Evolution
The Alt key has come to replace the Meta key of the old MIT keyboards. In their original function, both Alt and Meta would set the high bit of the signal generated by the key to 1 (for example, A generates 01000001 while Alt+A generates 11000001). However, in modern software, due to the requirement of the high bit for internationalisation, Alt no longer works in such a way.
Since the 1990s Alt has been printed on the Option key on most Mac keyboards. Alt is used in non-Mac software, such as Unix and Windows programs, but in OS X it is always referred as Option key. Option key's behaviour in Mac OS X differs slightly from that of the Windows Alt key (it is used as a modifier rather than to access pull-down menus, for example).
Read more about this topic: Alt Key
Famous quotes containing the word evolution:
“The evolution of humans can not only be seen as the grand total of their wars, it is also defined by the evolution of the human mind and the development of the human consciousness.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)
“The more specific idea of evolution now reached is—a change from an indefinite, incoherent homogeneity to a definite, coherent heterogeneity, accompanying the dissipation of motion and integration of matter.”
—Herbert Spencer (1820–1903)
“The evolution of a highly destined society must be moral; it must run in the grooves of the celestial wheels.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)