A boss key is a special keyboard shortcut used in computer games or other programs to quickly hide the program and possibly display a special screen that appears to be a normal productivity program (such as a spreadsheet application). One of the earliest implementations was by Friendlyware, a suite of entertainment and general interest programs written in BASIC and sold with the original IBM AT and XT computers from 1982 to 1985. When activated (by pressing F10), an ASCII bar graph with generic "Productivity" and "Time" labels appeared.

Pressing F10 again would return to the Friendlyware application. The purpose of the boss key is to make it appear to superiors and coworkers that an employee is doing his or her job, when they are actually playing games or using the Internet for non work-related tasks. This was a fairly common feature in early computer games for personal computers, when most boss keys were used to show dummy DOS prompts.

The use has faded somewhat as modern multitasking operating systems have evolved. However, some programs still retain a boss key feature, such as instant messaging clients or their add-ons. The most current prominent example of a boss key is CBS Sports' 'boss button', which is available in the window of their popular streaming coverage of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

N-game by metanet software allows you to press the tab key to put the game in a "boss mode" setting. Certain computer games have taken the idea of the boss key and used it to comic effect. Sierra On-Line's comedy/sci-fi adventure game Space Quest III had a so-called boss key available from the game's pulldown menu.

However, when the user selected it, the screen would cut to black and inform the user that his or her boss wouldn't be happy if he or she knew how long the user had been playing the game. It then displayed the total elapsed game time. Another Sierra game, the adult-themed Leisure Suit Larry 2, had a boss key which would hide the game and show a screen designed to act like a Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet.

Upon closer inspection, however, the spreadsheet was not exactly boss safe, being populated with order status on adult items. Upon trying to return to the game, it would say that when it panics it forgets everything, and the player must start over.

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