[geeks] keyboards for Mac

[Bill Bradford]

On Mon, Sep 03, 2007 at 02:08:46PM -0400, Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
> I still can't believe Apple, of all companies, ships such absolute crap for
> mice and keyboards with their very expensive systems.

Jonathan says the new keyboards are *great*.  I've not had a chance to 
try them yet.

> I might end up going with that.  I have a Model M, but it is an old one that
> lacks the keys that a Mac needs.

Basically, the Windows key maps to the Command key on a Mac, "out of the
box".

Normal "PC" layout is like this: CTRL WINDOWS ALT SPACEBAR

I switch the keycaps on the ModelM so its like this: CTRL ALT WINDOWS SPACEBAR

Then in the System Preferences / control panel, I go to "Keyboard & Mouse",
"Keyboard", then "Modifier Keys" and use:

Caps Lock Key : Control
Control Key:    Control
Option Key:     Command
Command Key:    Option

This gives the "Apple" layout with Command next to the Space bar.  The 
only "gotcha" with this is that if you need to do a boot key sequence 
(before the OS loads) you have to remember that it's "backwards" because
your user prefs aren't applied (Alt is Command and the Windows key is Alt).

> I wish Apple would start shipping mice and keyboards that match the price of
> their systems.  For that matter, I wish everyone would do that.

I'm tired of having to take the Mighty Mouse apart to clean the ball, but
I haven't found a non-Apple mouse that I like as much.

> Have you ever tried the Model M keyboards with rubber dome switches?  I was
> wondering if they were better quality than most other rubber-dome keyboards.

I had one (an eBay purchase that was SUPPOSED to be buckling-spring); it
was "nice" but I still prefer the BS keyboards.

Bill

-- 
Bill Bradford 
Houston, Texas