By Graham K. Rogers

With the latest version of OS X 10.8, Mountain Lion, there are some additions to System Preferences and several changes: some large, some small. The Keyboard preferences has an almost identical panel to the one that was available in 10.7, Lion, but a close look shows a number of subtle differences.

The Keyboard preference panel is in two sections: Keyboard and Keyboard shortcuts. There are changes in both of these.

Keyboard

Since the update, key repeating has not been available on my MacBook Pro for characters or numbers. Punctuation and other marks do repeat: for example 2 does not, while @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ does. This is the same for Thai characters. On the same 2 key, when Thai is active, the / key repeats, while the Thai character for 1 does not. Other keys (punctuation, character/numeric) are likewise affected.

The Delay Until Repeat slider adjusts the time before the first repeat begins. The delay may be adjusted between short and long.

On notebook computers, which have a limited-width keyboard, below the sliders is a check-box to turn on or off the use of F keys as standard function keys. When active the Fn key must be pressed to use the function key for its additional purpose. This then allows the F-key to have a second use (some may already be allocated), which can be allocated in the Keyboard Shortcuts section.

An example might be the F12 key which is marked with the speaker symbol and increases sound volume. When the Fn checkbox is used, pressing the key reveals Dashboard. When the Fn key is pressed with F12, the volume is increased. If the box in the Keyboard panel is not checked, F12 adjusts volume; used with Fn it opens Dashboard.

Care should be taken when selecting this. Users should make sure they are aware of what pressing a Function key will do.

A check box below this has revised wording -- Adjust keyboard brightness in low light -- but functions as previously. A slider bar below the checkbox selects how long this lighting feature operates when the computer is not being used. The slider runs from 5 secs to over 5 mins, plus Never. When the feature is active, the F5 and F6 keys cannot be used to adjust keyboard brightness.

There is a final checkbox (below the slider): Show Keyboard & Character Viewers in menu bar. This uses the same menubar item for selecting different language keyboards.

• The Character viewer (which is first in the menu) allows access to hundreds of symbols, pictographs currency characters and (now) Emoji icons too.

  
  

  

  
  

• The Keyboard Viewer displays an adjustable-size keyboard on-screen. As keys are pressed on the real keyboard, the display changes to show which are being used. This also shows additional functions, such as with the Option key (e.g. Option + K types a degree symbol, while Option + Shift + K types an apple).

To the right of this checkbox is a button marked "Input Sources". This opens the relevant section in the Language & Text preferences allowing keyboards for different languages to be added.

A Modifier Keys button at the bottom left allows a user to re-allocate the uses of certain keys: Caps Lock, Control, Option and Command. For example, the Caps lock key can be changed to operate as the Option key. The panel also has a Restore Defaults button.

Great care should be exercised when making such changes.

At the bottom right of the panel is a button marked, Set Up Bluetooth Keyboard. When pressed, a panel appears. The system searches for a Bluetooth keyboard and initiates pairing if one is found. The keyboard image on this panel has been changed.

The button for access to this panel may also be found in the Keyboard Shortcuts section of Keyboard preferences.

Keyboard Shortcuts

The panel for Keyboard Shortcuts is in two parts: on the left, the area or group that is being controlled; and on the right, the commands themselves.

There are seven groups (or types) shown: Launchpad & Dock; Mission Control; Keyboard & Text Input, Screen Shots, Services, Spotlight, Accessibility; and Application shortcuts.

When one of these sections is highlighted, the panel on the right lists all commands for that specific area. Some have fewer than others. For example, Launchpad & Dock has only two listed; Screen Shots has only four. Services has many more. It is now possible to add commands only to the Application Shortcuts section (also see Services, below). Each key command has a checkbox to its left (active/inactive) and any assigned key command. If the checkbox to the left is not checked, the key combination is greyed out.

To change a shortcut, we may double-click over the key command shown (when it is active). This reveals a small box in which the new key combination can be typed. If there is a conflict (the combination is already being used), yellow warning triangles appear: by the command, under the panel, by the current section and by the section which is already using the keys.

As an example, most OS X users have Command + Space active to open a Spotlight search. For many years this combination has been used to switch keyboards and I prefer to keep it that way. To use the keyboard switcher keys, I entered the combination in Keyboard & Text Input and deactivated the Spotlight command in that section.

With the newest version of OS X, there are several additions to the Services menu particularly for some of the installed 3rd party applications. Services are listed in an application's menu (some way below the Preferences item). They are only displayed when a specific task may be available. In Safari, for example, opening the menu item shows, No Services Apply. However, if a section of text is highlighted (or a URL) some services will be listed.

When first viewed in the Keyboard Shortcuts panel, most Services commands do not have a key combination allocated. By clicking on the greyed out "none" by the command, users may add a key combination. This will be useful for those who have a specific task that is repeated often

Similarly, the Notification Center shortcut was not checked in the Mission Control group and no key combination was shown for this. I activated the checkbox and a panel appeared for me to enter the new key commands. I used Control + Option + Command + N and I can now open the Notification Center without removing my hands from the keyboard.

We may also add commands using the + icon that appears below the panel when Application Shortcuts is selected. For example in Safari there is a menu item (in History), "Reopen all Windows from Last Session", which had no keys allocated. Pressing + reveals a panel and we may select All Applications or specify: the list shows all installed applications, and Other.

We type in the menu title (the words for the command) as it appears in a menu then allocate a key combination. I specified Command + Option + H for this and the key commands now appear in the Safari, History menu. New menu commands cannot be added this way. A new Services item -- perhaps created with AppleScript or in Automator -- might get round this apparent restriction.

Controls at the bottom of the panel refer to the focus of the keyboard within applications. This is unchanged from before. By pressing the Tab key a different part of a panel or window is highlighted. With "Text boxes and lists only" the focus is only where we may enter text (such as Search boxes or address fields in Safari). "With All controls" the focus cycles round text windows and other controls like buttons, sliders (and bookmark entries in Safari).

At the bottom right of the panel, like the Keyboard panel, is the button marked, Set Up Bluetooth Keyboard.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.