Subject: Re: ?A dispute over the TAB key highlights a mismatch between Microsoft and IBM organizational structures? by Raymond Chen

On Wed, 6 May 2026 15:43:58 -0500, Lynn McGuire wrote:

?A dispute over the TAB key highlights a mismatch between Microsoft
and IBM organizational structures? by Raymond Chen
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20260505-00/?p=112298

?A colleague recalls that while he was assigned to the IBM offices
in Boca Raton, Florida, there was a dispute over what key should be
used to move from one field to another in dialog boxes. The folks at
IBM were not happy with my colleague?s decision to use the TAB key,
so they asked him to escalate the issue to his manager back in
Redmond.?

I don?t see any mention of what the IBM people were proposing to use
instead.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: ?A dispute over the TAB key highlights a mismatch between Microsoft and IBM organizational structures? by Raymond Chen

Lawrence =?iso-8859-13?q?D=FFOliveiro?= <ldo@nz.invalid> writes:

On Wed, 6 May 2026 15:43:58 -0500, Lynn McGuire wrote:

?A dispute over the TAB key highlights a mismatch between Microsoft
and IBM organizational structures? by Raymond Chen
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20260505-00/?p=112298

?A colleague recalls that while he was assigned to the IBM offices
in Boca Raton, Florida, there was a dispute over what key should be
used to move from one field to another in dialog boxes. The folks at
IBM were not happy with my colleague?s decision to use the TAB key,
so they asked him to escalate the issue to his manager back in
Redmond.?

I don?t see any mention of what the IBM people were proposing to use
instead.

I doubt the veracity of the original story. The tab key was widely used
in mainframe video terminals as "advance to next field" in the 1970s, including Burroughs.

IBM was often in love with odd ideas *cough*JCL, CHS, et cetera, but that whole upper
VP story smells apocryphal regardless of the source.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: ?A dispute over the TAB key highlights a mismatch between Microsoft and IBM organizational structures? by Raymond Chen

scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:

Lawrence =?iso-8859-13?q?D=FFOliveiro?= <ldo@nz.invalid> writes:

On Wed, 6 May 2026 15:43:58 -0500, Lynn McGuire wrote:

ƒ??A dispute over the TAB key highlights a mismatch between Microsoft
and IBM organizational structuresƒ? by Raymond Chen
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20260505-00/?p=112298

ƒ??A colleague recalls that while he was assigned to the IBM offices
in Boca Raton, Florida, there was a dispute over what key should be
used to move from one field to another in dialog boxes. The folks at
IBM were not happy with my colleagueƒ??s decision to use the TAB key,
so they asked him to escalate the issue to his manager back in
Redmond.ƒ?

I donƒ??t see any mention of what the IBM people were proposing to use >>instead.

I doubt the veracity of the original story. The tab key was widely used
in mainframe video terminals as "advance to next field" in the 1970s, including
Burroughs.

IBM was often in love with odd ideas *cough*JCL, CHS, et cetera, but that whole upper
VP story smells apocryphal regardless of the source.

I'm not sure what this is about but the IBM 5250 terminal used on System
34 had a Field Exit key. It was something like a tab key but it did a
bit more. It moved field to field, possibly right justifying what had
been typed, verified check digits, and optionally if hit on the last
field on the screen, it acted like an enter key.


--
Dan Espen

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)