arrow keys: Information from Answers.com

Arrow keys

Arrow keys are buttons on a computer keyboard that move the cursor in a specified direction. They are typically located at the bottom of the keyboard to the side of the numeric keypad, usually arranged in an inverted-T layout but also found in diamond shapes. Arrow keys are commonly used for navigating around documents and for playing games. Before the computer mouse was widespread, arrow keys were the primary way of moving a cursor on screen. MouseKeys is a feature that allows controlling a mouse cursor with arrow keys instead. A feature echoed in the Amiga's whereby holding the Amiga key would allow you to move the mouse pointer with the arrow keys in the workbench(OS), but most games require a mouse or joystick. The use of Arrow Keys in games has come back into fashion from the late 1980s and early 1990s when Joysticks were a must, and were usually used in preference to Arrow Keys with some games not supporting any Keys.

The inverted-T layout was popularized by the Digital Equipment Corporation LK201 keyboard from 1982.

The original Apple Macs had no arrow keys

The original Apple Macintosh had no arrow keys, because the mouse would be used instead. Arrow keys were included in later Apple keyboards. Early models with arrow keys but no middle section (Home, End, etc.) placed them in one line below the right-hand Shift key in an HJKL-like fashion; later versions had a standard inverted-T layout in the middle block.

Alternatives to the arrow keys include:

the WASD or WAXD keys (on QWERTY keyboards) and ,AOE (on Dvorak keyboards). Sometimes this combination is used simultaneously with the arrow keys. For example, in many 3D games a player will navigate the level with WASD while moving the camera is done with the arrow keys or vice versa. The mouse can be used as well, and is a more commonly used than the arrow keys to control camera movement.
the ESDF keys, an alternative to WASD, which keeps the hand in the same place as it normally would be for touch-typing.
the 8462 or 7845 keys on the numeric keypad.
the IJKL keys often used for webgames, where arrows cause undesirable browser window shifting.
the HJKL keys (in vi and related editors; this lets the user navigate without having to move their hand too far)
the ESDX keys (known as the "cursor movement diamond") were used in the WordStar word processor and related applications
some older computer games on PCs use QAOP for control of the main character

IBM/Wintel Keyboard:
Esc	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5	F6	F7	F8	F9	F10	F11	F12	PtSc	ScLk	Brk

<imagemap> Image:KB United States.svg\|450px desc none # Row are 60 pixel tall in reference to the unsized original # rect left top right bottom [[link]] # Top row rect 0 0 60 60 Tilde rect 60 0 120 60 1 (number) rect 120 0 180 60 2 (number) rect 180 0 240 60 3 (number) rect 240 0 300 60 4 (number) rect 300 0 360 60 5 (number) rect 360 0 420 60 6 (number) rect 420 0 480 60 7 (number) rect 480 0 540 60 8 (number) rect 540 0 600 60 9 (number) rect 600 0 660 60 0 (number) rect 660 0 720 60 Hyphen rect 720 0 780 60 Equals sign rect 780 0 900 60 Backspace Second rowrect rect 0 61 90 120 Tab key rect 90 61 150 120 Q rect 150 61 210 120 W rect 210 61 270 120 E rect 270 61 330 120 R rect 330 61 390 120 T rect 390 61 450 120 Y rect 450 61 510 120 U rect 510 61 570 120 I rect 570 61 630 120 O rect 630 61 690 120 P rect 690 61 750 120 Bracket rect 750 61 810 120 Bracket rect 810 61 900 120 Vertical bar Third row rect 0 121 105 180 Caps lock rect 105 121 165 180 A rect 165 121 225 180 S rect 225 121 285 180 D rect 285 121 345 180 F rect 345 121 405 180 G rect 405 121 465 180 H rect 465 121 525 180 J rect 525 121 585 180 K rect 585 121 645 180 L rect 645 121 705 180 Semicolon rect 705 121 765 180 Apostrophe rect 765 121 900 180 Carriage return Fourth row rect 0 181 135 240 Shift key rect 135 181 195 240 Z rect 195 181 255 240 X rect 255 181 315 240 C rect 315 181 375 240 V rect 375 181 435 240 B rect 435 181 495 240 N rect 495 181 555 240 M rect 555 181 615 240 Comma (punctuation) rect 615 181 675 240 Full stop rect 675 181 735 240 Question mark rect 735 181 900 240 Shift key Bottom row rect 0 241 90 300 Control key rect 90 241 150 300 Windows key rect 150 241 240 300 Alt key rect 240 241 600 300 Space bar rect 600 241 690 300 AltGr key rect 690 241 750 300 Windows key rect 750 241 810 300 Menu key rect 810 241 900 300 Control key </imagemap>													Ins	Home	PgUp	Num	/	*	-
													Del	End	PgDn	7	8	9	+
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														↑		1	2	3	Ent
													←	↓	→	0		.	Ent

Keyboard keys
Dead keys	Compose
Modifier keys	Control · Shift · Alt/Option (Apple) · AltGr · Command/Meta (Apple/MIT/Sun keyboards) · Windows/Super · Fn (compact keyboards)
Lock keys	Scroll lock · Num lock · Caps lock
Navigation	Arrow · Page scrolling (Page up/Page down) · Home/End
Editing	Return/Enter · Backspace · Insert · Delete · Tab · Space bar
Misc.	SysRq/Print screen · Break/Pause · Escape · Menu · Numeric keypad · Function · Power management (Power, Sleep, Wake) · Language input · Any key

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