I had been using Microsoft XP since 2004 and being a power user relied heavily on its keyboard shortcuts. I had pre-ordered a copy of Windows 7 and installed it last night. What I’m shocked to realise is they have broken one the most used keyboard shortcuts, i.e. the one to shut down Windows.

In Windows XP, it was as simple as pressing the Windows key and ‘U’. Now that no longer works and I have to use my mouse to turn off my PC. Not a problem for most of the users but for people used to shortcuts its a big nuisance.

I went through the booklet provided to find out if they had put a replacement in it but of no vain. I switched to plan B, tinkering around till I find a shortcut.

To shutdown Windows 7 the shortcut is: Windows key > Left Arrow key > Enter

To open the Shutdown options’ menu, you need to press the Left Arrow key again followed by the shortcut key for the required action.

Shutting down the PC, although different, takes same number of key presses but sleeping (Standby mode in Windows XP), Switch User and log off are two more extra keys.

Is this better than Windows XP? I’ll leave that for you to decide.