was originally introduced on the Microsoft Natural keyboard before the release of Windows 95. This key became a standard key on PC keyboards. On keyboards lacking a Windows key, Ctrl+Esc can be used instead in Windows, though some functionality is lacking. Tapping the Windows key without pressing any other keys toggles the Start Menu.
Historically, the addition of two Windows keys and a menu key marked the change from the 101/102-key to 104/105-key layout for PC keyboards: compared to the former layout, a Windows key was placed between the left Ctrl and the left Alt; another Windows key and—immediately to its right—a menu key were placed between the AltGr (or right Alt key on keyboards that lack AltGr) and the right control key. In laptop and other compact keyboards it is common to have just one Windows key (usually on the left). Also, on Microsoft's Entertainment Desktop sets (designed for Windows Vista), the Windows key is in the middle of the keyboard, below all other keys (where the user's thumbs rest).
Left Windows key has keycode 115 (0x73) and the right Windows key has keycode 116 (0x74).
Read more about Windows Key: Licensing, Use With Microsoft Windows, Use With Non-Microsoft Operating Systems
Famous quotes containing the words windows and/or key:
“—and then it was
There interposed a Fly—
With Blue—uncertain stumbling Buzz—
Between the light—and me—
And then the Windows failed—and then
I could not see to see—”
—Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)
“Japanese mothers credit “effort” as the key determinant of a child’s achievement in school, while American mothers name “ability” as the more important factor.”
—Perry Garfinkel (20th century)