Talk:Enter key

Difference between enter and return

Shouldn't there be some point made about the difference between enter and return?

There's quite a bit of debate about this over on the Carriage Return talk page. More specifically, about whether there is a difference. --Dom 11:46, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

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If I remember right from my days as an embedded developer working on a keyboard driver for a standard PC keyboard: all keys on a PC keyboard generate unique key-codes, even those keys that appear to be the same to a user, such as the Shift-, Ctrl-, and Alt- key-pairs. I assume(!) the only difference between a Apple Mac keyboard and a PC keyboard is that Apple ones provide a visual distinction while PC keyboards don't.

The reason that applications such as Adobe Photoshop can provide different functions for the enter/return keys under one operating system (OS) (e.g., Mac OS X) but not under another (e.g., Microsoft Windows) is not because of the application but because of the OS's support for these keys. If the OS does not provide the distinction then the application cannot.

This claim could easily be proven by using a PC keyboard with a Mac together with an application that supported the enter/return key distinction, i.e., does the application continue making a distinction between the keys after the keyboard has been swapped for a PC one?

-Andreas Toth (talk) 02:43, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

It is up to the application to preserve the difference between the different keys, if it is relevant to the data stored. Now, I do not know how a Mac works, but i know how the Amiga works, so I'll use this as an example as it's operating system design is surprisingly up-to-date and similar to today's operating systems:

On the Amiga there are two APIs (layers of the operating system) that you can use for reading the keyboard. One API for getting the raw keycode - basically a number representing what piece of plastic you pressed. Using this you can easily distinguish Return from Enter and even the left and right shift keys are unique. The second API returns the translated key codes. These depend on the keyboard layout chosen in the control panel, and the Return and Enter keys appear identical on this level. This is what you use in normal cases (text editing etc.)

Additionally I think that despite being a bit unstructured, this article corresponds well with my impression of things - especially the thing about the "Return" key often being mislabeled as "Enter". - JoaCHIP (talk) 20:44, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

More thoughts...

I think it's vague to say "In word processing..." For instance, in Microsoft Word, pressing the Enter key twice to make space between paragraphs ignores the power of styles. For a fine description, see shaunakelly.com.

Is "word processing" distinguished from other editing environments like Arbortext Adept and FrameMaker? I think so. How would the naive user know that this distinction was being made here? (Hatsandcats 15:45, 17 December 2006 (UTC))

Confusing

This article deals with the subject very confusingly, and even lists what the return key does before the enter key. But perhaps even more worrying is the liberal use of hyphens before key. It's just completely unnecessary. Poojean 14:02, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Key Shape

I've noticed now on websites selling keyboards, that many of them seem to have a return key the same size and shape as the shift key below it with the hash/pound key above it,[1] whereas I am used to the wide vertical key shape.[2]

Is this a new standard, why do some keyboards have this? Is it region-specific? Isn't it harder to type with a smaller target? Why does the hash/pound key now need to be so big?

As you can tell I'm quite confused with this, any information or answers would be appreciated.--NeF 11:08, 15 July 2007 (UTC)

The small, horizontal bar with another key above it seems to be typical of keyboards in the United States. This is what I am used to seeing, anyway. Of course, the key above it in the US is the backslash, and our hash is on the three. In fact, having grown up with the wee return keys, I always thought the big L-shaped ones were a bit cumbersome and got in the way of pressing \. It's all a matter of socialisation I guess. :)

I could guess that maybe there is some influence coming from the US causing your keys to shrink. 24.40.185.14 (talk) 20:41, 29 January 2008 (UTC) (sorry, this was mine) Eris Discord | Talk 20:45, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the response, it's just a shame it's becoming harder to get a-hold of the L-type enter keyboards as that's what I have been using for decades and it will be awkward using the slimmer key. - NeF (talk) 22:57, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

I often confuse the backspace/backslash/enter/shift keys on the standard US layout when I must type without looking at the keyboard, because all these keys have roughly the same rectangular bar shape. If I press Enter while typing a file path by accident, I must start over.

This keyboard layout is a much better design. The four keys can be distinguished by touch. Backslash cannot be confused with forwardslash or brackets because it is on the other side of Shift. Both Shift keys are wide rectangular. Keyboards like these cannot be bought anymore. Does this layout standard have a name? It might be related to Russia, because I've only seen it with secondary Russian markings. Apart from the position of the backslash key, it matches the "ANSI" layout. J7n (talk) 20:46, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Difference between Return and Enter

Yes, there's a very important difference between these two keys, that this article entirely fails to explain at all, let alone adequately. The problem with this article is that it is entirely oriented towards home and personal computers, and doesn't seem even fully aware of how even they work. Go and read Terminal (telecommunication)#Modes for a brief overview of the difference between Return and Enter on computer terminal keyboards, that some personal computers have inherited in part because of their intended uses as smart terminals. This article requires significant work to be correct, informative, and comprehensive. Jonathan de Boyne Pollard (talk) 14:48, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

Lest someone propose moving it to Return key as the primary topic, I’ll just point out that “Enter key” is the common name for the Return key, at least judging by everything I’ve ever heard from any non-Mac-centric sources. But it is useful to distinguish between them when discussing both. —Frungi (talk) 02:01, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

I think this article tries too hard to shape the reality to the author's / authors' views. The whole world calls the return key enter, keyboard manufacturers put Enter labels on return keys, but no, the author attempts to tell everyone that they are wrong, because in the 70s they worked differently. Sorry, but if everyone calls the return enter than the return is an enter because of this very fact, because that's the name people gave this key. I think the article may explain the difference, use the 'proper' terms throughout the text but should not dismiss the 'enter' name as wrong but explain that actually 'return' is a more precise name but 'enter' is also commonly used and OK. Ustt (talk) 16:57, 5 July 2013 (UTC)

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Swap Enter and Return precedence

Incredibly confusing that Enter gets precedence on Wikipedia, both in terms of the article content and the fact that Return key is simply a redirect. The article itself explains that Return is the more prominent key: it's often larger in size, and Enter isn't even present on many keyboards. --HunterZ (talk) 03:36, 16 July 2022 (UTC)

Missing history

It was common well into the 1990s to see computer keyboards in the US whose Return key was a backwards-L shape, but the article doesn't seem to mention this at all. I would very much like to know the history of the US keyboard's Return key morphing from a backwards-L to a simple rectangle. --HunterZ (talk) 03:41, 16 July 2022 (UTC)