hardwarekeyboardmac-minimacos
Recently I've been thinking about the idea of migrating from PC to Mac, specifically Mac Mini. The biggest issue however is hardware, since I'm not sure what will and what won't work on OS X.
First issue that comes to my mind is keyboard, currently I'm using Logitech G15. If I connect it to a Mac, how well will this work with OS X specific keys like Option, Cmd, etc? Does it work out of the box with all keyboards, or should I rather buy the Apple keyboard?
Perhaps you should replace your generic PC keyboard with a modestly-priced external USB keyboard designed specifically for Mac OS X.
I use the Matias USB 2.0 keyboard, which costs US $30.00.
MacAlly makes a range of models that start at US $20.00.
Download and install KeyRemap4MacBook.
Open EventViewer:
open /Applications/KeyRemap4MacBook.app/Contents/Applications/EventViewer.app
Press the key that you wish to customise and note the KeyCode:::
Create a private.xml like this:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<root>
<item>
<name>Modifier Remapping</name>
<identifier>modremap</identifier>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::CONTROL_L, KeyCode::COMMAND_L</autogen>
</item>
</root>
Replace KeyCode::CONTROL_L with the key that you wish to change and KeyCode::COMMAND_L with the key that you wish to replace it with.
Best Answer
Macs work just fine with non-Apple keyboards. Alt becomes option, and the Windows key becomes the command key. And if you want to rearrange them, you can easily do so in the System Preferences:
However, I prefer to use Apple keyboards with my Mac as they have buttons on the top to control expose, volume, and pause/rewind/fastforward of media playback. Apple keyboards also have the command key better positioned for keyboard shortcuts than the Windows key is on regular keyboards.