Mac Keyboard

The Mac Keyboard layout is somewhat different from the keyboard of a Windows computer. The most obvious difference is the addition three extra keys which do not exist on a PC computer: the Command (⌘) and the Function (fn) buttons, and depending on the computer, either the power or eject button located in the top right hand corner. The Mac keyboard has an option key which is similar to the alt button on a PC computer. In fact, it says alt in small letters above the option label. Both Mac and PC computers feature a row of function keys that rests above the numbers at the top of the keyboard. I find that the Mac keyboard is better labelled with easily identifiable symbols of the actions. These include screen brightness, activating Mission Control, activating Launchpad, adjusting the backlit keyboard brightness, media controls, and volume controls. Newer higher end Mac laptops also feature the TouchBar which is automatically adapts the function keys based on the application that is running. Finally, not all Mac keyboards feature a numeric keypad.

On the other hand, the Windows keyboard has considerably more keys that are not included on a Mac keyboard: the home, end, page up or down, backspace, prtscn (print screen), Windows, Menu (right click), number or scroll lock buttons. Some of these are navigation buttons and are duplicated through a keyboard shortcut, while others may not exist because the operating system does not work the same way (e.g. Windows button).

For easy reference, Apple uses the following symbols to represent Mac keyboard keys: ⌘ = command, ⌥ = alt/option, ^ = control

Keyboard Shortcut Equivalents

Below are some commonly used keyboard shortcuts that Windows users may be familiar with. Next to them are the Mac equivalents:

Other Equivalencies

• The Windows Update equivalent on a Mac computer is to go to the  symbol in the Menu Bar, select "About this Mac" and choose Software Update on the screen that pops up. Alternatively, it is also possible to update software by going to the App Store (accessed by clicking the  symbol) and choosing the Updates tab at the top of the screen.
• The Print Screen button is not the most elegant way of capturing a screenshot on a Windows. This is one area where I feel that the Mac platform offers greater versatility. There are two ways of getting a screen shot on a Mac:
  1. Entire screen: hold down Cmd-Shift-3 will capture the entire screen. This will create a .png file on the desktop.
  2. Partial screen: hold down Cmd-Shift-4 to replace the cursor with a crosshair. Select the area to be captured by holding down the mouse button/trackpad button and draw a box around the area. This will create a .png file on the desktop.

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