Xtreme re-using alt-gr combinations

[BobInce]

On my US keyboard, those shortcuts are ctl-alt, rather than alt-gr

It's effectively the same, Windows maps ctrl-alt to alt-gr, as original AT keyboards didn't have an alt-gr key.

Don't know if they're considered "Windows" standards at this point, but it's possible

Well not really, Windows standards are those keys supported by Windows. Word does a thousand other configurable little funny shortcuts and autoreplaces not supported by any other app. (Not all of them very clever, natch, but at least they're easily disabled.)

The US International keyboard layout does give © and ® on alt-gr+c/r, but not the other shortcuts (eg. ™ overrides þ). One or more of these keys also clashes with several standard Eastern European keyboards.

Losing those conventions would likely result in a lot of noise from users who're accustomed to them.

Well an option would be best of course, but Ctrl-Alt shortcuts are an acknowledged Wrong Thing (see eg. http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/ar...29/101121.aspx ). There should be plenty of alternative key combinations available.

[amoore]

Well not really, Windows standards are those keys supported by Windows. Word does a thousand other configurable little funny shortcuts and autoreplaces not supported by any other app.

Agreed, and it's far from my favorite app. I use it only when forced. However, the three shortcuts I cited above work by default in other non-Microsoft apps that I do use voluntarily and on a regular basis. Some of them have been around for a number of years. Those hotkeys aren't new.

Like it or not, at least in the US, Word is commonly used, and many of its users not only assume that it's built into the operating system, but that it's the only wordprocessor or DTP app in existence. There are also many who insist that any app that includes text processing work the same way Word does. I'm not saying they're right. But they are legion.

Well an option would be best of course, but Ctrl-Alt shortcuts are an acknowledged Wrong Thing (see eg. http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/ar...29/101121.aspx ). There should be plenty of alternative key combinations available.

Acknowledged. However, while it's understandable that Ctl-Alts could be left undefined by default, I don't want to see them prevented in the way that some apps are now prohibiting two-letter alt combinations. Just as you have a stumbling block with your dead key assignments, I have a stumbling block when an app refuses to support Alt FA, a shortcut I've been using constantly for years and which works quite well in nearly every other app I work with. Next to Ctl S, it's by far the most frequent shortcut I use. Plus, I'm mnemonically oriented. In most instances, I remember letter combinations far better than I remember combinations of control and function keys. (It would be such a relief if I could assign Ctl GS for "Group as Shape" and Ctl GM for "Group as Movie" in SWiSHmax. Keeping track of Shift G and Ctl Shift G is a struggle.)