Does this mean there is no hope for using a different keyboard with this Mac?Ĭorey, as you probably suspect, Real Audio files that stream across the Internet were not meant to be downloaded or transferred. Instead, Apple asks that you use the Apple Pro Keyboard’s eject button. The media drive on the new Power Mac G4 lacks an eject button. With one of these adapters snuggled down inside your Mac, you’re at liberty to use one of the many inexpensive USB scanners on the market. Companies such as Keyspan (510/222-0131, ) and Belkin (800/223-5546, ) offer two-port USB PCI cards for around $40. If you, like me, know the value of a dollar, I’d suggest that you make your Power Mac compatible with today’s USB scanners by adding a USB adapter to one of your 7200’s three PCI slots. Whereas you can purchase a fine USB scanner for less than $200, you should expect to pay $500 or more for a SCSI scanner. These SCSI scanners–which transfer data more quickly than their USB counterparts–are intended for professionals and are priced accordingly. The utility also learns as you type–if you type word, for example, and select Microsoft Word from LaunchBar’s list, Microsoft Word appears at the top of the list the next time you type these letters. As you type, LaunchBar narrows the list of matching items. Instead of assigning a hot key to an application, you press 1-spacebar and begin typing the name of the item you want to launch–an application, file, Web address, or e-mail address, for example.

LaunchBar 3.1.2, from Objective Development ($20 ), takes a slightly different approach. As with DragThing, you can place shortcuts in easily configurable palettes (known as Toolbars in QuicKeys parlance). You can even use the program to remap key commands (a very handy feature for those of us who will never get used to the fact that pressing 1-N creates a new window, rather than a new folder, in OS X’s Finder).Īmong its myriad talents, James Thomson’s indispensable $25 palette-based file-launching utility, DragThing 4.2 (), allows you to launch applications via your keyboard.ĬE Software’s $60 QuicKeys X (515/221-1801, ), in addition to being a fine macro utility, lets you launch applications with a keystroke.

I’ll begin with Michael Kamprath’s Keyboard Maestro 1.0 (This nifty $20 utility (which is also available in a free, light version) allows you to assign hot keys to applications and use hot keys to enter boilerplate text, switch to the next or previous application, and hide all applications.

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