> I see the same, FWIW, and the *Help* window pops up before I hit 'r',
> just after I hit lwindow.
>
> I think this is normal.

Yes, it is normal. But it's not what happens to Albert.

So I think you're right, something in his system's set up is messing with keyboard handling, and it's not an Emacs thing.

But somehow it didn't affect 26.2... Weird.