Text 55958, 54 rader
Skriven 2009-07-18 17:33:04 av Alan Zisman (1:123/789.0)
  Kommentar till text 55949 av August Abolins (1:123/789.0)
Ärende: mac/pc keyboards anyone?
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August Abolins -> All wrote:
 AA> Anyone know the scoop about mac/pc keyboards and just how compatible
 AA> they are with mac pcs? I have an iMac G3 model m5521 (semi-transparent
 AA> blue case) dropped off to me that needs to be checked out, but it
 AA> doesn't have the original keyboard anymore  - nor a mouse.  The idea was
 AA> to get a kbd that is both mac/pc capable.  But finding one doesn't seem
 AA> to be easy.

 AA> I know Logitech provides a mac or pc logo to identify what is
 AA> compatible, but their mac-compatibles are bit too pricey.

 AA> Looking for just a basic keyboard.

 AA> Anyone know if any USB mouse will work also?   The unit has 2 USB ports
 AA> (but they're not identified as mouse or kbd)..  is that where the
 AA> keyboard and mouse go?


Yes- the iMac (and other Macs over the past decade) have used USB ports for
keyboard/mice, and included USB ports in Apple's keyboards so that using one
for the keyboard still left ports available for other uses.

Pretty much any USB mouse will work fine with a Mac- and you'll find, from
System 8.0 on that you have right-mouse button support even though Apple didn't
build that into their own mice until recently.

For keyboards, you'll find that any USB keyboard will work with a big gotcha--
the basic letters & numbers should work fine, but the Control, Alt, and Windows
keys may not map correctly to the Mac Control, Option, and Command keys.

Some companies, like Microsoft & Logitech, which are marketing their keyboards
to both Windows and Mac markets, will have downloadable Mac keyboard utilities
to make their models work. There MAY be 3rd-party utilities available for
3rd-party or generic PC keyboards... but I haven't researched the subject- and
any utility will need to support the operating system that's on the Mac...
there have been big differences in Mac OS over the 10 years since the blue iMac
G3 was released.

I may have a Mac USB keyboard I could send you, but the cost of postage may be
prohibitive.

Does your iMac have a tray-loading CD (as in the original 233 MHz and 266 MHz
models) or a slot-loading CD (as in the later G3 models)? How much RAM? How big
a hard drive? Installed operating system version? (Or are you waiting to get a
usable keyboard to fire it up)?

-- 
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- email: alan (at) zisman (dot) ca
- website: http://www.zisman.ca
(running on Mac OS X)

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