Who Invented Ctrl + Alt + Delete?
The keyboard shortcut “Ctrl + Alt + Delete” is a widely recognized way to terminate a running app, but who invented it?
So in 1983, IBM was building the world’s most powerful computer at the time, and Dr. Dave Bradley was tasked with building the input & output system software (accessories like mouse, speakers, printers, etc.) for the computer. As Bradley would run his code, it would run into an ongoing loop, and he needed a way to stop it. One option was to completely turn off the computer, however, it took a long time. He then had the idea to add a restart button, but if people pushed it accidentally, they would lose all their work. So he needed to figure out a special set of keystrokes that couldn’t be triggered accidentally. Then he comes up with the idea of Ctrl, Alt, and then at the other end of the keyboard, delete. It was game-changing because now you had something that could reset apps in seconds as opposed to minutes.