When I ask you (assuming you are an IT guy, I don’t think other people will find their way here) when you used caps lock the last time you will probably answer never. Anyway, I’m sure you did, though without noticing it aND IT WAS JUST A BIT ANNOying @*#!^.

Because I use the ctrl key in my favorite editor all the time (not to copy/paste code ;) ) and it is in such an unnatural position there are days my hand start to hurt me or feel cramping because of the crippled position I force it into for hours. Then I usually have to stop typing (”Oh no!”) and wait a few hours until I can continue again.

However, its possible to map the caps lock key to the ctrl key. Here is how:

Linux

Load

keycode 0x42 = Escape

into your xmodmap

Mac

Tiger
In Keyboard & Mouse settings, Keyboard, Modifier Keys… choose ^ ctrl for caps lock

Panther
I don’t have panther installed but maybe fKeys works for you.

Windows

Create a file called mapper.reg and paste

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,01,00,3a,00,00,00,00,00

in. Then double click, import it to your registry and reboot. (You may want to backup the existing value first)