Back when I was a wee pup on a computer (umm, 1986), there were only three shortcuts that we used to get through the day at work: copy, cut, and paste; or, Control-C, Control-X, and Control-V. Those of you who remember this will immediately recognize me as a Mac user because Windows was still in DOS and didn't use visual shortcuts.

Fast forward a few years and Windows has at least caught up to a visual operating system and is beginning to use shortcuts such as the ones listed above. These were so popular with the lazy, or impatient, that shortcuts exploded and, in some cases, became so complex that most of us couldn't possibly hold all that in our already overworked brains. If you have to hold down so many keys that it is more difficult than a guitar chord, it isn't really much of a shortcut, is it?

The latest Windows operating system has been very exciting to me. Easy to use. Easy to install (at last!). But it has brought along its own set of new shortcuts. This morning TechRepublic sent out an email about a list of Windows 7 shortcuts that you can even download in PDF format and keep on your desktop for handy reference. For instance, did a program stop responding, but beeps at you every time you try to use it? You probably have a communication window open, inevitably buried under the application and all the other windows you have open on your desktop. Control-Spacebar allows you to see a transparent outline of all the windows that are open. Mouseover the application in the taskbar on the desktop to see all the windows and select the communication window to process it and move on! Pretty cool, huh!

Want to try it out? This link: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=3567&tag=nl.e064 will take you to the TechRepublic page and while you are there, try a few out. It can't hurt and you might find something that you want to use often.