Monday 9 July 2007

Mac on SBS - Some keyboarding basics ... Right click?

Okay, so the very, and I mean, very first think I noticed with the "Mighty Mouse" that came with this iMac is that it doesn't have two mouse buttons.

Whatssup with that anyway? :D

Fortunately, when I was first walking into MacLand I was on an iMac at our client we are doing a Tech Assessment for and one of the most knowledgeable Mac users was right behind me. I was able to turn to her and ask her any question that I needed to ask and she readily had the answer. Thanks for that Frances! ;)

So, what do we do for that Right Click?

CTRL + Click does it. CTRL + Click on anything like we are used to in the Windows environment and we have a menu to peruse.

One small caveat with this setup unless one plugs in a two button mouse: The CTRL + Click disappears in a Parallels virtual machine (VM) or in a Remote Desktop connection.

When working with a Parallels Windows based VM, or on an RDP connection the keystrokes become: SHIFT + CTRL + Click.

Houston, we have lift off! :D

Some other Mac-Windows (listed Mac to Windows) differences for those of us who use their keyboards primarily:
  • Alt/Option + Arrow Key operates the same way as CTRL + Arrow Key in Windows
  • Adding the SHIFT key to either then highlights the words
  • Apple Key + C, Z, X, etc. operates the same way as CTRL + C, Z, X, etc.
As with the Windows environment, any task that has a keyboard shortcut will have that shortcut listed to the right of the task's menu item.

From the Parallels Forum: CTRL-Click not working.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

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