The new Apple keyboards
I have used Apple's ``crumb collector'' keyboards with their clear
acrylic shell for years, both the wired and the wireless version. I
like their regular-sized keys, they feel solid and have good tactile
feedback. My main complaint was that the tilde key was in the wrong
place, which is a problem for those of us who also use PCs. But Apple
doesn't make them anymore.
I have also tried regular PC-style keyboards with Macs. Same good tactile feedback, provided you buy a good one and not the 10-euro wonder from the bargain bin. Of course you lose Apple's special control keys, like volume and brightness control, and eject. They tend to have a Windows key instead of Apple's cauliflower/Apple key. For some reason Apple calls the "Alt" key "Option" and the cauliflower/Apple key "Command", but even Apple's own acrylic keyboard didn't use those terms. I always found that quite confusing - why does the documentation keep talking about pressing Option-this and Command-that if there are no such keys on the keyboard?
Enter the iMac. It comes with the choice of a completely redesigned wired and a wireless keyboard. Both look very sleek, and very much like notebook keyboards. I would have preferred the wireless one but for some reason that I cannot fathom, it lacks the cursor and numeric sections. If you enter numbers a lot, or detest microscopic cursor and page up/down keys, that's just not an option.
So I have returned to a wired keyboard. I was never happy with Apple's notebook keyboards and I thought I'd dislike this one as well, but I found it to be quite usable. It's solid, heavy, and quick and silent to use. But it is still a notebook keyboard with some keys tacked on, so it's a compromise.
- The tilde key is back where it belongs, hurray! And for the first
time, the Option and cauliflower keys are actually labeled
alt/option and command.
- There is enough spacing between the keys, but the key surface is
flat, so the keys don't guide your fingers very well if you drift
off-center while typing. I make more typos on this keyboard.
- The function keys F1-F12 are mode keys by default, such as volume
and brightness control. If you want the function key, you need to
hold down the fn key. Fortunately this behavior can be reversed
in the system preferences, I use the function keys a lot more
often than I change the brightness or volume.
Being a notebook keyboard, they had to crowd all volume keys and things into the main part of the keyboard. To the right, there are seven keys, F13 through F19, that would be perfect for volume etc (that's what the acrylic keyboard used them for). But F13-F19 have no purpose and are not used for anything at all. I use vmware to run Linux on my iMac and F13 is print-screen, but that's it. Fortunately, Linux (unlike MacOS) is highly configurable so I can assign new meanings to these keys.
- Speaking of the fn key. It's where the insert key should be. The
keyboard lacks an insert key, which is annoying for those of us
who run Linux (or Windows, presumably) and need the insert key.
- The keyboard has a "clear" key where PC keyboards have a NumLock key. I have no idea what it's for. It replaces the crossed-out box key on the acrylic keyboard, which I gather was only ever used by Microsoft Office on the Mac. No big loss, I never turned NumLock off anyway.
To summarize, the keyboard looks like Apple took a fresh view of its keyboards, and fixed a numnber of old shorcomings. But they introduced fresh problems by focusing on the notebook portion, and made the cursor and numeric portions a neglected afterthought. Still, I think I'll keep using it.
(The iMac also came with a new Magic Mouse.)