<s>
On	O
computer	B-Device
keyboards	I-Device
,	O
the	O
Esc	B-Device
key	I-Device
(	O
named	O
Escape	B-Device
key	I-Device
in	O
the	O
international	O
standard	O
series	O
ISO/IEC	O
9995	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
key	O
used	O
to	O
generate	O
the	O
escape	B-Algorithm
character	I-Algorithm
(	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
represented	O
as	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
code	I-Protocol
27	O
in	O
decimal	O
,	O
Unicode	O
U+001B	B-Algorithm
,	O
or	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
escape	B-Algorithm
character	I-Algorithm
,	O
when	O
sent	O
from	O
the	O
keyboard	B-Device
to	O
a	O
computer	O
,	O
often	O
is	O
interpreted	O
by	O
software	O
as	O
"	O
stop	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
when	O
sent	O
from	O
the	O
computer	O
to	O
an	O
external	B-Device
device	I-Device
(	O
including	O
many	O
printers	O
since	O
the	O
1980s	O
,	O
computer	B-General_Concept
terminals	I-General_Concept
and	O
Linux	B-Application
consoles	I-Application
,	O
for	O
example	O
)	O
marks	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
an	O
escape	O
sequence	O
to	O
specify	O
operating	O
modes	O
or	O
characteristics	O
generally	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
now	O
generally	O
placed	O
at	O
the	O
top	O
left	O
corner	O
of	O
the	O
keyboard	B-Device
,	O
a	O
convention	O
dating	O
at	O
least	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
keyboard	I-Device
,	O
though	O
the	O
key	O
itself	O
originated	O
decades	O
earlier	O
with	O
teletypewriters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
keyboard	B-Device
symbol	O
for	O
the	O
ESC	B-Device
key	I-Device
(	O
which	O
may	O
be	O
used	O
when	O
the	O
usual	O
Latin	O
lettering	O
"	O
Esc	O
"	O
is	O
not	O
preferred	O
for	O
labelling	O
the	O
key	O
)	O
is	O
standardized	O
in	O
ISO/IEC	O
9995-7	O
as	O
symbol	O
29	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
ISO	O
7000	O
"	O
Graphical	O
symbols	O
for	O
use	O
on	O
equipment	O
"	O
as	O
symbol	O
ISO-7000-2029	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
symbol	O
is	O
encoded	O
in	O
Unicode	O
as	O
U+238B	O
( ⎋	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
of	O
the	O
equivalent	O
key	O
on	O
some	O
early	O
Teletype	B-Application
Model	I-Application
33	I-Application
keyboards	B-Device
was	O
labeled	O
Alt	O
Mode	O
...	O
,	O
the	O
alternative	O
mode	O
of	O
operation	O
causing	O
the	O
escapement	O
to	O
treat	O
the	O
following	O
one	O
character	O
in	O
a	O
special	O
way	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Much	O
later	O
printers	O
and	O
computer	B-General_Concept
terminals	I-General_Concept
that	O
would	O
use	O
escape	O
sequences	O
often	O
would	O
take	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
following	O
byte	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
special	O
sequence	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
most	O
computer	O
users	O
are	O
no	O
longer	O
concerned	O
with	O
the	O
details	O
of	O
controlling	O
their	O
computer	O
's	O
peripherals	B-Device
,	O
the	O
task	O
for	O
which	O
the	O
escape	O
sequences	O
were	O
originally	O
designed	O
,	O
the	O
escape	B-Device
key	I-Device
was	O
appropriated	O
by	O
application	B-Application
programmers	O
,	O
most	O
often	O
to	O
mean	O
Stop	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
use	O
continues	O
today	O
in	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
's	O
method	O
of	O
escape	O
as	O
a	O
shortcut	O
in	O
dialog	O
boxes	O
for	O
No	O
,	O
Quit	O
,	O
Exit	O
,	O
Cancel	O
,	O
or	O
Abort	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
common	O
shortcut	O
key	O
for	O
the	O
Stop	O
button	O
in	O
many	O
web	B-Application
browsers	I-Application
,	O
and	O
to	O
cancel	O
drag	O
and	O
drop	O
operations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
machines	O
running	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
prior	O
to	O
the	O
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
Windows	B-Device
key	I-Device
on	O
keyboards	B-Device
,	O
the	O
typical	O
practice	O
for	O
invoking	O
the	O
"	O
start	O
"	O
button	O
was	O
to	O
hold	O
down	O
the	O
Control	B-Device
key	I-Device
and	O
press	O
escape	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
key	O
combination	O
still	O
works	O
as	O
of	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
makes	O
use	O
of	O
"	O
Esc	O
"	O
for	O
many	O
key	O
shortcuts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
these	O
shortcuts	O
have	O
been	O
present	O
since	O
Windows	B-Application
3.0	I-Application
,	O
through	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
,	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
,	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
,	O
Windows	B-Application
8	I-Application
,	O
Windows	B-Operating_System
10	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
Windows	B-Application
11	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
++	O
combination	O
opens	O
the	O
Force	B-Operating_System
Quit	I-Operating_System
dialog	O
box	O
,	O
allowing	O
users	O
to	O
end	O
non-responsive	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
use	O
for	O
the	O
Esc	B-Device
key	I-Device
,	O
in	O
combination	O
with	O
the	O
Command	B-Device
key	I-Device
,	O
is	O
switching	O
to	O
Front	B-Operating_System
Row	I-Operating_System
,	O
if	O
installed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
most	O
computer	O
games	O
,	O
the	O
escape	B-Device
key	I-Device
is	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
pause	B-Device
button	I-Device
and/or	O
as	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
bring	O
up	O
the	O
in-game	O
menu	O
,	O
usually	O
containing	O
ways	O
to	O
exit	O
the	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
despite	O
the	O
existence	O
of	O
a	O
separate	O
Pause/Break	B-Device
key	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
vi	B-Application
family	O
of	O
text	O
editors	O
,	O
escape	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
switch	O
modes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
usage	O
is	O
due	O
to	O
escape	O
being	O
conveniently	O
placed	O
in	O
what	O
is	O
now	O
the	O
tab	O
position	O
on	O
the	O
ADM-3A	B-Device
terminal	O
keyboard	B-Device
used	O
to	O
develop	O
vi	B-Application
,	O
though	O
it	O
is	O
now	O
inconveniently	O
placed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
similar	O
to	O
how	O
the	O
extensive	O
modifier	O
keys	O
in	O
Emacs	B-Application
were	O
easily	O
used	O
on	O
the	O
original	O
keyboard	B-Device
(	O
the	O
space-cadet	B-Device
keyboard	I-Device
)	O
,	O
being	O
placed	O
together	O
,	O
but	O
these	O
keys	O
have	O
now	O
been	O
spread	O
around	O
the	O
keyboard	B-Device
,	O
becoming	O
more	O
difficult	O
to	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
TECO	B-Application
editor	O
uses	O
ESCape	O
as	O
a	O
delimiter	O
when	O
used	O
once	O
,	O
and	O
as	O
an	O
execute	O
key	O
when	O
used	O
twice	O
in	O
a	O
row	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Old	O
keyboard	B-Device
Send/Receive	O
(	O
KSR	O
)	O
printers	O
,	O
and	O
visual	B-General_Concept
display	I-General_Concept
units	I-General_Concept
(	O
VDUs	O
)	O
,	O
would	O
normally	O
be	O
controlled	O
by	O
escape	O
sequences	O
sent	O
by	O
the	O
computer	O
to	O
the	O
peripheral	B-Device
device	I-Device
,	O
but	O
there	O
were	O
situations	O
where	O
these	O
devices	O
could	O
be	O
used	O
"	O
off-line	O
"	O
with	O
the	O
keyboard	B-Device
effectively	O
connected	O
to	O
the	O
output	O
device	O
,	O
and	O
so	O
the	O
need	O
could	O
arise	O
to	O
type	O
escape	O
sequences	O
"	O
by	O
hand	O
"	O
to	O
control	O
the	O
peripheral	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
such	O
devices	O
are	O
long	O
out	O
of	O
use	O
,	O
standard	O
processing	O
of	O
ANSI	O
Escape	O
sequences	O
very	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
1970s	O
VT100	B-Device
,	O
is	O
implemented	O
in	O
both	O
ANSI.SYS	O
and	O
other	O
more	O
modern	O
pseudo-terminal	O
interfaces	O
used	O
in	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
environments	O
,	O
one	O
example	O
being	O
Linux	B-Application
consoles	I-Application
,	O
meaning	O
newer	O
,	O
higher-level	O
abstractions	O
have	O
n't	O
changed	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
typing	O
the	O
escape	B-Device
key	I-Device
followed	O
by	O
something	O
like	O
the	O
six	O
characters	O
[	O
32	O
;	O
1m	O
affects	O
subsequently	O
text	O
in	O
output	O
,	O
in	O
this	O
case	O
turning	O
it	O
green	O
.	O
</s>
