Using PC keyboard with Mac Mini

tilttilt
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Yay, I finally managed to convince a buddy of mine to buy a Mac. His PC crashed and he has seen my old Mini and my new Macbook and has heard me talk incessantly about the Mac and he's finally making the plunge! He's buying a Mini.



He however wants to keep his old keyboard and mouse because he has (and likes) the Microsoft Ergonomic (ugh!) keyboard. No problems actually. Just one question: With Panther, the F12 key could be used as the Eject key. However with Tiger, F12 runs Dashboard. So how would he eject a CD from the keyboard?



Also, I assume that the Windows Key would be used as the Command (Apple) key, right?



Edited to add: BTW, does th new Mini still ship that dongle that can be used to connect an old CRT display or does he have to order it separately? My old Mini shipped with it included!



Cheers

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tilt


    *Just one question: With Panther, the F12 key could be used as the Eject key. However with Tiger, F12 runs Dashboard. So how would he eject a CD from the keyboard?



    You can always remap Dashboard to F8 or something else (or nothing). That might enable ejecting through F12.



    Quote:

    Also, I assume that the Windows Key would be used as the Command (Apple) key, right?



    Yep.



    Quote:

    Edited to add: BTW, does th new Mini still ship that dongle that can be used to connect an old CRT display or does he have to order it separately? My old Mini shipped with it included!



    A DVI to VGA adapter is included.
  • Reply 2 of 6
    tilttilt Posts: 396member
    Thanks Chucker. As always, you have been very helpful



    Cheers
  • Reply 3 of 6
    kukukuku Posts: 254member
    Dashboard(f12) and eject do not conflict with each other.



    In such a case, dashboard takes piority, and to eject, you (hold) F12.



    It's the same for any non eject key keyboards.
  • Reply 4 of 6
    tilttilt Posts: 396member
    Wow, that is really cool Kuku! Thanks
  • Reply 5 of 6
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,320moderator
    If the keyboard has media keys too, you can get a program called controllermate:



    http://www.orderedbytes.com/controllermate/



    and then customize the keys to do what you want. I use a PC keyboard too because I don't like the Apple keyboard. I have itunes setup to function with the media keys. I usually keep my machine on and only put on the screensaver. Because I can now play itunes from the keyboard, I can put on my headphones and hit play and I don't even have to turn on my display and type in my login.



    I have 15 media keys and I assign custom Applescripts to them so I can open certain webpages and things.
  • Reply 6 of 6
    tilttilt Posts: 396member
    Sad news. My buddy emailed me just now saying that he went ahead and bought an HP Pavilion with Windows Media Centre and 1 gig RAm and 250 gig HDD and DVD writer and 17" LCD for a little less than what he would have paid for a Dual Core Mini.



    He felt more comfortable with the known devil than the unknown angel. Well, all my questions to you folks and all your answers were unfortunately a waste of all our time. My apologies to all of you.



    Cheers
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