I see no use for the numlock key, I'd rather just have the numpad on the whole time. Are there actually cases where it is useful or people who for some reason prefer their numpad turned off?
If you need to type numbers really fast, of course there’s no beating numlock. 10 key for the win. Of course that doesn’t get at why not just leave it as 10 key forever and skip the arrows. I know a lot of older programs… like msdos older…required the use of the arrow keys. And some people do prefer it for their cursor, and it doesn’t hurt to provide the option.
I only find it useful on laptop keyboards. I like the numpad for entering numbers, and I also like having dedicated keys for stuff like Home, End, and Insert when browsing or editing. It saves space when you can double the numpad for both.
It's a relic of the past. Old keyboards didn't have dedicated arrow keys and since many programs were only controlled by arrow keys rather than a mouse, having a num lock key was a good solution to the problem. But if you are still stuck in an environment where you have to navigate a lot with arrow keys, the num lock still comes in handy. Having Pg Up and Down and the Home/End keys nearby is super handy in this situation.
It's still useful for some old video games, especially for multiplayer where both play at the same time.
I think the numlock key is a hangover from the IBM XT computers (maybe even before that). Those keyboards didn't have the cursor keys and other key block. So, the numlock key was quite important.
I know, because I got my first PC during the PC AT days right before they moved toward ATX. That was a full size keyboard.
I am surprised it has stuck around so long. I understand in the transition from XT to AT that perhaps computer operators got used to using the numpad for navigation and muscle memory would be ruined. But, you know it's like 40 years on now. There isn't really a modern day reason to keep it.
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