When I’m at my desk at work, I keep my MacBook Pro plugged in to an external monitor and to a USB keyboard and mouse connected to a USB hub. In particular, I have a Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite keyboard, with which I’m quite satisfied.*
As most Mac users know, there is a small difference between PC keyboards and Mac keyboards, and it’s not just the presence or absence of the Windows or Swedish campground symbols. The default key mapping for a PC keyboard swaps the position of the keys mapped to the Mac’s Command and Option keys. The Windows key serves as the Command key, but rather than appearing just to the left of the space bar, it is shifted one position further to the left, and the Alt key, which has the function of the Mac’s Option key, appears in its place. Here is a not particularly helpful illustration:
PC keyboard
MacBook Pro keyboard
Under OS X 10.4 Tiger, in order to keep the Command and Option key functions in the same physical place on both of my keyboards, I had to go in to the system preferences each time I plugged in or disconnected my USB keyboard, and re-map the keys. With the help of Quicksilver (best. utility. ever.) I got pretty quick at it, but I still had to do it 2-3 times a day.
Leopard has saved me literally seconds per day by allowing me to set key mappings per keyboard. It remembers!
Not only does the OS automatically swap the keys on my PC keyboard when I plug it in, but the keys on the MacBook stay in their default mapping regardless of whether the PC keyboard is attached. About damn time. Thanks, Apple!
* I’ve always felt that one thing Microsoft does particularly well is hardware. With one glowing exception, that is.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Andrew Treloar // Nov 24, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Did you really get this to work with the Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite? I have had *no* success, although the Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro (nowhere near as nice a fell) does work. Perhaps it’s a slight product variation problem? My ID (under the keyboard, RHS) is 71305-584-0432192-39153. What is yours?
2 Cody // Dec 7, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Hi Andrew, sorry it’s taken so long for me to respond. Yes, it’s working for me. I’ve got a different product ID, but I think the number you posted is unique per keyboard. The model number on my MS NKE is KU-0045 (above the bar code).
When I upgraded to Leopard, I uninstalled Microsoft’s keyboard preference pane (which was worthless anyway for this model). If you’ve got it installed, you might want to try disabling it.
3 Andrew Treloar // Dec 17, 2007 at 6:17 pm
After some testing, I can confirm that not all Microsoft Natural Keyboards Elite are the same!
I have one model (with a PS2-USB adapter) which works, but doesn’t register with the Keyboard control panel (so I have to remap it manually)
I have another model (with a PS2 socket only) which doesn’t show up at all when I use the adapter from the other keyboard.
I’ll probably go with the remapping approach using an Applescript triggered by DisplayWatcher.
Thanks for your help anyway!
4 Alan Hogan // May 5, 2008 at 8:06 pm
My Microsoft Natural 4000 works perfectly with Mac; under both Tiger and Leopard, Microsoft’s drivers automatically switched the keys for me. Never thought I’d say this, but thanks, Microsoft.
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