TechNote (Archived)

Control-Alt-Tab keyboard shortcut change in Windows Vista

Issue

In version 8 and earlier of most Studio products, the Windows keyboard shortcut Control-Alt-Tab activates the accessibility feature of navigating the different panels without using a mouse. This Studio key combination no longer works in Microsoft Windows Vista; instead, itactivates a new Vista operating-system-wide feature. (Ref. 209768)

The specific products affected by this issue include:

Dreamweaver 8 and earlier
Flash 8 and earlier
Contribute 3 and earlier

Note: Windows Vista is still in beta and is not supported or tested with Dreamweaver, Flash or Contribute. For supported operating systems, see the System Requirements.

Reason

In Windows Vista, the Control-Alt-Tab key combination is now reserved by Windows. The Alt-Tab keyboard shortcutfunctions as it didin prior versions of Windows, allowingyou to switch between windows. The Ctrl-Alt-Tab key combination in Vista is used to lock the Alt-Tab windowso you can usethe arrows to select a window and activate it with the Enter key. (Use the Esc key to leave the Alt-Tab window).

Solution

The Control-Alt-Tab shortcut is hard-coded into the Studio products and cannot be modified using the Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box. Future versions of Adobe products will use a different keyboard shortcut for moving between panels. If you are using Studio 8 products and rely heavily on the Ctrl-Alt-Tab feature, then you may want to consider waiting to install Windows Vista until the next version of Studio is available.