Ctrl+Alt+Delete by default is always picked up by the local computer. Imagine if there was malware created that looked like the Windows login screen. If it could intercept the Ctrl+Alt+Delete signal, it would look very authentic and you might give your password away unknowingly. Instead, giving the ‘Three Finger Salute’ will launch the full screen where the user has options like ‘Lock this computer’, ‘Switch User’, ‘Log Off’, ‘Change Password’, and ‘Start Task Manager’.
Even touch devices like the Microsoft Surface have been able to implement an equivalent with holding the Windows key and pressing the Power button. If you are using Remote Desktop Connection or Terminal Services to connect to another computer and you need to activate Ctrl+Alt+Delete, it will trigger for the local machine. The Remote Desktop equivalent: Ctrl+Alt+End
Use Ctrl+Alt+End in a remote desktop session to trigger the Ctrl+Alt+Delete screen on the remote computer instead of the local computer.
Other notes:
- If you just need to launch Task Manager, you can right-click on the taskbar and choose ‘Start Task Manager’ from there.
- Some VNC applications might use Ctrl+Alt+Insert instead.
- Remote applications like LogMeIn tend to have a button or a means to send special keyboard commands. Look for a three button icon to send Ctrl+Alt+Del to the remote machine.
- There is an application called Salute that you can add to Mac OS X to give it an equivalent to Ctrl+Alt+Delete.