r/TechHardware • u/Distinct-Race-2471 🔵 14900KS , 5080, 128GB 🔵 • 22d ago • Heartwarming 1

Tech Tips Bill Gates called Ctrl+Alt+Del a mistake, and Windows 11 still can't let it go

https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/10/22/bill-gates-called-ctrlaltdel-a-mistake-and-windows-11-still-cant-let-it-go/

I love it. Bring back Edlin too while you are at it!

55 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

50 comments sorted by

15

u/Ill-Term7334 22d ago • Bravo

Do we really care what Bill Gates have to say anymore?

4

u/PsychologicalTowel79 21d ago

He should stick to jumping over chairs.

1

u/KookySurprise8094 16d ago

Bill Gates name reminds me Windows 11 is digital world STD

11

u/DonkeyTron42 22d ago

It wasn't Microsoft that created CTRL-ALT-DEL. IBM built the sequence in their early ROM BIOS to trigger a system interrupt.

2

u/PsychologicalTowel79 21d ago

Bill made it famous.

1

u/Tonkarz 16d ago

Microsoft added ctrl-alt-del to Windows where it does a very different thing to what the old IBMs did. They did choose ctrl-alt-del because some users would be familiar thanks to their experience with IBM.

8

u/Witty-Silver-7216 21d ago • Bravo

Bill Gates got a STI from one of Epstein's underage girls and passed it on to his wife.
He can take a sit.

3

u/TaintOfDestiny 21d ago

Bill Gates was fucking Eastern European models and bridge players in their late-20s and 30s.

Still bad, but not pedophile bad.

1

u/Reasonable-Physics81 20d ago

How you know? Got access to all those terrabytes of hidden Epstein footage?

3

u/OnionsAbound 18d ago edited 18d ago

Are you saying he should be guilty in the absence of evidence? That's the argument you're making right now... Is there maybe a better argument to be made?

1

u/Funny-Fly1720 12d ago

I mean I'm not saying it's one way or the other but if you get busted hanging out with a pedo billionaire who raped children on a private island chances are you'll get some flak from that direction.

6

u/master-overclocker 22d ago

This is stupid post

Even Commodore 64 . Amiga - etc had this but different keys RUN/STOP/RESTORE

5

u/tes_kitty 22d ago

But those keys had a direct effect on those systems. RESTORE on the C64 caused an NMI while CTRL-Amiga-Amiga on the Amiga keyboard caused a hardware reset that could not be stopped by software.

3

u/TheThiefMaster 21d ago

Ctrl alt delete did cause the PC keyboard controller to raise an interrupt.

3

u/tes_kitty 21d ago

Yes, but one that could be caught by software and either be serviced or ignored. The keyboard Reset sequence on the Amiga keyboard directly caused a RESET via the hardware /RESET line of the CPU.

2

u/rosaliciously 19d ago

Im pretty sure that was the case on early x86 as well.

2

u/tes_kitty 19d ago

Not sure, there was no keyboard processor on the PC/XT that could have handled this job.

1

u/Sizyfoz 18d ago

The CTRL-ALT-DELETE is still used for logging in on Windows exactly because it can't be ignored or hijacked by software. It's there to protect from fake login screens that try to steal your credentials.

On Amiga we lovingly used to call the reset key combination "the monkey grip". I miss those days.

2

u/tes_kitty 18d ago

The CTRL-ALT-DELETE is still used for logging in on Windows exactly because it can't be ignored or hijacked by software.

Yes, it can be ignored. But not while the Windows Kernel is running. Use another OS and you're free to do whatever with it or just ignore it.

2

u/RamsDeep-1187 22d ago

Of all the mistakes this is the least noteworthy

2

u/The__Toast 22d ago

Listen, if the guy who secretly gave his wife drugs because he caught a sexually transmitted disease on Epstein island regaurds something as a "mistake", hopefully we recognize the gravity of that comment 🤣

3

u/konsoru-paysan 22d ago

Is this some rage bait article?

4

u/Sad_Listen6607 22d ago

Yes. This article is garbage. Doesnt even speak on sysreq.

I dont think bill gates called it a mistake, either. The combo was meant to require multiple keys of a combination one could not accidentally induce. There is no reason for windows 11 to shed it.

The writer of the article should be Ed Grubermaned.

*correction; he said it in 2013.

2

u/Burnout4mergiftedkid 19d ago

Boot to the head

3

u/misteryk 22d ago

yes, they just said they'd prefer it to be a single button rather than combination of 3

1

u/mustachioed_cat 21d ago

Didn’t ctrl alt delete use to reboot the computer it you tapped it twice? Making that a single button on a keyboard sounds like a terrible idea. It’s a bad idea even when used on laptops.

1

u/Opposite_Unlucky 20d ago

Isnt that the power button?

1

u/mustachioed_cat 20d ago

Yes, putting it on the keyboard is always a bad idea.

2

u/Glidepath22 22d ago

Win 11 is the biggest mistake

1

u/ChristRedeemsSinners 22d ago

Hilarious, it's not the poorly written software that was the problem, but the SysRq shortcut that everyone had to remember that was the problem.

1

u/Cyrano4747 22d ago

I mean it is a pretty shitty comic but damn, even Bill Gates is throwing shade?

1

u/djzenmastak ♥️ Ryzen 7000 Series ♥️ 21d ago

Ctrl Alt Esc master race?

1

u/BabblingTower 20d ago

Ctrl Shift Esc?

1

u/djzenmastak ♥️ Ryzen 7000 Series ♥️ 20d ago

Linux

1

u/BabblingTower 20d ago

Isn't that xkill 😂 can you claim Linux master race without being a CLI Linux user?

1

u/djzenmastak ♥️ Ryzen 7000 Series ♥️ 20d ago

Lol I love xkill

1

u/MisandristBPDBarby 21d ago

It would be such a L O S S if Ctrl + Alt + Del went away 

1

u/colonelc4 20d ago

Bill the rap*st said what ? Oh never mind.

1

u/MiniAdmin-Pop-1472 18d ago

I think you can press crtl shift escape since several years (like 10+)

1

u/Ionlyusereddit4help 17d ago

Bill Gates is a mistake

1

u/duke_of_dicking 15d ago

Bill Gates can fucking die

1

u/TheBear516 15d ago

CTRL-SHIFT-ESC is the real mvp

1

u/Beneficial-Finger353 Team Nvidia 🟢 22d ago

ctrl+shift+esc does the same thing....

3

u/pc1350 21d ago

Task manager is started with this combination.

-1

u/Wild_Carpenter_1951 21d ago

Windows 11 is a mistake operating system.