Filed under: Switchers, Mac 101
Mac 101: Using your Windows keyboard
If you switch frequently between a Mac and a PC, chances are you have to deal with a Windows keyboard from time to time. Thankfully, this can be easy with third-party utilities, or even features already built in to Mac OS X.
For most switchers, the hardest part about learning to use a new Mac is dealing with your muscle memory. For example, if you're really used to typing Control + C to copy something, Command + C means using your thumb instead of your pinky to perform the operation.
In System Preferences, you can click Keyboard and Mouse to change how your modifier keys (that is, Control, Command, Option and Caps Lock) work. Click the Keyboard tab, and then click the Modifier Keys button at the bottom of the window. You can map the Control key to the Command key (and vice versa, if you prefer) to help ease you in to Mac key commands.
(Not that we condone such activity, but this makes for an easy April Fool's day prank, too.)
If you need more control (for accessibility reasons, for example), you can use a free utility like DoubleCommand or KeyRemap4MacBook. With DoubleCommand, you can remap keys to the number pad, and make use of multiple-key combos, like shift-backspace for forward delete.
KeyRemap4MacBook lets you specify which keys are remapped to other keys, rather than selecting from a predetermined list. Some remappings aren't possible (due to the way Mac OS X works), but this is an even more flexible alternative to DoubleCommand.
Also -- don't use DoubleCommand and KeyRemap4MacBook at the same time, as they use the same methods for taking over your keyboard. Dogs and cats living together: mass hysteria.
If you're looking for keyboard macros -- that is, executing a series of keypresses by typing just one key -- products like QuicKeys, Keyboard Maestro, and iKey are for you. Windows-centric applications like Parallels, VMWare or Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection tool all offer built-in command key mappers to ease the challenge of bi-OS living.
Now if only I could get a keyboard for my feet, I could be twice as productive.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jan Hoffmann said 1:47PM on 9-11-2008
I've been trying to use the mac keyboard on my PC but I found no convienient way to rearrange/reassaign the CRTL - Windows - ALT keys. I kept hitting Windows-TAB insteat of ALT-Tab to switch between apps in Windows. Does anyone have an idea how to change these keys?
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Wasabichimera said 2:43PM on 9-11-2008
Check out KeyTweak. I've used it to remap keys allowing me to use my Mac keyboard on my PC when I switch over. It can also learn the F13 - 19 keys.
http://webpages.charter.net/krumsick/
Charles Wise said 3:04PM on 9-11-2008
This sounds great. And I did it myself when I first switched to a Mac. But it doesn't work consistently. And the docs for everything give you the wrong keystrokes. It's much more trouble then just switching between keyboards. You're eventually going to put it back the way it belongs so you might as well save yourself the trouble and not bother.
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Frogmella said 4:55PM on 9-11-2008
Best bit: make the caps lock key do F-ALL!!!
Who uses it anyway?
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Ross said 5:13PM on 9-11-2008
I'm with you. Setting the caps-lock to do nothing at all is almost as good as having it removed from the keyboard entirely :)
Andrew said 7:13PM on 9-11-2008
i use an external windows keyboard with my macbook when i'm at home, but not when i'm on the go. is there a way to have my mac *automatically* detect the external keyboard and swap the windows/alt keys? it's pretty annoying to have to do it manually...
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Phil Gyford said 8:51AM on 9-12-2008
If you're using a UK Windows keyboard (I don't know about other nationalities) then you've only solved half the problem. Some characters, such as " and @ are in different places on UK Windows and Mac keyboards. I'm amazed Apple has never released anything to get round this in all the years it's been an issue.
If it's driving you nuts, I have a couple of solutions on my site: http://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2005/11/20/using_a_british.php
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Moses said 12:33PM on 9-12-2008
I go the other way, I'm used to a Mac keyboard on my desktop but I have an external Windows keyboard for my laptop. I have to go in and swap the Windows and Alt keys so they act like Option and Cmd, respectively... otherwise my muscles get really confused on which modifier key to push.
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Leandro said 7:59AM on 9-19-2008
Someone can help me?
I've just bought a Macbook with spanish keyboard (I live in Argentina, it was hard to find an english keyboard Macbook, and I didn't found).
Ok, now I've configured it in english, because I always used english keyboard, as programmer it's helpful than spanish one. Because combinations and quick symbol access.
But I also need to add special characters like accents and ñ, and now using US Extended keyboard layout, the only way to add accents is: Option + e and the vowel I want to accent. And for the ñ: Option + n and then the n again.
That's very confuse, specially for the vowels, because I need to press a vowel before the vowel I want to use. Imagine writing faster your brain automatically draws the keyboard in your mind and writing another vowel when you need other it's confuse.
In english keyboards I was used to just: ' + vowel.
That was fantastic.
Anyone knows if there's a way to use this kind of layout? Or a better method?
I think it no matters that my keyboard is in spanish, but the accents combination is ugly in that layout: US Extended.
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Bill said 1:43PM on 9-27-2008
This summer I bought my parents an apple macbook with the spanish keyboard. They do not know how to write the "@" sign. Can anyone tell me what keystrokes to use? They are in their 80's and I help them with their problems taking over their PC with ichat but this one I help them with because I use a US keyboard. Please, they are driving me nuts!
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