OT: You OS/X Users...question for ya...

[Bill Campbell]

On Wed, Feb 28, 2007, Brian K. White wrote:
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Bill Campbell" <bill at celestial.com>

...
>> Using the function keys on the Apple laptops requires holding down the FN
>> key at the bottom left of the keyboard -- hardly an ideal situation. 
>> There
>> might be a way to reverse the functionallity so that they function keys 
>> did
>> the right thing normally, and the Apple functions only when the FN key is
>> down.
>
>Aha. I did not know that. And now that provides a possible lead to follow.
>
>Some Microsoft keyboards and a few other keyboards started shipping since a 
>few years ago with F keys that sent alternative keycodes by default, and you 
>have to press a little Fn key to make an F key send the normal key code. In 
>the case of these Microsoft keyboards on Windows, there is a couple 
>different forms of hack you can do to cause the behavior to reverse at boot 
>or sometime during startup. In this case one of the ways is to run a small 
>app during startup, which sends some commands to the keyboards internal 
>controller that swaps the default behaviour until the keyboard loses power 
>or receives a counteracting command. This fixes pretty much any program 
>since it adjusts the keyboard itself.
>I think another was a registry tweak that reverses the meanings of the 
>keycodes in windows, which only fixes windows.
>Also you didn't have to hold the Fn key like a shift key each time either. 
>Even without doing anything to fix the keyboard, you'd still just have to 
>press the Fn key once per restart, or any time you pressed it accidentally. 
>It acted as a toggle between modes like caplock/numlock.

That's all meaningless to me as I don't Do Windows.  All my
desktop machines are either Macs or Linux, and I gave my wife a
Mac Mini so I wouldn't have to muck with her old Windows box.

...
>> What I would really like is an Apple laptop with a ThinkPad keyboard and
>> eraser mouse.
>
>As a track-pad liker and eraser-point hater (ok hate is way too strong a 
>word for something like this) My number one, and damned near _only_ wish for 
>any kind of change on a mac book is the only-one-mouse button. Some laptops 
>are starting to put a little constellation around the pad to try to provide 
>all the same buttons as a 7 or 9 button mouse complete with 
>tilt-scroll-wheel-button and thumb buttons etc... and I agree completely 
>with that trend. That magnetic power connector and the overall design of the 
>whole unit, and the fact that at least some of the time you can use a 
>bluetooth mouse with the built-in bluetooth, are almost enough to make up 
>for the missing pointer controls. Almost.

I miss the eraser mouse and proper number of mouse buttons, but
have a Microsoft wireless USB mouse which is OK (that's the only
Microsoft soft product I'll willingly use other than their
``Natural'' keyboards).  I've almost gotten used to the trackpad
and can deal with the single button mouse with key combinations
when I don't feel like using the external mouse.

Bill
--
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