This is a regression introduced in win32 JDK 1.1.8 build F.  The test case works fine on WinNT using 1.1.8 build E and 1.1.7B.  As far as I can tell, the test does not pass on Solaris for any 1.1 version of the JDK (see e.g. 4174399).

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;

public class ModifierTest extends Frame implements KeyListener {

    public static void main(String args[]) {
        new ModifierTest();
    }

    public ModifierTest() {
        TextArea ta = new TextArea(8, 30);
        ta.addKeyListener(this);
        add(ta);
        pack();
        show();
    }

    public void keyPressed(KeyEvent evt)  { }
    public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e) { }

    public void keyTyped(KeyEvent evt)  {
        char keyChar = evt.getKeyChar();
        System.out.println("Key event = " + evt);
        System.out.println("Key mods  = " + KeyEvent.getKeyModifiersText(evt.get
Modifiers()));
        if ( evt.isShiftDown() ) {
            System.out.println("Shift key is down");
        }
        if ( evt.isControlDown()) {
            System.out.println("Control key is down");
        }
        if ( evt.isAltDown() ) {
            System.out.println("Alt key is down");
        }
        if ( evt.isMetaDown() ) {
            System.out.println("Meta key is down");
        }
    }

}

Example output from WinNT 4.0 SP3 when pressing Shift-A:

D:\KeyTest\reg>C:\jdk118F-bin\jdk1.1.8\bin\java -classpath C:\jdk118F-bin\jdk1.1
.8\lib\classes.zip;. ModifierTest
Key event = java.awt.event.KeyEvent[KEY_TYPED,keyCode=0,keyChar='A'] on text0
Key mods  =

D:\KeyTest\reg>C:\jdk118E-bin\jdk1.1.8\bin\java -classpath C:\jdk118E-bin\jdk1.1
.8\lib\classes.zip;. ModifierTest
Key event = java.awt.event.KeyEvent[KEY_TYPED,keyCode=0,keyChar='A',modifiers=Sh
ift] on text0
Key mods  = Shift
Shift key is down

stuart.lawrence@eng 1999-02-08