Keyboard

The Keyboard applet (see Figure 24.6) lets you fine-tune the way the keyboard behaves, check the keyboard driver, and perform some keyboard troubleshooting. The Input Locales tab has been removed from this applet; to change your language settings, you must use the Regional and Language Options applet (later in this chapter.)

Figure 24.6. Adjusting key-repeat speed and delay can be useful for avoiding unwanted characters.

The main attractions here are the repeat rate, the repeat delay, and the cursor blink rate. By altering the key-repeat delay (the time after pressing a key before it starts to repeat) and the repeat speed, you can calm down an ill-behaved keyboard or improve usability for someone with a mobility impairment. Altering the delay before the repeat sets in might be helpful if you use applications that require extensive use of, say, the PgUp and PgDn, Enter, or the arrow keys (perhaps in a point-of-sale situation).

You also might want to change the cursor blink rate if the standard blinking cursor annoys you for some reason. You can even stop it altogether (the setting is "none"). I prefer a nonblinking one myself.

The defaults for these keyboard settings are adequate for most users and keyboards.