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Keyboard

Overview

Using the keyboard to navigate and perform various tasks in the operating system can be a great timesaver. Keyboard shortcuts and commands can be used to a great extent in both Mac OS X and Windows XP to speed up tasks that would take longer to do with the mouse.

Since there can literally be hundreds of different keyboard shortcuts throughout the operating system, shortcuts should meet two requirements to cut down on learning time:

  • Easy to remember
  • Consistent between applications

Ideally, all keyboard shortcuts should meet these requirements, so that the user will only need to learn a shortcut once. Then, they can then use that shortcut throughout the entire system. Both operating systems list keyboard shortcuts next to their corresponding menu items.

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Common Shortcuts

The following table outlines common keyboard shortcuts found on both Mac OS X and Windows XP:

Task Mac OS X Windows XP
Undo Command-Z Ctrl-Z
New File Command-N Ctrl-N
New Window Command-N Windows-E (Windows Explorer), Ctrl-N (Internet Explorer). Not available for Command Prompt
New Folder Shift-Command-N Context-W-F
Open Command-O Ctrl-O (within applications), Enter (in Windows Explorer), Context-O (on the desktop)
Close Command-W Alt-F4 (Ctrl-F4 to close a child window of an MDI application)
Close All (Files, Windows) Option-Command-W (available in the Finder, but not all applications) Shift+Alt+F4
Save Command-S Ctrl-S
Don't Save (within Close dialog) Command-D Alt-N
Cancel Command-. Esc
Copy (Selection, File) Command-C Ctrl-C
Paste (Selection, File) Command-V Ctrl-V
Beginning of Line Command-left arrow Home
End of Line Command-right arrow End
Beginning of Document Command-up arrow Ctrl-Home
End of document Command-down arrow Ctrl-End
Find Command-F Ctrl-F (within applications), Windows-F or Windows-S (from the desktop)
Quit Command-Q Alt-F4 (if the application has only one window open)
Desktop (within Save dialog) Command-D Tab to "Save in" menu, then arrow up to Desktop (not a "true" shortcut)
Next Application Command-Tab Alt-tab (next window)
Previous Application Shift-Command-Tab Shift-Alt-tab (previous window)
Rename Selected File Return F2
Select All Command-A Ctrl-A
Eject Disc or Volume Command-E
Send to Trash/Recycle Bin Command-Delete Delete
Delete Immediately Shift-Delete
Empty Trash Shift-Command-Delete
Screen capture See Screen Capture
Minimize All F11 (shows the desktop) Windows-M
Restore All F11 Windows-Shift-M
Up Folder Level Command-Up Arrow Backspace
Down Folder Level Command-Down Arrow Enter
Expand Selected Folder Right arrow (when in List or Column view) Right arrow (when in Tree view)
Collapse Selected Folder Left arrow (when in List or Column view) Left arrow (when in Tree view)
Connect to Server Command-K Ctrl-Windows-F
Force Quit/End Task Dialog Command-Option-Esc Ctrl-Alt-Del
Force Quit Current Application Shift-Command-Option-Esc

Typing Special Characters

©, ç, ñ, É, — (m-dash), – (n-dash), ° “ ” ‘ ’ ≥ ≠, etc, etc. Since none of these characters have their own key on a keyboard, typing them requires some extra effort.

Mac OS X

Most special characters can be typed with the help of the option key. Use option when typing a letter or symbol, and OS X will substitute a special character. For instance, option-shift-4 will type a cent sign instead of a dollar sign.

In addition, typing characters with accents is extremely easy. Type option-e, for example, and OS X will insert a forwards accent, highlighted in yellow. Then, type another letter — an "e," "a," etc. — and OS X will place that letter below the accent mark. This lets you easily type words like "résumé." You can use other option key combinations to type other accents as well, letting you easily type letters like "ñ" (option-n + n) or "ü" (option-u + u).

Apple's Keyboard Viewer shows you what characters are made by typing modifier keys:

Press a modifier key (such as option), and Keyboard Viewer will display the special characters you can type in conjunction with that modifier keys. The orange keys denote accent marks that can be placed over multiple letters.

To access Keyboard Viewer, go to System Preferences > International > Input Menu. Check Keyboard Viewer, and then "Show input menu in menu bar." A flag icon displaying your current language will appear in the upper-right corner of the screen. From here, you can access Keyboard Viewer.

To type even more exotic characters, use Character Palette (also accessible from the Input menu):

Windows XP

Windows XP provides two different methods for typing non-standard characters:

  • Character Map
  • Alt-key numeric values


XP's Character Map

Character Map displays a grid of special characters that you can choose from. Select the character you want, click "Copy" to copy it to the clipboard, and then paste it into your document.

You can also use an alt-key combination to type special characters without having to go through Character Map. For instance, the alt-key combination for "Ñ" is alt-0209. Character Map will tell you the alt-key combination for the selected character, so you can use it to look up combinations that you don't know.

Alternatively, you can switch your keyboard layout to "US-International." Go to Control Panel > Regional & Language Settings > Language > Details to set this feature. You can then type "ñ" by typing a tilde (~) followed by an "n." This method has its liabilities as well, however; for instance, typing "E will result in "Ë." Type "[space]E to avoid this.

Microsoft Word has its own Character Map (under Input > Symbol) that is essentially identical to Windows'. However, Word also supports different (easier) key combinations that can be used to type special characters. For example, you can type a © by using the key combination of alt-ctrl-C. It's unfortunate that XP's built-in Character Map does not use these more user-friendly key combinations.

Performing Computer Functions

Both operating systems let you perform computer functions (shut down, restart, etc.) with key combinations. The following table illustrates the different key combinations used on each operating system:

Task Mac OS X Windows XP
Shut Down (prompts to save open documents) Control-Option-Command-Eject Power Key or Windows, U, U
Restart (prompts to save open documents) Control-Command-Eject Windows, U, R
Sleep Command-Option-Eject  
Shut Down Dialog (includes options to shut down, restart, or sleep) Control-Eject or Power key Alt-F4 or Power key (if you modify it to do so)

Keyboard Navigation

Both operating systems provides ways to navigate menus, dialogs, and the filesystem itself from the keyboard rather than with the mouse. While Windows' keyboard navigation features are enabled by default, OS X's are not, requiring the user to first enable them before they can be used (go to System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts > Enable "All controls").

Mac OS X

Menus

To navigate menus with the keyboard:

  • Type Control-F2 to activate the front-most application's menu
  • Navigate with the arrow keys to select a menu, or type the first letter(s) of the menu's name
  • Hit the down arrow key to reveal the selected menu
  • Use the arrow keys to select a menu item, or type the first letter(s) of the menu item's name
  • Hit Return

Dialogs

Enable "all controls" full keyboard access to navigate dialogs (otherwise you will only be able to tab between text boxes and lists within a dialog). Once enabled, navigating dialogs is consistent throughout (most) applications. Use the Tab key to move from one control to the next. Use the space bar to open a drop-down menu. Use the up and down arrows to navigate drop-down menus, or begin typing the first letter(s) of the menu item you want to select.

Keyboard navigation of open/save dialogs does not appear to work thoroughly in Carbon applications. For instance, the "Show" drop-down menu in Internet Explorer's Open dialog can be selected by tabbing to it, but you can't access the items in the menu without clicking it with the mouse. This behavior works as expected in TextEdit, a Cocoa application.

Filesystem

OS X's keyboard shortcuts are based on one modifier key, Command (command), plus an additional key (usually a letter). Often, keyboard shortcuts make use of mnemonics to make them easier to remember. For example, the shortcut for "Quit Application" is command-Q, while the shortcut for "Close Window" is command-W. A third key is used to modify a command (i.e., "Close" vs. "Close All," or "Send to Trash" vs. "Empty Trash").

Windows XP

Menus

To navigate menus with the keyboard:

  • Hit the alt key, and menu items will underline the letter you need to type to access that item
  • Release the alt key and type the letter corresponding to the menu item you want (of course, you can always use the up and down arrow keys as well)
  • Continue this method to navigate submenus. If the item you select does not have a submenu, it will be activated — no need to hit Enter

Dialogs

Navigating dialogs via the keyboard is thorough and consistent throughout all applications. Use the Tab key to move from one control to the next. Use the up and down arrows to navigate drop-down menus, or type the first letter of the item you want to select. You can only type the first letter of the menu item to navigate this way, so if there are several items that begin with the same letter, you will need to use the arrow keys to further narrow your selection.

Filesystem

XP's keyboard shortcuts are based on one modifier key (usually control), plus an additional key (usually a letter, and sometimes a mnemonic). A third key is used to modify a command. Some menu items do not have keyboard shortcuts, however, and many do not make use of mnemonics, making them harder to remember. For example, the keyboard shortcut for "Quit" or "Close" (if multiple windows of the same application are open) is alt-F4.

Application/Document Switching via the Keyboard

See Working With Open Windows for more information.

Conclusion

While both operating systems have comparable support for common keyboard shortcuts, Mac OS X trumps Windows XP with its superior support for typing special characters. Most special characters can be typed by using an easy to remember option key combination, relegating only truly obscure characters to the Character Palette. In contrast, XP users will need to use Character Map if they can't remember a character's alt key combination (which is likely, unless the user types that character frequently).

OS X's keyboard navigation features are inexplicably disabled by default, while XP's are not. Once enabled, however, OS X's keyboard navigation support is generally superior to XP's. For instance, OS X users can type the first few letters of a menu item to jump to that item. XP users can only type the first. Therefore, if a given menu has many items that start with the same letter — i.e., in an online store where you must choose your state from a list:

MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS

OS X users can still jump directly to the item they want.

Mac OS X: 8
Windows XP: 6

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