ESC key experience with new MacBook Pro?

ESC key experience with new MacBook Pro?

[Skip Montanaro]

This is only peripherally related to Emacs, but as I've been using
Emacs since the dawn of time and for some reason never really learned
to press the Alt key, my Emacs Alt key usage has always been dominated
by use of the ESC key. I thought some of my fellow Emacs tribe members
would have some input.

My ancient MacBook Pro is on its last legs, and I've been waiting
patiently for Apple to release the new one. Now that they have, in the
configuration I care about (15-inch screen) it doesn't have a real ESC
key, which has been offered up by the tech pundit class in their click
bait as anything from the coming of the apocalypse to no big deal. I
will, at some point, head over the the Apple Store and see how well it
works (or not) for me. Still, a brief session at the Apple Store can't
possible compare with peoples' longer term experiences. I figure it's
been out long enough now that some folks have actually used the new
MBP with Emacs for an extended period of time. If there are any folks
out in Emacs-land with both a new MacBook Pro with the touch bar and a
preference for the ESC key, how have things worked for you?

* Was it no big deal?
* Did it force you to learn to use the Alt key?
* Did you return your MBP in favor of a Dell/Acer/Lenovo/HP/Asus?
* Did you give up completely and switch to vi?

Thx,

Skip Montanaro

Re: ESC key experience with new MacBook Pro?

[Jorge Morais Neto]

On 12 December 2016 at 13:37, Skip Montanaro <skip.montanaro@gmail.com> wrote:
> This is only peripherally related to Emacs, but as I've been using
> Emacs since the dawn of time and for some reason never really learned
> to press the Alt key, my Emacs Alt key usage has always been dominated
> by use of the ESC key. I thought some of my fellow Emacs tribe members
> would have some input.

I use a non-Apple notebook and it has an ESC key.  However, I believe I have a
very useful tip for you: "C-[".  For Emacs that key is equivalent to ESC.  I
use it frequently, because it is often easier to type than ESC.  For example,
to repeat complex commands, C-x C-[ C-[ is easier to type than C-x ESC ESC.  In
fact, I often prefer "C-[ *" to "M-*".  For example, I prefer C-[ C-i to C-M-i.

Regards.

-- 
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Re: ESC key experience with new MacBook Pro?

[Skip Montanaro]

Thanks, Jorge. I'm aware there is more than one way to get an ESC. I was
specifically wondering if lack of a physical ESC key was problematic for
people who were used to it. (I've been using one version of Emacs -
gosmacs, XEmacs, GNU Emacs, microemacs, jove, jed, etc - or another since
the early 80s. Old habits die hard.)

Skip


On Mon, Dec 12, 2016 at 6:23 PM, Jorge Morais Neto <jorge13515@gmail.com>
wrote:

> On 12 December 2016 at 13:37, Skip Montanaro <skip.montanaro@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > This is only peripherally related to Emacs, but as I've been using
> > Emacs since the dawn of time and for some reason never really learned
> > to press the Alt key, my Emacs Alt key usage has always been dominated
> > by use of the ESC key. I thought some of my fellow Emacs tribe members
> > would have some input.
>
> I use a non-Apple notebook and it has an ESC key.  However, I believe I
> have a
> very useful tip for you: "C-[".  For Emacs that key is equivalent to ESC.
> I
> use it frequently, because it is often easier to type than ESC.  For
> example,
> to repeat complex commands, C-x C-[ C-[ is easier to type than C-x ESC
> ESC.  In
> fact, I often prefer "C-[ *" to "M-*".  For example, I prefer C-[ C-i to
> C-M-i.
>
> Regards.
>
> --
> • I am Brazilian.  I hope my English is correct and I welcome corrections.
> • Please adopt free formats like PDF, ODF, Org, LaTeX, Opus, WebM and 7z.
> • Free (as in free speech) software for Android: https://f-droid.org/
>