Command Option Key On Windows Keyboard Drivers
A simple solution to this problem is to remap the Windows and ALT key and the command and option/alt keys on the Windows PC keyboard connected to the Mac. Jan 27, 2017 You can use an Apple keyboard or a keyboard designed for Microsoft Windows with your Mac. Some keys on your keyboard.
OS X kernel panic On Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6), the IntelliType Pro 8.0 drivers caused me kernel panics at least once a day. The recent don’t cause kernel panics on Lion (OS X 10.7). I haven’t tested them on Snow Leopard, but I assume it is the new drivers, rather than the new Operating System, that contain the fix. Readers have reported that the older work well with Snow Leopard (note that the 7.1 drivers say they are for the older Natural Keyboard Pro, but they also work for this newer keyboard). If you have tested other combinations of driver/OS versions.
Or don't use the Microsoft drivers at all Ironically, the Microsoft drivers stop OS X from recognising the keyboard for what it is! With out the drivers, OS X reports “Natural® Ergonomic Keyboard 4000”; with the IntelliType drivers, it’s a mere “Keyboard”. With IntelliType drivers As the last straw, if you remap your Caps Lock key to Control via Apple’s Keyboard preference pane, with the Microsoft drivers installed the remapping will be lost every time you restart. The following table should help you decide whether you want the Microsoft drivers. More detailed explanations follow.
Option Key On Windows
With Microsoft IntelliType drivers With out Microsoft drivers Kernel panics with 8.0 drivers on Snow Leopard; fine with 8.2 drivers on Lion. No kernel panics. Modifier key mappings. Lost every time you restart. You can swap the Alt and Windows keys.
With the IntelliType software. With KeyRemap4MacBook.
You can use the Application key as a Command or Option key. With the IntelliType software. With KeyRemap4MacBook. Media keys all work correctly. Only mute, volume and play/pause keys work.
Web, search, mail, calculator, favourites 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5, back and forward, and the zoom slider don’t work. How to uninstall the Microsoft drivers The IntelliType UnInstaller is in the Utilities sub-folder of your Applications folder. (If you installed the IntelliPoint mouse drivers, which were bundled in the same installer, the corresponding UnInstaller is in the same location.) If you don’t want to run the uninstallers, you can remove the following manually:. /System/Library/Extensions/MicrosoftKeyboard.kext. /System/Library/Extensions/MicrosoftMouse.kext (if you also installed the IntelliPoint drivers).
/Library/Keyboard Layouts/Microsoft Keyboards.bundle. and the Microsoft Keyboard preference pane (open System Preferences, and right-click the Microsoft Keyboard icon, or drag it off the window in a puff of smoke). Swap the Alt and Windows keys. Application key To the right of the spacebar, this keyboard has an “Application” (or Context Menu) key instead of a Windows key. The IntelliType drivers include a setting to treat this key as Command, but OS X has no such setting.
Only allow mapping key codes to output characters, but not changing or adding modifier keys. Graphical interfaces built on top of this mechanism, such as, have the same limitations. You’ll need the open-source.
In spite of its name, works on any Mac (with OS X 10.4 or later). It doesn’t allow arbitrary key mappings, but, in the best open-source tradition, it does have zillions of settings. The one you want is under “For PC Users” » “Change PC Application Key” » “Application Key to OptionL” (i.e.
Left-option, not option+“L”). What you set here doesn’t seem to be affected by OS X’s own modifier keys remapping.
Media keys The keyboard’s mute, volume and play/pause keys all work out of the box, no IntelliType required. There are no keys for previous/next song. (Without the Microsoft drivers) None of the remaining media keys work (web/home, search, mail, calculator, “favorites” 1 through 5, back and forward, and the zoom slider). Function keys The Function keys (F1, etc) behave as such (as opposed to brightness, volume, etc), regardless of what you set in the Keyboard preference pane. If you press “F Lock” the F keys simply do nothing. Luckily the F Lock remembers its setting across reboots.
There is no Fn modifier key as on the Mac keyboards. KeyRemap4MacBook allows you to map the F keys to the usual brightness, volume, etc. But then you’d lose the normal F keys.
Insert, Delete, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down On the Mac OS there is no such thing as an Insert/Overwrite toggle (even on Apple’s extended keyboard there is no Insert key). So unsurprisingly, the Insert key does nothing. Delete works. Page-Up and -Down work. Home and End scroll to the top and bottom of the window instead of moving the cursor to the beginning or end of the line (but this is consistent with the behaviour of Apple keyboards) except in Microsoft Office, where Home and End behave as on the PC.
Numeric keypad Num Lock doesn’t work, but fortunately it is stuck in the numeric mode. Final thoughts I initially liked this keyboard: The split and tenting angles provide a comfortable resting position, it has Command, Option and Control keys for both hands, and the price is quite reasonable. But after several months, I have stopped using this keyboard. It’s just too large!
Keys like Return, Backspace, and Escape are quite far away from the home position. I don’t really need a numeric keypad (it forces the mouse that much further away). The keys are loud (especially the clunky spacebar) and the key travel distance (and the force required to press them) is more than I’d like. These are of course quite personal opinions, and this keyboard could be just perfect for someone else. As a computer programmer I do a lot of typing, so I try to optimise for ergonomics.