<s>
Super	B-Device
key	I-Device
( ❖	O
)	O
is	O
an	O
alternative	O
and	O
older	O
name	O
for	O
what	O
is	O
commonly	O
labelled	O
as	O
the	O
Windows	B-Device
key	I-Device
or	O
Command	B-Device
key	I-Device
on	O
modern	O
keyboards	O
,	O
typically	O
bound	O
and	O
handled	O
as	O
such	O
by	O
Linux	B-Application
and	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
and	O
software	O
today	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Super	B-Device
key	I-Device
was	O
originally	O
a	O
modifier	B-Device
key	I-Device
on	O
a	O
keyboard	O
designed	O
for	O
Lisp	B-Operating_System
machines	I-Operating_System
at	O
MIT	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
space-cadet	B-Device
"	O
keyboard	O
,	O
designed	O
in	O
1978	O
at	O
MIT	O
for	O
the	O
Lisp	B-Operating_System
machine	I-Operating_System
,	O
introduced	O
two	O
new	O
modifier	B-Device
keys	I-Device
,	O
"	O
Super	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
Hyper	B-Device
"	O
,	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
earlier	O
Knight	B-Device
keyboard	I-Device
also	O
used	O
with	O
Lisp	B-Operating_System
machines	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
keys	O
became	O
supported	O
in	O
the	O
powerful	O
Emacs	B-Application
text	O
editor	O
,	O
which	O
had	O
,	O
or	O
would	O
receive	O
,	O
influential	O
ports	O
on	O
Multics	B-Application
,	O
Unix	B-Application
,	O
and	O
many	O
other	O
operating	O
systems	O
,	O
and	O
saw	O
wide	O
adoption	O
at	O
institutions	O
beyond	O
MIT	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Beginning	O
in	O
1984	O
,	O
the	O
X	B-Operating_System
Window	I-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
(	O
a	O
graphical	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
standard	O
for	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
)	O
supported	O
the	O
,	O
,	O
and	O
modifiers	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
common	O
Shift	O
,	O
Control	O
,	O
and	O
Alt	O
keys	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unix	B-Device
workstations	I-Device
of	O
that	O
era	O
sometimes	O
featured	O
Super	B-Device
keys	I-Device
located	O
between	O
the	O
and	O
or	O
Meta	B-Device
keys	I-Device
(	O
sometimes	O
including	O
a	O
key	O
)	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
eventual	O
dominance	O
of	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
Model	I-Device
M	I-Device
101/102	O
-key	O
layout	O
would	O
diminish	O
the	O
commonality	O
of	O
these	O
keys	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Primarily	O
designed	O
for	O
use	O
with	O
(	O
comparatively	O
underpowered	O
)	O
personal	O
computers	O
,	O
it	O
lacked	O
modifiers	O
other	O
than	O
Ctrl	O
,	O
Alt	O
,	O
and	O
Shift	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
limited	O
usefulness	O
of	O
extended	O
input	O
ranges	O
for	O
DOS	B-Device
home	O
computing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
the	O
gradual	O
disappearance	O
of	O
these	O
extra	O
modifiers	O
on	O
non-specialist	O
keyboards	O
,	O
many	O
of	O
Emacs	B-Application
 '	O
complex	O
commands	O
still	O
required	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
Meta	B-Device
key	I-Device
and	O
other	O
modifiers	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
X11	B-Operating_System
technical	O
UI	B-Application
standards	O
for	O
Unix	B-Application
still	O
supported	O
them	O
,	O
so	O
these	O
were	O
soon	O
a	O
target	O
to	O
be	O
emulated	O
with	O
alternative	O
key	O
combinations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
and	O
were	O
commonly	O
used	O
in	O
place	O
of	O
Meta	B-Device
:	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
being	O
issued	O
via	O
or	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Emacs	B-Application
commands	O
using	O
the	O
Super	B-Device
key	I-Device
still	O
presented	O
a	O
challenge	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
Hyper	B-Device
key	I-Device
commands	O
gradually	O
fell	O
into	O
disuse	O
,	O
with	O
their	O
keybindings	O
being	O
replaced	O
by	O
longer	O
alternative	O
bindings	O
using	O
combinations	O
of	O
other	O
keys	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1994	O
the	O
key	O
first	O
appeared	O
on	O
the	O
popular	O
Microsoft	O
Natural	O
Keyboard	O
where	O
it	O
would	O
serve	O
to	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
conveniently	O
operate	O
the	O
Start	O
menu	O
on	O
the	O
upcoming	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
without	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
mouse	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
general	O
location	O
as	O
the	O
old	O
workstation	B-Device
Super	B-Device
keys	I-Device
,	O
in	O
a	O
space	O
that	O
the	O
101/102	O
-key	O
layout	O
had	O
n't	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
subsequent	O
proliferation	O
of	O
the	O
Windows	B-Device
key	I-Device
as	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
standard	O
104/105	O
-key	O
layout	O
,	O
coupled	O
with	O
its	O
lack	O
of	O
specific	O
purpose	O
for	O
operating	O
systems	O
with	O
no	O
Start	O
menu	O
,	O
offered	O
a	O
new	O
option	O
to	O
map	O
another	O
input	O
modifier	B-Device
key	I-Device
expected	O
in	O
the	O
Unix	B-Application
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
first	O
,	O
around	O
1996	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
common	O
practice	O
to	O
map	O
the	O
Meta	B-Device
key	I-Device
onto	O
the	O
Windows	B-Device
key	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
existing	O
alternate	O
keys	O
for	O
Meta	B-Device
in	O
Emacs	B-Application
,	O
the	O
reintroduction	O
of	O
a	O
hardware	O
Meta	B-Device
key	I-Device
binding	O
did	O
not	O
prove	O
exceptionally	O
useful	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
made	O
Super	O
the	O
next	O
most	O
frequently	O
emulated	O
key	O
of	O
choice	O
,	O
and	O
thus	O
it	O
became	O
the	O
standard	O
assignment	O
for	O
the	O
Windows	B-Device
key	I-Device
under	O
X11	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
avoid	O
unauthorised	O
usage	O
of	O
a	O
Microsoft	O
trademark	O
,	O
Unix	B-Application
and	O
Linux	B-Application
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
documentation	O
refer	O
to	O
the	O
key	O
as	O
Super	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
appears	O
as	O
Super	O
in	O
,	O
for	O
instance	O
,	O
system	O
interfaces	O
displaying	O
the	O
current	O
regional	O
keymap	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
may	O
confuse	O
some	O
novice	O
users	O
who	O
are	O
only	O
familiar	O
with	O
it	O
as	O
a	O
Windows	B-Device
key	I-Device
,	O
especially	O
if	O
their	O
keyboard	O
labels	O
it	O
as	O
such	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
some	O
documentation	O
such	O
as	O
for	O
KDE	B-Application
Plasma	B-Language
,	O
it	O
is	O
called	O
the	O
Meta	B-Device
key	I-Device
even	O
though	O
software	O
has	O
been	O
updated	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
"	O
Super	O
"	O
shift	O
bit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
Linux	B-Application
graphical	O
desktop	O
environments	O
use	O
the	O
Super	B-Device
key	I-Device
for	O
window	O
management	O
and	O
application	O
launching	O
,	O
not	O
only	O
for	O
commands	O
used	O
by	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Much	O
of	O
this	O
is	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
Windows	B-Device
key	I-Device
in	O
the	O
Windows	O
operating	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
cases	O
where	O
a	O
Unix	B-Application
keymap	O
and	O
a	O
Windows	O
keymap	O
coincide	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
during	O
the	O
deployment	O
of	O
a	O
Virtual	B-Architecture
Machine	I-Architecture
,	O
a	O
keyboard	O
event	O
will	O
be	O
treated	O
as	O
equivalent	O
to	O
a	O
event	O
,	O
or	O
vice	O
versa	O
,	O
as	O
needed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
GNOME	B-Language
3	I-Language
,	O
letting	O
go	O
of	O
the	O
Super	B-Device
key	I-Device
defaults	O
to	O
showing	O
the	O
activities	O
window	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Openbox	B-Language
the	O
Super	B-Device
key	I-Device
is	O
an	O
available	O
modifier	B-Device
key	I-Device
,	O
but	O
is	O
not	O
used	O
in	O
any	O
default	O
shortcuts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Under	O
Unity	B-Device
,	O
the	O
key	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
control	O
launcher	O
and	O
manage	O
windows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Emacs	B-Application
,	O
Super	O
continues	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
command	B-Device
keybindings	O
,	O
though	O
currently	O
none	O
of	O
the	O
builtin	O
commands	O
use	O
it	O
by	O
default	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
elementary	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
Super	B-Device
key	I-Device
shows	O
a	O
shortcut	O
overlay	O
and	O
is	O
used	O
for	O
several	O
system	O
,	O
window	O
,	O
and	O
workspace	O
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
i3	B-Language
,	O
the	O
Super	B-Device
key	I-Device
along	O
with	O
Shift	O
key	O
are	O
being	O
used	O
by	O
default	O
as	O
modifiers	O
used	O
to	O
control	O
the	O
behavior	O
and	O
layout	O
of	O
windows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
X11	B-Operating_System
emulation	O
on	O
macOS	B-Application
puts	O
the	O
Super	O
shift	O
state	O
on	O
the	O
Command	B-Device
or	O
"	O
Apple	O
"	O
key	O
.	O
</s>
