Laptop Keyboards Are Different


The keyboard on your laptop is slightly different from a stand-alone keyboard that comes with a desktop computer. The most obvious difference is that it's smaller and doesn't include a separate numeric keypad. But your laptop keyboard has lots of hidden secrets, most of which you'll access using the fn key.

The Function Key

The fn on that key in the lower-left stands for "function." When you hold down the fn key, the normal function of certain keys (including some of the Fkeys) changes. For instance, the keys outlined below double as a numeric keypad. This embedded numeric keypad replaces the dedicated numeric keypad of a desktop keyboard.

The small letters, numbers, or symbols in the bottom-right corner of some keys indicates how the functions of those keys will change when you hold down the fn key. For instance, the small "c" shown on the 6 key represents the "clear" command; it becomes available when you press the fn key to activate the numeric keypad.

People who use calculators or spreadsheets will find this feature especially valuable.

Tip

Instead of holding down the fn key, you can tap the "num lock" key (F6) to activate the numeric keypad.

Tap F6 again to turn off the keypad.


A 17-inch PowerBook keyboard is shown above. Unlike the iBook keyboard, the F7, F8, F9, and F10 keys have default actions assigned to them, indicated by icons on the keys.

The F7 key shows an icon of overlapping rectangles. The rectangles represent computer screens. If you've connected your laptop to an external display such as another monitor or a projector, use the F7 key to toggle between dual display mode (your laptop display is extended to the connected external display) and video mirroring mode (whatever you see on your laptop is duplicated on the connected external screen, television, or projector).

Some PowerBooks have back-lit keyboards that sense the amount of ambient light. When light conditions in a room are too dim to see the keyboard characters, the PowerBook can illuminate the charactersa nice feature when you have to give a presentation in a darkened room.

The F8 key turns the keyboard illumination feature on or off.

Tap the F9 key to reduce the amount of illumination; each tap dims the keyboard more.

Tap the F10 key to increase the keyboard's illumination; each tap increases the light.

If you try these Fkeys (shown above and explained on the previous page) and nothing happens, it may be that your Keyboard preferences are set so that the fn key is required to activate the default Fkey commands. Try pressing the fn key (circled below) along with the Fkey. See the next page for details about changing Fkey behavior.

Amazingly, the 12-inch PowerBook's keyboard (below) is the same size as the keyboard on the 17-inch PowerBook. But since the 12-inch PowerBook doesn't include a back-lit keyboard illumination feature, the F8F10 keys don't show illumination control icons.

Change the Fkey Behavior

Many different applications use the Fkeys as keyboard shortcuts. For instance, in Adobe InDesign, I can press F5 to display or hide the Swatches palette and F6 to display or hide the Color palette. But when I work in InDesign on my PowerBook, when I press F5 it raises the sound volume instead of bringing up the Swatches palette.

You can change the Keyboard preferences so the Fkeys will perform the custom actions in other software applications instead of the default hardware actions assigned to them by the Mac.

1.

Open System Preferences.

2.

Click the "Keyboard & Mouse" icon.

3.

In the "Keyboard & Mouse" window, click the "Keyboard" tab (circled below).

4.

The Keyboard pane contains a checkbox to change the Fkey behavior.

When the checkbox IS checked: The Fkeys will perform software features (custom actions that you've assigned in other applications).

If you want to use the F1 F12 keys to control hardware features (the features indicated by the icons on the keys) while this box is checked, press the fn key along with the appropriate Fkey.

When the checkbox IS NOT checked: The Fkeys control hardware featuresthe features indicated by the icons on the keys (such as screen brightness and volume).

If you want to use the F1F12 keys to perform software features (custom actions that you've assigned in other applications) while this box is checked, press the fn key along with the appropriate Fkey.

More FN Functions

The keyboard chart below shows how key functions change when using the fn key, and the Fkey checkbox is not selected in Keyboard preferences (as explained on the previous page).

Hold down the fn key and tap the Delete key to forward delete.

The arrow keys on the bottom-right turn into Home, PageUp (pg up), Page-Down (pg dn), and End when you hold down the fn key.

When you hold down the fn key, the Control key becomes the Right Control key (rt ctrl), and the Shift keys become Right Shift keys, which are necessary in some games where the right-side keys can have different features from the left-side keys. The Option keys become Alt GR keys, a CTRL-ALT combination for foreign characters.

The option, Command, and Enter keys take on the functions of a pc keyboard when you hold down the fn key. This is useful if you're running Windows emulation software, such as Microsoft Virtual pc for Mac, that lets your Mac run Windows. The Command key becomes the Windows key that brings up the Windows Start menu. The Enter key becomes the Windows Menu key that accesses the right-button menus (like the Mac's contextual menus). And the Option key becomes an official Windows Alt key.




Macs on the Go!(c) Guide to Mobile Computing for Mac Laptops Using Mac OS X
Macs on the Go
ISBN: 0321247485
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 119

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