The Meta key is a
modifier key
In computing, a modifier key is a special key (or combination) on a computer keyboard that temporarily modifies the normal action of another key when pressed together. By themselves, modifier keys usually do nothing; that is, pressing any of the , ...
on certain
keyboards. It first appeared on the
Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab
Stanford University has many centers and institutes dedicated to the study of various specific topics. These centers and institutes may be within a department, within a school but across departments, an independent laboratory, institute or center ...
(SAIL) keyboard in 1970.
History
The Meta key first appeared on the
Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab
Stanford University has many centers and institutes dedicated to the study of various specific topics. These centers and institutes may be within a department, within a school but across departments, an independent laboratory, institute or center ...
(SAIL) keyboard in 1970
and successors such as the
Knight keyboard,
space-cadet keyboard,
MIT Lisp machine
Lisp machines are general-purpose computers designed to efficiently run Lisp as their main software and programming language, usually via hardware support. They are an example of a high-level language computer architecture, and in a sense, the ...
,
Symbolics keyboards, and on
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, ...
keyboards (where it is marked with a black diamond "◆").
Use
Generally, the Meta key worked similar to
Macintosh
The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...
's
Command key
The Command key (sometimes abbreviated as Cmd key), , formerly also known as the Apple key or open Apple key, is a modifier key present on Apple keyboards. The Command key's purpose is to allow the user to enter keyboard commands in applicat ...
, in that when held down it modified letters and symbols into immediate commands (shortcuts). On these keyboards the
Control key
In computing, a Control key is a modifier key which, when pressed in conjunction with another key, performs a special operation (for example, ); similar to the Shift key, the Control key rarely performs any function when pressed by itself. ...
was placed closest to the
space bar
The space bar is on the bottom center of the keyboard
The space bar, spacebar, blank, or space key is a key on a typewriter or alphanumeric keyboard in the form of a horizontal bar in the lowermost row, significantly wider than all other keys ...
, then the Meta key outside Control. The space-cadet keyboard added the
Super key outside Meta, and the
Hyper key
The space-cadet keyboard is a keyboard designed by John L. Kulp in 1978 and used on Lisp machines at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which inspired several still-current jargon terms in the field of computer science and influenced t ...
outside that. All these keys produced shortcuts (2
4 of them for every letter), but the Control ones were easiest to type and most popular, and the Meta ones second-easiest and thus second most popular. However, on most modern keyboards, the Control key is ''farthest'' from the space bar, reversing the convenience of shortcuts.
On keyboards that lack a physical Meta key, its functionality may be invoked by other keys such as the
Windows key
The Windows logo key (also known as Windows-, win-, start-, logo-, flag-, or super-key) is a keyboard key which was originally introduced on the Microsoft Natural keyboard in 1994. This key became a standard key on PC keyboards. In Window ...
or Macintosh's
Option key
The Option key, , is a modifier key present on Apple keyboards. It is located between the Control key and Command key on a typical Mac keyboard. There are two Option keys on modern (as of 2020) Mac desktop and notebook keyboards, one on each si ...
.
However, software often provides another workaround, such as using the
Alt key
The Alt key (pronounced or ) on a computer keyboard is used to change (alternate) the function of other pressed keys. Thus, the Alt key is a modifier key, used in a similar fashion to the Shift key. For example, simply pressing ''A'' will ...
(which does not exist on the
Knight keyboard), or using the
Esc key
On computer keyboards, the Esc key (named ''Escape key'' in the international standard series ISO/IEC 9995) is a key used to generate the escape character (which can be represented as ASCII code 27 in decimal, Unicode U+001B, or ). The esca ...
as a prefix (e.g., in
Emacs
Emacs , originally named EMACS (an acronym for "Editor MACroS"), is a family of text editors that are characterized by their extensibility. The manual for the most widely used variant, GNU Emacs, describes it as "the extensible, customizable, ...
). Because of these workarounds, the need for Meta – despite being the most-used additional
modifier key
In computing, a modifier key is a special key (or combination) on a computer keyboard that temporarily modifies the normal action of another key when pressed together. By themselves, modifier keys usually do nothing; that is, pressing any of the , ...
– was less than for other modifier keys. It is more common today to use the Windows key to emulate the
Super key.
Gallery
File:Space-cadet.jpg, Space-cadet keyboard
File:Symbolics-keyboard.jpg, Symbolics keyboard
See also
*
Modifier key
In computing, a modifier key is a special key (or combination) on a computer keyboard that temporarily modifies the normal action of another key when pressed together. By themselves, modifier keys usually do nothing; that is, pressing any of the , ...
References
Computer keys
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