I've been in the IT industry for 17 years now. And most people sit and stare at me when  I take off on a computer's keyboard. Comments like "Do you practice Voodoo while you work?" and "I got no idea what you just did on that computer, but it seriously could be illegal". I decided long ago that if I was to optimise my time when it comes to computers I have to know certain things. And shortcut keys in Windows is one of them.

I like sitting on my couch and surfing on the big screen. It's better than squinting at a laptop screen. I also like having 20+ taps per 5+ browser windows open. I love to multitask. To do this the old fashion way takes a bit longer. So, here's some tips.

First off, what browser is the best. Well, that's a matter of taste and also requirements.

Internet Explorer is probably the easiest to use, comes packages with Windows and does everything you like. It's fast and reliable and most noobie webmasters develop just for IE. Problem is security. It's not the most reliable browser in this field. But, Micro$oft does bring out patches every Tuesday to fix these bugs. Problem is, not everybody takes MS's advice and applies these updates. Second issue I have with MS is they don't comply with the standards as they're defined. They always have to do things their way, just a little bit different. Which causes major hassles for the developers, BUT does ad features that's quite ahead of the other guys. It doesn't have a very good plugin framework and expansions usually cost money or come with spyware (toolbars, smileys, emoticons, etc). It requires you to install software in Windows, which gives the plugin / software to many rights in my opinion.

Then, there comes ol' Firefox... Ai, what great potential wasted. Firefox is (at this writing) on version 10.0.1. Which is great. They've jumped 7 versions in 2 years. Problem is, they've dropped the ball on reliability. It hangs.... continually. It's slow... And has major problems with redirecting scripts issues from the servers and session handling / cookies. On the up side... WOW for it's plugin framework. Even though I gripe about FF, I still prefer to use it just because of the plugin framework. Now a plugin framework allows them to easily expand the functionality of the browser without having to install something to Windows (as IE requires you to do). Everything runs in FF and is limited to the security of FF's framework.

Then of course you get Google Chrome. I lost my respect for them when they released their first privacy statement. And because they keep on punting it through other people. I continually get software the offers me a free download of Google Chrome and insists I make it my default browser. I think it's unethical how they're convincing third parties to punt their software for world dominance. The browser itself. Nothing special. Definitely not better than FF of IE. It just offers much better interoperability with their services and sites. I tried it once and was not impressed.

Now, for the classic shortcuts that work on all these browsers (at least the ones that support tabs):

• Ctrl + click on link - It opens the link you click on in a new tab. Some PC's also allow the pressing of the mouse scroll wheel to do the same. I just hate going "Right click, Open in new Tab" and then having to go back to the page I was busy on. Try here (shameless punt) http://articles.itpimp.net
• Shift + click link - Opens it in a new window. 
• Ctrl + T - Opens a new blank tab.
• Ctrl + N - Opens a new default home page in a new window.
• Crtl + Tab - If you have multiple tabs open in the current browser window, depressing Ctrl and then repeatedly pressing tab will cycle through these tabs.
• Alt + Tab - This is primarily a Windows thing. Very nice. Came out with Windows 95 and most people still don't know about it. Depressing Alt and then repeatedly pressing TAB will cycle through your open windows. This creates extreme speed for the keyboard junkies. I find using the mouse quote cumbersome at best of times. I can even surf a website without using to much of the mouse.

That's about that for now. There's much more, but just using these few shortcuts effectively will save you time. And time is money. And of course it'll make your friends and boss go "Hey, did you swallow a computer manual last night?".

Just another thing: once you start surfing this way, you'll start keeping track of the tabs and windows in the back of you mind. Don't get confused. :-D

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