In vim it is the first part of a sequence for manipulating windows. This mindset can conflict with e.g. firefox, in which ctrl-w closes a window. (particularly if there are multiple firefoxes/tabs open)
Edit: That should be close tab, not close window, c-shift-w is window.
It's very useful in situations like this to know that Ctrl-Shift-T reopens the last closed tab, and you can press it repeatedly to continue opening less-recently closed tabs.
Ah. In Emacs, bash, and conkeror, it does something useful.
(I've never really understood why there are keyboard shortcuts for things like "quit program" and "print". How often, if ever, do you want to do those things? Do they really need to be one keystroke away!?)
Thats a pretty inflammatory statement... "In one program and a couple that emulate it...".
How is it not useful to have a keyboard shortcut to change focus between windows? Windows in vim refer to what I believe are called "splits" in emacs. The vim c-w stuff is analogous to c-x stuff in emacs.
As for close tab shortcuts in firefox -- I use it all the time. Standard work flow for me includes c-t, google.com, <misspelled word>, c-w, <correct spelling from "did you mean">.
