Handy Windows Tricks

I know this isn't really programming related, but it's still something that only programmers (and other power users) will really get much use out of. Here's a list of handy tricks that seem to escape the notice of many people.

Entering Unicode input: ever have the need to enter a unicode character, but don't have a keyboard layout that makes it simple to do so? If you're like me, the whole AltGr thing is really more pain than its worth because I can never remember what key I just pressed! Well, a handy IME trick that works in any newer RichEdit control is to simply enter the unicode code point in hex, and hit Alt+X. Try it! Open up a copy of WordPad, and enter 1bf and hit Alt+X. What you should see is the latin letter wynn (ƿ). Unfortunately, this trick isn't as pervasive as I'd like. It only works in RichEdit controls by default, so many things don't support it (such as the entry text field in IE 7, for instance).

Getting to the desktop quickly: You can hit Windows+D to show the desktop. This is a way for you to temporarily hide everything on the screen. Hitting Windows+D again shows everything again. Contrast that with Windows+M, which minimizes everything (but cannot be undone). Of course, people in Vista can also hit Windows+Tab to bring up flip and locate the desktop visually as well.

Getting the path to a file: A new trick in Vista is that if you hold down shift and right-click on a file, you'll get a contextual menu named "copy as path" which places the full path information to the file into the clipboard, ready for your pasting pleasure. Seems dorky at first, but once you've used it, you'll never look back -- I promise.