Today the topic is the comparison between two Operating Systems, one is free which is Ubuntu and the other is the latest product of Microsoft which is Windows 7.Here , i am comparing these two operating systems with respect to the keyboard shortcut keys.You can also use your mouse but some people like to use shortcut keys like me.I am not giving you the tutorial how to use it ,only giving the shortcut keys , which will be very useful for beginners of Ubuntu and also for Windows 7 in future.The shortcut keys of Ubuntu are following:

GENERAL

Desktop shortcuts

This part contains the shortcut keys of managing the the parts of the desktop like windows and menu bar.

Alt + F1 – Open the Applications menu

Alt + F2 – Run an application by typing its name in the box which appears

Prt Sc – (Print Screen) Take a screenshot of the whole screen

Alt + Prt Sc – Take a screenshot of the current window

Window shortcuts

Alt + Tab - Switch between currently-open windows. Press Alt + Tab and then release Tab(but continue to hold Alt). Press Tab repeatedly to cycle through the list of available windows which appears on the screen. Release the Alt key to switch to the selected window

Ctrl + Alt + Left/Right Cursor – Lets you quickly switch between your Workspaces.

These might not work on every machine, but are reasonably common:

Alt+F7 Moves the current window (can be moved with mouse or keyboard).
Alt+F8 Resizes current window (again,can be moved with mouse or keyboard).

Alt+F9 Minimises current window.
Alt+F10 Maximises current window.
Alt+Space Brings up window menu with with ‘Always on Top’ and ‘Minimise’ and ‘Maximise’ and above commands.

These might change depending on the application you’re using, but work for most common applications:

Alt+F5 Returns window to ‘normal’ or previous size.
Alt+F4 Closes window.

Desktop Effects enabled shortcuts

All of the shortcuts listed in this section require Desktop Effects to be enabled.

Ctrl + Alt + Left/Right Cursor – Spins the ‘cube’ that your workspaces reside on, allowing you to select the workspace you wish to use.

Ctrl + Alt + Up Cursor -Enables an ‘expose’ like feature that presents you with all the windows you currently have open, allowing you to select the one you wish to give focus to.

Ctrl + Alt + Down Cursor -Unfolds your workspace cube allowing you to see more than one of your workspaces at once, using the left and right cursor keys with this active will allow you to select the workspace you wish to use.

Common application shortcuts

These shortcuts do not apply in all applications, but usually perform the functions listed below.

Ctrl + C – Copy the selected text/object

Ctrl + X – Cut the selected text/object

Ctrl + V- Paste/insert the selected text/object Ctrl + A – Select all text

Ctrl + B – Make the selected text bold

Ctrl + I – Make the selected text italic

Ctrl + U – Underline the selected text

Ctrl + N – Open a new document or window

Ctrl + S – Save the current document

Ctrl + O – Open another document

Ctrl + P – Print the current document

Ctrl + Z – Undo the last change you made

Ctrl + Shift + Z – Redo a change that you just undid

System shortcuts

Some of these shortcuts will restart important parts of your system. Only use them if you have to.

Ctrl + Alt + Delete – Restart the computer immediately, without saving open files

Ctrl + Alt + Backspace – Restart X (the display manager) and display the login screen

Ctrl + Alt + Plus (numeric keypad) – Rotate through supported screen resolutions

Ctrl + Alt + Minus (numeric keypad) – Rotate backwards through supported screen resolutions A list of low-level keyboard shortcuts is available on Wikipedia.

Firefox Web Browser

Ctrl + T – Open a new tab

Ctrl + Tab – Rotate through each tab

Ctrl + Shift + Tab – Rotate backwards through each tab

Ctrl + W – Close the current tab (or browser if on last tab)

Ctrl + L – Enter a new web address

Ctrl + B – Show a list of your bookmarks

Ctrl + H – Show your browsing history

Ctrl + K – Enter a new web search in the search bar

Ctrl + Y – Show a list of downloaded files

F11 – Display the current page full-screen

Esc – Stop loading the current page

Ctrl + R – Reload the current page

These might not work for everyone, but can help with accessibility issues:

Alt Gr+Space Scrolls current tab/window down.

Alt Gr+Backspace Scrolls current tab/window up. You may find Alt Gr+Shift+Space works if Alt Gr+Backspace does not. If you don’t have Alt Gr, it might be labelled something else. It’s usually to the right of the space bar. See Firefox Help for a full list of keyboard shortcuts.

OpenOffice.org Writer

F7 – Check the spelling of the current document

Ctrl + F – Find and replace words

Ctrl + Z – Undo the last change

Ctrl + Y – Redo a change which you just undid

Ctrl + L – Align the current paragraph/selection to the left

Ctrl + E – Align the current paragraph/selection to the center of the document

Ctrl + R - Align the current paragraph/selection to the right

Ctrl + Shift + J - Show the current document full-screen

Press Tools -> Customize… -> Keyboard to change keyboard shortcuts in OpenOffice

The shortcut keys of Windows 7 Beta are following:

General

Win+Up – Maximize

Win+Down – Restore / Minimize

Win+Left – Snap to left

Win+Right – Snap to right

Win+Shift+Left – Jump to left monitor

Win+Shift+Right – Jump to right monitor

Win+Home – Minimize / Restore all other windows

Win+T - Focus the first taskbar entryPressing again will cycle through them, you can can arrow around.Win+Shift+T cycles backwards.

Win+Space – Peek at the desktop

Win+G – Bring gadgets to the top of the Z-order

Win+P – External display options (mirror, extend desktop, etc)

Win+X -Mobility Center (same as Vista, but still handy!)

Win+# (# = a number key) – Launches a new instance of the application in the Nth slot on the taskbar.Example: Win+1 launches first pinned app, Win+2 launches second, etc.

Win + +Win + -(plus or minus key) – Zoom in or out.

Windows Explorer

Alt+P – Show/hide Preview Pane

Taskbar modifiers

Shift + Click on icon – Open a new instance

Middle click on icon – Open a new instance

Ctrl + Shift + Click on icon – Open a new instance with Admin privileges

Shift + Right-click on icon – Show window menu (Restore / Minimize / Move / etc)

Note: Normally you can just right-click on the window thumbnail to get this menu.

Shift + Right-click on grouped icon – Menu with Restore All / Minimize All / Close All, etc.

Ctrl + Click on grouped icon – Cycle between the windows (or tabs) in the group

Note:If you guys want to see more shortcut keys of Windows 7 so you have go to the Microsoft Website where you can see more shortcut keys.For the time being , these are the important keyboard shortcut keys.

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