Topic: Mac people, help me out! <- Keyboards

[Pale]

So, it looks like I'm going to be working on a shiny new Macbook Pro 15 inch (2 gigs of RAM 120 gig HD, ati x1600 with 256 megs of RAM) and I couldn't be more excited.

The first thing I'm going to do is put Windows on it.

Anyway, I need some help with keyboard compatibility questions.  I want to set up two workstations (one at home and one at the office) where I can work at a normal keyboard and mouse and a normal monitor.  I understand that both the keyboard and mouse have to be USB to hook into the Mac, so I'm fine there.  My question is...

What kind of keyboard do I buy?  A windows keyboard or a Mac keyboard?  There are two reasons for worrying about Windows.

1.  I'll be dual booting the machine so it will run Windows sometimes.
2.  At home I will have it hooked up to a KVM switch that goes to my standard PC desktop.

So, do Windows keyboards work on Macs fine?  Do Mac keyboards work on windows fine?  The world wants to know.  Also, this thread can be used for general Mac discussion if you want.

[Rhoq]

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Originally posted by: Pale
So, do Windows keyboards work on Macs fine?  Do Mac keyboards work on windows fine?  The world wants to know.  Also, this thread can be used for general Mac discussion if you want.

A Windows USB keyboard will work with MacOS-X just fine (and I assume vice-versa). The only difference would be that the "Windows" Start Menu and Contextual Menu keys would be used in place of the Apple "option" keys. The key placement is different as on a Windows keyboard those keys are placed in between CTRL and ALT and on a Mac, the "Option" key is to the right of CTRL and ALT on the left side of the space bar and to the left on the right side....

As far as running Windows goes - unless you intend to play games, I'd recommend running Windows under the Parallels instead of dual-booting. Parallels is just as fast as running Windows natively, and will protect you in the event that you hose your Windows partition due to a nasty virus, since Windows would be confined to a file running under a virtual environment. Plus Parallels will let you run just about any version of Windows ever released. With Boot Camp you are restricted to WinXPsp2 Single-Disc version or Vista.  

[Twubble]

Buy this keyboard. It will make you very very happy.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16823131117

[Pale]

I intend to play games as well as dev games in directX and other more exciting environments, so I'm going to have to go with boot camp.  Does it support Vista already?

Twubble, is that the keyboard you meant to link to?  It seems to be ps/2 and I need usb.

Also, Rhoq, thanks for all the input on the keyboard front.  Does anyone have a keyboard suggestion that has the labels for both windows and mac?  I know that seems silly but I'm just curious if they make them.

[Rhoq]

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Originally posted by: Pale
Also, Rhoq, thanks for all the input on the keyboard front.

No problem.

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Originally posted by: Pale
Does anyone have a keyboard suggestion that has the labels for both windows and mac?  I know that seems silly but I'm just curious if they make them.

I don't know of any. Like I mentioned earlier, the problem there would be the placement of the Windows-specific keys in between the CTRL & ALT versus the Apple "Option" keys. Unless of course, there were a keyboard where you could switch the keys around and have a Mac/PC setting.

Even though I'm a "Mac guy", I believe that there is definitely room for both platforms. There are some things that MacOS does better than Windows and some things that Windows does better than MacOS.

[Twubble]

Whoops, here you go. Don't know where you'd actually want to buy it, but at least you can see the correct model number. I have the ps/2 version and love it. Previously I had bought a fancy keyboard with all the media controls, but hated it. The Keytronic board is simple, but has a great feel to it. Best I've had and I did use to own a Mac so I know what their keyboards are like.


http://shopper.cnet.com/KeyTronic_E03600QUSUSBB_C_keyboard/4014-3134_9-31349243.html

[Karl Castaneda #2]

...and another staffer buys a Mac. Welcome to the club, Pale! I can't wait to tell Windy!

[Pale]

The best part is I'm not buying it!

But I don't own it either..

I'll just have to make sure I keep my job.  

[wandering]

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Does anyone have a keyboard suggestion that has the labels for both windows and mac? I know that seems silly but I'm just curious if they make them.

They do. That's what I have. I haven't used it in ages - I remember having some problem with it, like it thought the control key was the apple key, or something. But that may have been my fault, none of the reviews mention anything like that.  

[Rhoq]

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Originally posted by: wandering

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Does anyone have a keyboard suggestion that has the labels for both windows and mac? I know that seems silly but I'm just curious if they make them.

They do. That's what I have. I haven't used it in ages - I remember having some problem with it, like it thought the control key was the apple key, or something. But that may have been my fault, none of the reviews mention anything like that.

Yeah - but that's just a standard, wirless keyboard & mouse set from Logitech. As long as it's USB it will work with MacOS-X and Windows. From the pictures, it appears to have only the Windows-specific keys.

[EssentialParadox]

Why do you want a normal keyboard? The keyboards on MacBooks are already really good, better than standard keyboards.

Same goes for the screen… unless you're buying an expensive monitor, it won't look better than the LCD on a Mac notebook.

I don't know the kind of screens you were getting, of course, but it seems this is your first Mac machine so I just wanted to give a heads-up of the quality you'll be missing out on if you replace the keyboard and screen. I personally have dual monitors; I use my PowerBook screen with another LCD screen, but this LCD screen, even though it's bigger, is a joke next to my PowerBook's screen.  

[Pale]

Well the monitor would be used for a two monitor setup.  And any non laptop keyboard is bettern than a laptop keyboard in my opinion.

Also.  FIRST POST FROM THE NEW MAC!

[Shift Key]

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Does it support Vista already?

Don't bother with Vista until they release a service pack at least. I've come across some terrible terrible stories involving Vista installs on new and existing hardware, but I haven't seen any stories about Vista on Macs. Just stick with XP in the meantime, because at least it works.