Bug finding is one of my favorite pass-times. Whether it is finding or learning about easter eggs (they are not bugs of course) or finding/learning about bugs, it is really cool. And it is a really big achievement when you find them yourself.
It is this reason why I was excited when Gmail had a bug. I immediately jumped into action to find some bugs myself. (People in the industry don't laugh at me. I do bug finding on a trial and error basis.)
This is the coolest bug I found in Windows. I call it the synchronization problem in Windows. I don't say Windows XP because this bug has been around in many different forms in all versions of Windows.
The problem is with synchronization of the mouse and keyboard event handlers.
I have tried to be descriptive enough. I have cross checked that these bugs are really BUGS. And ya a statutory warning: I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS (BLAME MICROSOFT)! 🙂
Try this (be sure to read this thoroughly before you start):
(Menu key is the “extra” key to the right on a 104 key keyboard).
The first bug
————-
1. Click on an empty space on the desktop
2. Right click a desktop icon and without releasing the mouse, click “Start”. You should see the start menu and a pop up menu as well.
3. Now without clicking on the desktop, open some application (may be from the start menu).
Enjoy. The menu is not going to disappear!
-or follow a long procedure for the same-
1. Have some application minimized onto the taskbar.
2. Click on an empty region in the taskbar.
3. Right click some icon on the desktop and drag the icon. Now without releasing the mouse button, press “Start”-“Start”-“Menu” on the keyboard.
4. You shouldn't have released the mouse as yet. You will see the taskbar pop-up menu. Just release the mouse.
5. You can see 2 pop-up menus, which shouldn't appear normally. Now open the minimized program and one of the menus won't disappear. (Floating menus is it?!)
Second bug
———-
1. Open up 2 folders. Tile them vertically.
2. Now from the active window, drag an icon on to the other window. Don't release the mouse.
3. Press the menu button on the keyboard and then left click in an empty region in the second window.
4. Make sure you don't 'touch' window 1.
See the fun. Just click the back or up buttons or open a folder. Open “My computer” and the icon flows with the mouse.
An additional bonus:
If you have Microsoft Word open, type some characters. Now move your mouse over these characters and look at the way the cursor behaves.
Third bug
———
1. Open some folder.
2. Click both mouse buttons together on some toolbar button and without releasing the buttons drag the mouse down to the area where files are displayed.
Now just see if the mouse works by trying to open a file in the folder. It doesn't! To remove the effect, minimize the screen by clicking on the taskbar and then restore it.
An additional bonus:
Want to see how it looks when all buttons are clicked simultaneously?
In the above process, after you press and drag both mouse buttons onto the 'files' area, click the left mouse button on a button and drag it downward. See what happens. Repeat for all buttons.
Liked it?!
Two things before I conclude:
1. Don't ask me how these bugs are going to help.
2. Finding 3 bugs in more than 65000 is not an achievement.
