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Mac's command key is worse than Window's ctrl

by vapemaster on 1/29/23, 9:33 PM with 29 comments

Long time windows + occasional linux user. Switched to Mac for the M2 Mac Book Air. It's a phenomenal piece of silicon + hardware.

Fairly shallow learning curve on the switch since so much is cross platform electron apps these days.

BUT ... Good god the command vs ctrl behavior is driving me nuts! (even with tweaking using Karabiner etc.)

First, the ergonomics of ctrl (left pinky stretch) + any letter vs command (left thumb inversion) are night and day. ctrl for the win.

Second - windows is so much more consistent for what the ctrl key does vs the super (windows) does. ctrl is almost always the modifier, Windows key is always OS level. Mac, it's all over the place.

Am I just still on the learning curve and cranky, or does this seem like a worse user experience to any other dual wielders?

  • by Someone on 1/29/23, 11:16 PM

    So, you trained your pinky for years, possibly decades, so that it became second nature to exert enough pressure on the control key even though that requires a “pinky stretch”, while letting your thumb atrophy by only using it to press the space bar, and now are surprised that it is easier for you to hit control than command?

    Can you imagine that other people who did the reverse may have a different opinion?

    I’m firm in the “on most keyboards, the control keys are way to far out to be useful” camp, and don’t see how bending a thumb a tiny bit to hit the command key can be less ergonomic than sending your pink out on an expedition.

  • by nextos on 1/30/23, 4:56 AM

    > Windows is so much more consistent for what the ctrl key does [...]

    On Macs, Cmd is for GUI and Ctrl is for sending control sequences in a terminal, as originally intended by Unix.

    As a Linux user, I found this separation fairly consistent and a good idea.

  • by crimsontech on 1/29/23, 11:11 PM

    I have to use Mac, Linux and Windows for work.

    You need to either get used to using the opposite cmd key to the letters you are pressing or remap cmd to caps lock so you don't need to contort your thumb underneath your fingers. I learned this the painful way.

    In the end I settled on using a Japanese HHKB keyboard with US layout keys for the symbols and a bit of on-device key remapping to find my ergonomic end-game that I can use on all platforms.

    Do explore the key remapping in MacOS though, you can have it set up so you can copy, cut, paste etc with the ctrl key instead of the cmd key.

  • by coreyw56 on 1/29/23, 9:46 PM

    I definitely agree about the ergonomics. When I first switched over to mac, it was so hard to adjust to the position of command key, especially for copy and pasting. For windows, I was able to copy and paste without moving my entire left hand down. Meanwhile for the command key, I have to move my hand downwards to reach the key. Although it's not that big of a movement, it definitely took me some time to adjust.

  • by ed9200 on 1/30/23, 8:51 PM

    It is very easy to switch the keys using in Mac OS options. You can have them exactly as it is in Windows / Linux. I'm currently on Windows but please let me know if you won't be able to find it -- I will tell you exactly where it is, once I log to my Mac. That option is right there in the GUI but very few people know about it.

  • by bediger4000 on 1/29/23, 11:26 PM

    What I can't get used to is no mouse button paste in either MacOS or Windows. The X11 all-mouse copy-n-paste is so much more efficient.

  • by greazy on 1/29/23, 9:54 PM

    I find the opposite. Use your thumb for the command key not your pinky finger.

    My frustration is the function (fn) key placement. Just terrible.

  • by fomine3 on 1/31/23, 8:27 AM

    Cmd/Ctrl separation is the best thing what Mac invented IMO. It's hard for Windows/Linux to follow the key mapping from now

  • by burn_cycle on 1/29/23, 10:18 PM

    I've been mac-only for over a decade, and the first thing I do is swap CMD and CTRL. I could never get used to the default layout.