What's the point of deactivating Num Lock on login screens?Lock screens and password recovery on appsSocial Login adoption vs Traditional LoginIs it a good Idea to provide change password option on the login page?On login-failure; should site tell if it was the login-name or the password that was incorrect?Display password Requirements on Login screen?What's the best tab order for a login form?Why not show password criteria on login screen?Why warn about caps lock for passwords, instead of ignoring caps lock for password characters?Can animals perceive screens?Should we lock UI?
Why "Having chlorophyll without photosynthesis is actually very dangerous" and "like living with a bomb"?
Are the number of citations and number of published articles the most important criteria for a tenure promotion?
What's the output of a record needle playing an out-of-speed record
What's the point of deactivating Num Lock on login screens?
How much RAM could one put in a typical 80386 setup?
Why is 150k or 200k jobs considered good when there's 300k+ births a month?
Java Casting: Java 11 throws LambdaConversionException while 1.8 does not
Is it possible to do 50 km distance without any previous training?
If human space travel is limited by the G force vulnerability, is there a way to counter G forces?
LWC SFDX source push error TypeError: LWC1009: decl.moveTo is not a function
Did Shadowfax go to Valinor?
Today is the Center
Is it unprofessional to ask if a job posting on GlassDoor is real?
Do infinite dimensional systems make sense?
"You are your self first supporter", a more proper way to say it
Why can't we play rap on piano?
Horror movie about a virus at the prom; beginning and end are stylized as a cartoon
Does detail obscure or enhance action?
Can I make popcorn with any corn?
meaning of に in 本当に?
Why are electrically insulating heatsinks so rare? Is it just cost?
Codimension of non-flat locus
Alternative to sending password over mail?
What is the word for reserving something for yourself before others do?
What's the point of deactivating Num Lock on login screens?
Lock screens and password recovery on appsSocial Login adoption vs Traditional LoginIs it a good Idea to provide change password option on the login page?On login-failure; should site tell if it was the login-name or the password that was incorrect?Display password Requirements on Login screen?What's the best tab order for a login form?Why not show password criteria on login screen?Why warn about caps lock for passwords, instead of ignoring caps lock for password characters?Can animals perceive screens?Should we lock UI?
.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;
Many login screens automatically deactivate the Num Lock key on the keyboard before the user can enter their password. This is extremely frustrating for the user as they involuntarily type their password wrong multiple times before realising the Num Lock key is off.
Several undesirable side effects include:
- Missing the password involuntarily 3 times, thereby locking the system,
- Having a timeout after each missed password attempt, sometimes up to several minutes,
- Frustration when one repeatedly forgets to activate the Num Lock key.
Moreover, I don't see what the reason for this would be from a security viewpoint. It does not enhance the quality of the password nor does it ward off any potential attacker.
So why are very widespread systems still using this extremely frustrating methodology?
usability password
New contributor
|
show 9 more comments
Many login screens automatically deactivate the Num Lock key on the keyboard before the user can enter their password. This is extremely frustrating for the user as they involuntarily type their password wrong multiple times before realising the Num Lock key is off.
Several undesirable side effects include:
- Missing the password involuntarily 3 times, thereby locking the system,
- Having a timeout after each missed password attempt, sometimes up to several minutes,
- Frustration when one repeatedly forgets to activate the Num Lock key.
Moreover, I don't see what the reason for this would be from a security viewpoint. It does not enhance the quality of the password nor does it ward off any potential attacker.
So why are very widespread systems still using this extremely frustrating methodology?
usability password
New contributor
38
Can you provide an example per your "many" claim? The most prevalent operating system's (Windows') login screen does not exhibit this failure, ahem "feature".
– MonkeyZeus
yesterday
46
I never encountered a login screen that deactivates numlock. Are you perhaps mistaking the bios option to turn numlock on or off on boot as a "login screen feature"?
– Gerald Schneider
yesterday
4
@leftaroundabout you seem to assume a password typed exclusively on the number pad, rather than just a few characters; you also seem to assume that a user only uses one type of keyboard to log in to a system. (I have, once, used a system with an ultracompact builtin keyboard with no number row and a USB number pad, as an example of an edge case where this would be particularly irritating)
– Chris H
yesterday
10
At this point I'd be happy with ONE example of a login screen that does this. I've never seen it.
– JPhi1618
20 hours ago
4
@JPhi1618 my Windows 10 Laptop does this.
– Tom.Bowen89
12 hours ago
|
show 9 more comments
Many login screens automatically deactivate the Num Lock key on the keyboard before the user can enter their password. This is extremely frustrating for the user as they involuntarily type their password wrong multiple times before realising the Num Lock key is off.
Several undesirable side effects include:
- Missing the password involuntarily 3 times, thereby locking the system,
- Having a timeout after each missed password attempt, sometimes up to several minutes,
- Frustration when one repeatedly forgets to activate the Num Lock key.
Moreover, I don't see what the reason for this would be from a security viewpoint. It does not enhance the quality of the password nor does it ward off any potential attacker.
So why are very widespread systems still using this extremely frustrating methodology?
usability password
New contributor
Many login screens automatically deactivate the Num Lock key on the keyboard before the user can enter their password. This is extremely frustrating for the user as they involuntarily type their password wrong multiple times before realising the Num Lock key is off.
Several undesirable side effects include:
- Missing the password involuntarily 3 times, thereby locking the system,
- Having a timeout after each missed password attempt, sometimes up to several minutes,
- Frustration when one repeatedly forgets to activate the Num Lock key.
Moreover, I don't see what the reason for this would be from a security viewpoint. It does not enhance the quality of the password nor does it ward off any potential attacker.
So why are very widespread systems still using this extremely frustrating methodology?
usability password
usability password
New contributor
New contributor
New contributor
asked yesterday
KlangenKlangen
30936
30936
New contributor
New contributor
38
Can you provide an example per your "many" claim? The most prevalent operating system's (Windows') login screen does not exhibit this failure, ahem "feature".
– MonkeyZeus
yesterday
46
I never encountered a login screen that deactivates numlock. Are you perhaps mistaking the bios option to turn numlock on or off on boot as a "login screen feature"?
– Gerald Schneider
yesterday
4
@leftaroundabout you seem to assume a password typed exclusively on the number pad, rather than just a few characters; you also seem to assume that a user only uses one type of keyboard to log in to a system. (I have, once, used a system with an ultracompact builtin keyboard with no number row and a USB number pad, as an example of an edge case where this would be particularly irritating)
– Chris H
yesterday
10
At this point I'd be happy with ONE example of a login screen that does this. I've never seen it.
– JPhi1618
20 hours ago
4
@JPhi1618 my Windows 10 Laptop does this.
– Tom.Bowen89
12 hours ago
|
show 9 more comments
38
Can you provide an example per your "many" claim? The most prevalent operating system's (Windows') login screen does not exhibit this failure, ahem "feature".
– MonkeyZeus
yesterday
46
I never encountered a login screen that deactivates numlock. Are you perhaps mistaking the bios option to turn numlock on or off on boot as a "login screen feature"?
– Gerald Schneider
yesterday
4
@leftaroundabout you seem to assume a password typed exclusively on the number pad, rather than just a few characters; you also seem to assume that a user only uses one type of keyboard to log in to a system. (I have, once, used a system with an ultracompact builtin keyboard with no number row and a USB number pad, as an example of an edge case where this would be particularly irritating)
– Chris H
yesterday
10
At this point I'd be happy with ONE example of a login screen that does this. I've never seen it.
– JPhi1618
20 hours ago
4
@JPhi1618 my Windows 10 Laptop does this.
– Tom.Bowen89
12 hours ago
38
38
Can you provide an example per your "many" claim? The most prevalent operating system's (Windows') login screen does not exhibit this failure, ahem "feature".
– MonkeyZeus
yesterday
Can you provide an example per your "many" claim? The most prevalent operating system's (Windows') login screen does not exhibit this failure, ahem "feature".
– MonkeyZeus
yesterday
46
46
I never encountered a login screen that deactivates numlock. Are you perhaps mistaking the bios option to turn numlock on or off on boot as a "login screen feature"?
– Gerald Schneider
yesterday
I never encountered a login screen that deactivates numlock. Are you perhaps mistaking the bios option to turn numlock on or off on boot as a "login screen feature"?
– Gerald Schneider
yesterday
4
4
@leftaroundabout you seem to assume a password typed exclusively on the number pad, rather than just a few characters; you also seem to assume that a user only uses one type of keyboard to log in to a system. (I have, once, used a system with an ultracompact builtin keyboard with no number row and a USB number pad, as an example of an edge case where this would be particularly irritating)
– Chris H
yesterday
@leftaroundabout you seem to assume a password typed exclusively on the number pad, rather than just a few characters; you also seem to assume that a user only uses one type of keyboard to log in to a system. (I have, once, used a system with an ultracompact builtin keyboard with no number row and a USB number pad, as an example of an edge case where this would be particularly irritating)
– Chris H
yesterday
10
10
At this point I'd be happy with ONE example of a login screen that does this. I've never seen it.
– JPhi1618
20 hours ago
At this point I'd be happy with ONE example of a login screen that does this. I've never seen it.
– JPhi1618
20 hours ago
4
4
@JPhi1618 my Windows 10 Laptop does this.
– Tom.Bowen89
12 hours ago
@JPhi1618 my Windows 10 Laptop does this.
– Tom.Bowen89
12 hours ago
|
show 9 more comments
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
Some compact keyboard layouts don't have a numpad, so those keys are mapped to the right-hand side of the letter section:
If NumLock is on, then a user typing the password kill
, will actually type 2533
. Turning NumLock off will prevent this problem, but of course - it will cause another one for those who do rely on the numpad. Keeping it on or off by default will lead to mode errors - regardless of what initial state is chosen, someone will be surprised by it.
A better solution would be to reflect the state of the NumLock key on the screen, akin to the CapsLock key. This way there are no surprises, as this state indicator is in the users' locus of attention.
An example are Acer Revo
computers, distributed with compact wireless keyboards. I installed a fresh OS and set up a password, then successfully "confirmed" it. However, what I thought I was doing was different from what the computer saw me do. This problem only became evident when I attempted to connect to the machine remotely, from a place with a proper keyboard.
Many hours and "this cannot be" statements later, I undersood that NumLock was the culprit.
8
How come the cause of mode errors is keeping NumLock on or off by default, rather than changing NumLock's state without the user's knowledge or will? I'd have thought that keeping it on or off by default will lead to the keyboard behaving as the user expects.
– Rosie F
yesterday
2
I've got one of those keyboards for when I need to log in locally to a normally-headless server, and I can't tell you how many times I've tried to log in as "r66t".
– Mark
yesterday
Rosie, you raise a valid point. The reason I wrote that is because of the expectation that pressingo
yields an "o". When NumLock is on, that yields a "6" (hidden under*
, ha!). If one uses a numpad to type1966
, it yields19→→
if NumLock is off. So, users from both camps can be caught off-guard, regardless of the default value. So it is not that the system sneakily changed the state; nowadays people use diverse keyboards in different places, a system can't guess what this user is used to. Numlock=off is the lowest common denominator, as more and more keyboards don't have numpads.
– ralien
yesterday
1
Fn-Keys are usually not mapped using NumLock. I guess one of the reasons is this issue. On quite a few devices using Fn-Keys, I never saw one using NumLock for switching. Usually you need to always press Fn, sometimes there is an option to reverse the behaviour (e.g. on notebooks, where multimedia keys are the default an Fx keys need Fn you can often switch this in the BIOS).
– allo
15 hours ago
I agree with Rosie, changing a user’s default behavior is not good UX and most of all will lead to fewer errors. I also agree with the answer, if this is a necessary consideration to display the state on screen. I’d argue it isn’t necessary as billions of people have been fine for decades.
– vol7ron
1 hour ago
add a comment |
It's a bad UX practice primarily because the user is not expecting this to happen. Users will attempt to do an action and will not be able to do so.
New contributor
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "102"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
Klangen is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fux.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f124857%2fwhats-the-point-of-deactivating-num-lock-on-login-screens%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Some compact keyboard layouts don't have a numpad, so those keys are mapped to the right-hand side of the letter section:
If NumLock is on, then a user typing the password kill
, will actually type 2533
. Turning NumLock off will prevent this problem, but of course - it will cause another one for those who do rely on the numpad. Keeping it on or off by default will lead to mode errors - regardless of what initial state is chosen, someone will be surprised by it.
A better solution would be to reflect the state of the NumLock key on the screen, akin to the CapsLock key. This way there are no surprises, as this state indicator is in the users' locus of attention.
An example are Acer Revo
computers, distributed with compact wireless keyboards. I installed a fresh OS and set up a password, then successfully "confirmed" it. However, what I thought I was doing was different from what the computer saw me do. This problem only became evident when I attempted to connect to the machine remotely, from a place with a proper keyboard.
Many hours and "this cannot be" statements later, I undersood that NumLock was the culprit.
8
How come the cause of mode errors is keeping NumLock on or off by default, rather than changing NumLock's state without the user's knowledge or will? I'd have thought that keeping it on or off by default will lead to the keyboard behaving as the user expects.
– Rosie F
yesterday
2
I've got one of those keyboards for when I need to log in locally to a normally-headless server, and I can't tell you how many times I've tried to log in as "r66t".
– Mark
yesterday
Rosie, you raise a valid point. The reason I wrote that is because of the expectation that pressingo
yields an "o". When NumLock is on, that yields a "6" (hidden under*
, ha!). If one uses a numpad to type1966
, it yields19→→
if NumLock is off. So, users from both camps can be caught off-guard, regardless of the default value. So it is not that the system sneakily changed the state; nowadays people use diverse keyboards in different places, a system can't guess what this user is used to. Numlock=off is the lowest common denominator, as more and more keyboards don't have numpads.
– ralien
yesterday
1
Fn-Keys are usually not mapped using NumLock. I guess one of the reasons is this issue. On quite a few devices using Fn-Keys, I never saw one using NumLock for switching. Usually you need to always press Fn, sometimes there is an option to reverse the behaviour (e.g. on notebooks, where multimedia keys are the default an Fx keys need Fn you can often switch this in the BIOS).
– allo
15 hours ago
I agree with Rosie, changing a user’s default behavior is not good UX and most of all will lead to fewer errors. I also agree with the answer, if this is a necessary consideration to display the state on screen. I’d argue it isn’t necessary as billions of people have been fine for decades.
– vol7ron
1 hour ago
add a comment |
Some compact keyboard layouts don't have a numpad, so those keys are mapped to the right-hand side of the letter section:
If NumLock is on, then a user typing the password kill
, will actually type 2533
. Turning NumLock off will prevent this problem, but of course - it will cause another one for those who do rely on the numpad. Keeping it on or off by default will lead to mode errors - regardless of what initial state is chosen, someone will be surprised by it.
A better solution would be to reflect the state of the NumLock key on the screen, akin to the CapsLock key. This way there are no surprises, as this state indicator is in the users' locus of attention.
An example are Acer Revo
computers, distributed with compact wireless keyboards. I installed a fresh OS and set up a password, then successfully "confirmed" it. However, what I thought I was doing was different from what the computer saw me do. This problem only became evident when I attempted to connect to the machine remotely, from a place with a proper keyboard.
Many hours and "this cannot be" statements later, I undersood that NumLock was the culprit.
8
How come the cause of mode errors is keeping NumLock on or off by default, rather than changing NumLock's state without the user's knowledge or will? I'd have thought that keeping it on or off by default will lead to the keyboard behaving as the user expects.
– Rosie F
yesterday
2
I've got one of those keyboards for when I need to log in locally to a normally-headless server, and I can't tell you how many times I've tried to log in as "r66t".
– Mark
yesterday
Rosie, you raise a valid point. The reason I wrote that is because of the expectation that pressingo
yields an "o". When NumLock is on, that yields a "6" (hidden under*
, ha!). If one uses a numpad to type1966
, it yields19→→
if NumLock is off. So, users from both camps can be caught off-guard, regardless of the default value. So it is not that the system sneakily changed the state; nowadays people use diverse keyboards in different places, a system can't guess what this user is used to. Numlock=off is the lowest common denominator, as more and more keyboards don't have numpads.
– ralien
yesterday
1
Fn-Keys are usually not mapped using NumLock. I guess one of the reasons is this issue. On quite a few devices using Fn-Keys, I never saw one using NumLock for switching. Usually you need to always press Fn, sometimes there is an option to reverse the behaviour (e.g. on notebooks, where multimedia keys are the default an Fx keys need Fn you can often switch this in the BIOS).
– allo
15 hours ago
I agree with Rosie, changing a user’s default behavior is not good UX and most of all will lead to fewer errors. I also agree with the answer, if this is a necessary consideration to display the state on screen. I’d argue it isn’t necessary as billions of people have been fine for decades.
– vol7ron
1 hour ago
add a comment |
Some compact keyboard layouts don't have a numpad, so those keys are mapped to the right-hand side of the letter section:
If NumLock is on, then a user typing the password kill
, will actually type 2533
. Turning NumLock off will prevent this problem, but of course - it will cause another one for those who do rely on the numpad. Keeping it on or off by default will lead to mode errors - regardless of what initial state is chosen, someone will be surprised by it.
A better solution would be to reflect the state of the NumLock key on the screen, akin to the CapsLock key. This way there are no surprises, as this state indicator is in the users' locus of attention.
An example are Acer Revo
computers, distributed with compact wireless keyboards. I installed a fresh OS and set up a password, then successfully "confirmed" it. However, what I thought I was doing was different from what the computer saw me do. This problem only became evident when I attempted to connect to the machine remotely, from a place with a proper keyboard.
Many hours and "this cannot be" statements later, I undersood that NumLock was the culprit.
Some compact keyboard layouts don't have a numpad, so those keys are mapped to the right-hand side of the letter section:
If NumLock is on, then a user typing the password kill
, will actually type 2533
. Turning NumLock off will prevent this problem, but of course - it will cause another one for those who do rely on the numpad. Keeping it on or off by default will lead to mode errors - regardless of what initial state is chosen, someone will be surprised by it.
A better solution would be to reflect the state of the NumLock key on the screen, akin to the CapsLock key. This way there are no surprises, as this state indicator is in the users' locus of attention.
An example are Acer Revo
computers, distributed with compact wireless keyboards. I installed a fresh OS and set up a password, then successfully "confirmed" it. However, what I thought I was doing was different from what the computer saw me do. This problem only became evident when I attempted to connect to the machine remotely, from a place with a proper keyboard.
Many hours and "this cannot be" statements later, I undersood that NumLock was the culprit.
answered yesterday
ralienralien
1,066711
1,066711
8
How come the cause of mode errors is keeping NumLock on or off by default, rather than changing NumLock's state without the user's knowledge or will? I'd have thought that keeping it on or off by default will lead to the keyboard behaving as the user expects.
– Rosie F
yesterday
2
I've got one of those keyboards for when I need to log in locally to a normally-headless server, and I can't tell you how many times I've tried to log in as "r66t".
– Mark
yesterday
Rosie, you raise a valid point. The reason I wrote that is because of the expectation that pressingo
yields an "o". When NumLock is on, that yields a "6" (hidden under*
, ha!). If one uses a numpad to type1966
, it yields19→→
if NumLock is off. So, users from both camps can be caught off-guard, regardless of the default value. So it is not that the system sneakily changed the state; nowadays people use diverse keyboards in different places, a system can't guess what this user is used to. Numlock=off is the lowest common denominator, as more and more keyboards don't have numpads.
– ralien
yesterday
1
Fn-Keys are usually not mapped using NumLock. I guess one of the reasons is this issue. On quite a few devices using Fn-Keys, I never saw one using NumLock for switching. Usually you need to always press Fn, sometimes there is an option to reverse the behaviour (e.g. on notebooks, where multimedia keys are the default an Fx keys need Fn you can often switch this in the BIOS).
– allo
15 hours ago
I agree with Rosie, changing a user’s default behavior is not good UX and most of all will lead to fewer errors. I also agree with the answer, if this is a necessary consideration to display the state on screen. I’d argue it isn’t necessary as billions of people have been fine for decades.
– vol7ron
1 hour ago
add a comment |
8
How come the cause of mode errors is keeping NumLock on or off by default, rather than changing NumLock's state without the user's knowledge or will? I'd have thought that keeping it on or off by default will lead to the keyboard behaving as the user expects.
– Rosie F
yesterday
2
I've got one of those keyboards for when I need to log in locally to a normally-headless server, and I can't tell you how many times I've tried to log in as "r66t".
– Mark
yesterday
Rosie, you raise a valid point. The reason I wrote that is because of the expectation that pressingo
yields an "o". When NumLock is on, that yields a "6" (hidden under*
, ha!). If one uses a numpad to type1966
, it yields19→→
if NumLock is off. So, users from both camps can be caught off-guard, regardless of the default value. So it is not that the system sneakily changed the state; nowadays people use diverse keyboards in different places, a system can't guess what this user is used to. Numlock=off is the lowest common denominator, as more and more keyboards don't have numpads.
– ralien
yesterday
1
Fn-Keys are usually not mapped using NumLock. I guess one of the reasons is this issue. On quite a few devices using Fn-Keys, I never saw one using NumLock for switching. Usually you need to always press Fn, sometimes there is an option to reverse the behaviour (e.g. on notebooks, where multimedia keys are the default an Fx keys need Fn you can often switch this in the BIOS).
– allo
15 hours ago
I agree with Rosie, changing a user’s default behavior is not good UX and most of all will lead to fewer errors. I also agree with the answer, if this is a necessary consideration to display the state on screen. I’d argue it isn’t necessary as billions of people have been fine for decades.
– vol7ron
1 hour ago
8
8
How come the cause of mode errors is keeping NumLock on or off by default, rather than changing NumLock's state without the user's knowledge or will? I'd have thought that keeping it on or off by default will lead to the keyboard behaving as the user expects.
– Rosie F
yesterday
How come the cause of mode errors is keeping NumLock on or off by default, rather than changing NumLock's state without the user's knowledge or will? I'd have thought that keeping it on or off by default will lead to the keyboard behaving as the user expects.
– Rosie F
yesterday
2
2
I've got one of those keyboards for when I need to log in locally to a normally-headless server, and I can't tell you how many times I've tried to log in as "r66t".
– Mark
yesterday
I've got one of those keyboards for when I need to log in locally to a normally-headless server, and I can't tell you how many times I've tried to log in as "r66t".
– Mark
yesterday
Rosie, you raise a valid point. The reason I wrote that is because of the expectation that pressing
o
yields an "o". When NumLock is on, that yields a "6" (hidden under *
, ha!). If one uses a numpad to type 1966
, it yields 19→→
if NumLock is off. So, users from both camps can be caught off-guard, regardless of the default value. So it is not that the system sneakily changed the state; nowadays people use diverse keyboards in different places, a system can't guess what this user is used to. Numlock=off is the lowest common denominator, as more and more keyboards don't have numpads.– ralien
yesterday
Rosie, you raise a valid point. The reason I wrote that is because of the expectation that pressing
o
yields an "o". When NumLock is on, that yields a "6" (hidden under *
, ha!). If one uses a numpad to type 1966
, it yields 19→→
if NumLock is off. So, users from both camps can be caught off-guard, regardless of the default value. So it is not that the system sneakily changed the state; nowadays people use diverse keyboards in different places, a system can't guess what this user is used to. Numlock=off is the lowest common denominator, as more and more keyboards don't have numpads.– ralien
yesterday
1
1
Fn-Keys are usually not mapped using NumLock. I guess one of the reasons is this issue. On quite a few devices using Fn-Keys, I never saw one using NumLock for switching. Usually you need to always press Fn, sometimes there is an option to reverse the behaviour (e.g. on notebooks, where multimedia keys are the default an Fx keys need Fn you can often switch this in the BIOS).
– allo
15 hours ago
Fn-Keys are usually not mapped using NumLock. I guess one of the reasons is this issue. On quite a few devices using Fn-Keys, I never saw one using NumLock for switching. Usually you need to always press Fn, sometimes there is an option to reverse the behaviour (e.g. on notebooks, where multimedia keys are the default an Fx keys need Fn you can often switch this in the BIOS).
– allo
15 hours ago
I agree with Rosie, changing a user’s default behavior is not good UX and most of all will lead to fewer errors. I also agree with the answer, if this is a necessary consideration to display the state on screen. I’d argue it isn’t necessary as billions of people have been fine for decades.
– vol7ron
1 hour ago
I agree with Rosie, changing a user’s default behavior is not good UX and most of all will lead to fewer errors. I also agree with the answer, if this is a necessary consideration to display the state on screen. I’d argue it isn’t necessary as billions of people have been fine for decades.
– vol7ron
1 hour ago
add a comment |
It's a bad UX practice primarily because the user is not expecting this to happen. Users will attempt to do an action and will not be able to do so.
New contributor
add a comment |
It's a bad UX practice primarily because the user is not expecting this to happen. Users will attempt to do an action and will not be able to do so.
New contributor
add a comment |
It's a bad UX practice primarily because the user is not expecting this to happen. Users will attempt to do an action and will not be able to do so.
New contributor
It's a bad UX practice primarily because the user is not expecting this to happen. Users will attempt to do an action and will not be able to do so.
New contributor
edited yesterday
Mayo
5,60852433
5,60852433
New contributor
answered yesterday
Juan Jesús MilloJuan Jesús Millo
607110
607110
New contributor
New contributor
add a comment |
add a comment |
Klangen is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Klangen is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Klangen is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Klangen is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to User Experience Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fux.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f124857%2fwhats-the-point-of-deactivating-num-lock-on-login-screens%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
38
Can you provide an example per your "many" claim? The most prevalent operating system's (Windows') login screen does not exhibit this failure, ahem "feature".
– MonkeyZeus
yesterday
46
I never encountered a login screen that deactivates numlock. Are you perhaps mistaking the bios option to turn numlock on or off on boot as a "login screen feature"?
– Gerald Schneider
yesterday
4
@leftaroundabout you seem to assume a password typed exclusively on the number pad, rather than just a few characters; you also seem to assume that a user only uses one type of keyboard to log in to a system. (I have, once, used a system with an ultracompact builtin keyboard with no number row and a USB number pad, as an example of an edge case where this would be particularly irritating)
– Chris H
yesterday
10
At this point I'd be happy with ONE example of a login screen that does this. I've never seen it.
– JPhi1618
20 hours ago
4
@JPhi1618 my Windows 10 Laptop does this.
– Tom.Bowen89
12 hours ago