primary modifier key symbol. The original Macintosh also had an Option key, which was used primarily for entering extended characters. In 1986, the Apple IIGS was introduced. Like the newer Macintosh computers to come, such as the Macintosh SE, it used the Apple Desktop Bus for its keyboard and mouse. However, it was still an Apple II. Apple changed the keys on the IIGS's keyboard to Command and Option, as on Mac keyboards, but added an open-Apple to the Command key, for consistency with applications for previous Apple II generations. (The Option key did not have a closed-Apple, probably because Apple II applications used the closed-Apple key much more rarely than the open-Apple key; thus there was less need to keep it around.) Because any ADB keyboard could be used with the IIGS, all of Apple's ADB keyboards—even those intended for the Mac—also required the open-Apple, and it stuck for more than twenty years, causing confusion long after the Apple II series went out of production. The Apple symbol was removed in the keyboard's 2007 redesign, making room for the key's name to appear—the word "command" is now printed on the key. NeXT On the keyboard of the NeXT Computer that key was marked in green. The menus were not marked with a symbol denoting the command key. Besides being used as a modifier key for keyboard shortcuts it was also used to alter the function of some keys. toggles alpha lock, sends Enter and toggles Mute. The functions were printed in green on the front side of the modified keys. This was also done on the Z, X, C and V keys (Undo, Cut, Copy and Paste). (Left) -- triggers a non-catchable hardware reset thereby hard rebooting the computer. (Contrary to on a PC compatible computer which triggers only a software reset.) On the NeXT ADB keyboard, the Command keys were replaced by keys labeled and the Command key morphed into a wide Command bar in front of the space bar. Function The purpose of the Command key is to allow the user to enter keyboard shortcuts in applications and in the system. The Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines have always recommended that developers use the Command key (and not the Control or Option keys) for this purpose. A small set of keyboard commands (such as cut and paste, open and save) are standard across nearly all applications, and many