Interestingly enough, this key could very well be moved to a different place on the keyboard in the future, though I quite like the idea of completely customizing the caps lock spot to whatever I want as it feels central to the user’s focus (It’s also just a home row pinky away!). Instead of having a separate key, maybe the Everything button could have multiple functions – tapping it could pull up your launcher or enable caps lock while pressing and holding it could activate Google Assistant. I would even go so far as to say that combining Google Assistant with the Everything button would probably be a good idea. Then, I’m sure they will remind you that you can change its functionality at will through the settings. I imagine that Google will provide a simple OOBE setup question when you first unbox your device from the store which will ask you what you want your ‘Everything button’ to do. Now, the Chromebook’s launcher or ‘caps lock’ key is simply called the ‘Everything button’!
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Google did try a ‘How to Chromebook’ campaign in which they created a video teaching users how to enable caps lock with a keyboard shortcut, and later allowed users to convert the button into caps lock via the settings, but debates over its true identity still raged on amongst the Chrome OS community. Besides, Google Search has become so core to our lives (unless you prefer Duck Duck Go, but that’s a different conversation) that it made a lot of sense to place the world and all of its knowledge at our fingertips via the Chromebook’s hardware.Īs time went on though, a lot of users were uncomfortable with the idea of removing the caps lock that they had come to know for so many years. The decision was probably made because caps lock ( originally called shift lock) was created for mechanical typewriters and while locking capitalization on a modern keyboard is useful for some things, like report headlines, legal agreements and VIN numbers, most regular users just need to camel case their type instead – which they use the shift key for.
When Google first created Chromebooks, they opted for the removal of the caps lock key.