News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

August 14, 2007

updates

iMac Keyboard Update lets you use the whole enchilada

Posted Aug. 14, ’07, 9:33 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Software » Updates

iMac KeyboardBefore I jetted off this weekend, I got a chance to stop by my friendly neighborhood Apple Store and take a look at the new iMacs and—far more interestingly—the new keyboards. For the most part, I agree with The Macalope: if you like the MacBook keyboard, you’ll like the iMac’s new keyboard since they are, in effect, the exact same thing. But the thinness is impressive, and despite the fact that I thought they looked kind of flimsy in pictures, keep in mind that the silvery material is actually aluminum, not just silver plastic, so they’re at least as rugged as a soda can, and, hey, probably more.

One thing puzzled me, at the time. I was curious how the OS would deal with the fact that the Dashboard and Expose keys had been moved from their default positions at F9-F12 to F2 and F3. Upon trying this out, I discovered that it wasn’t actually the case: those functions were still actually bound to the old keys, and the new keys (including the media playback keys) did nothing.

I asked one of the sales people, who was kind of perplexed himself, and he assembled a crack team of experts to answer the question. A few minutes later, when he returned, he explained that it had to do with the way that the machines were set up in the store: they weren’t using the right software. But he assured me the functions would work fine out of the box.

Well, he was only partially right. Apple actually released Keyboard Update 1.1 the next day, which allows you to “use your aluminum Apple Keyboard and take advantage of the special features.” O frabjous day! I haven’t gotten a chance to go back and try the new special sauce out yet, but presumably there are some new iMac owners out there. Feel free to dish!


1 Comments

seth said:

love the lewis carroll vocabulary insert

August 15, 2007 11:27 AM

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