Living without the mouse – the content is the interface

I meant to link yesterday to John Lam’s post on living without the mouse.

I do so today because it fits nicely with Edward Tufte’s remark that (ideally) the content is the interface.

Lam’s point is that “toolbars just waste screen real estate”. Thus, he’s learned to operate as far as possible with keystrokes, not only because this is quicker (hand does not leave the keyboard), but also because it lets him remove on-screen furniture.

He writes primarily about Visual Studio, but also has a great tip for Office 2007 apps like Word and Excel. Press Ctrl-F1 to toggle the ribbon on or off. No ribbon means a lovely clean workspace.

Related posts:

1. Legal implications of Microsoft’s Office 2007 ribbons
2. An Office Ribbon macro to control audio in Word
3. Living with Vista Ultimate in the digital home
4. Nearly three years on, what’s the verdict on the Office 2007 ribbon?
5. Conquering the Office Ribbon