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The Mac Keyboard
(This material is an excerpt from Ars Technica)
 
On a Mac keyboard, t he keys function identically to their Windows counterparts. However, there are two significant differences. The Mac has an additional "modifier" key, referred to as the Command key. It's the one with an outline of an Apple and the little cloverleaf-like symbol on it. There is no Windows equivalent.
The Command key functions very similarly to the Control key in Windows. Many keyboard shortcuts translate easily from Windows to OS X. Control-V to Command-V for paste, Control-W to Command-W to close a window, etc.

In a similar vein, the Alt key in Windows and Linux becomes the Option key in OS X. The Control key has the same function on a Mac, but it has a much more minor role in Mac OS X. The Num Lock key is rather pointless on the Mac. Your numeric keypad is simply that — a numeric keypad that cannot be toggled to page up, down, etc.

Accented and other "nonstandard" characters can be entered by key combinations. For example, to get an acute e (é), you would press Option-e and then e again.

Looking on the front of your mini, you will notice the absence of a button to eject CDs and DVDs. The Apple keyboard has a key for this above the numeric keypad.

 

*Read the whole article at :
Eric Bangeman , Kurt Hutchinson. Ars Technica. 25.1.2005. "A mini-guide to Mac OS X for new Mini owners" http://arstechnica.com/guides/tweaks/miniguide.ars. Viewed 3.12. 2005

 

 

 

 

created by K. Epps
last modified 3-dec-05