I'm not understanding why the traditional "tap Alt then a key sequence" pattern won't work. (N.B.: "tap"!)
e.g. "Alt-F-X" (that is, F.ile-E.xit) to close (most) applications in Windows.
The OS X solution is interesting, and relatively usable until you reach the point where you have to type too many characters to reach a discriminating point (e.g. "Search" vs. "Search in Files")
Also plz let's not call them "chords", despite whatever misguided proposition has been advanced by the warring kings of failed usability (Google, MS, and so many others). Let's call them "sequences". Anybody who plays a musical instrument capable of chords will tell you what an antithetical moniker "chord" is for what we're trying to describe. "Ctrl+Alt+Del" or "Ctrl+B" are chords. "g, i" is a sequence.
TY Dan for the MS video link. can't wait to watch it! If there was a site with videos explaining every other dumb decision they make, I'd probably be on it the rest of my life. Changing the presentation around is one thing, but clear-cutting the mnemonic associations many people have spent the last 20-odd years learning in typical, seemingly arbitrary MS fashion is a productivity killer (and frustration inducer), and I can't wait to hear them try to rationalize it! <--speaking as the "power user" ("powerless", more like) who has to suffer because MS usage metrics show "...99% of users use 'Function A', so let's get rid of functions 'B through D' so we can make all the icons 300% larger." (...also speaking as the proud owner of unopened copies of Office Pro 2007 and 2010.)