HotKeys keyboard (1)

What’s this, a professional-looking keyboard with no legends on the keycaps? This is intentional, so that you can choose the function performed by each key. It’s even possible to assign a complete set of keystrokes to a single key. In part 1 of this article, we discuss the communications between a normal keyboard and a PC, describe how a hotkeys keyboard can very cleverly worm its way into this process, and conclude with a complete description of how to use the hotkeys keyboard. In part 2 next month, we will look at the technical details.One of the annoying features of many Windows programs is that a whole series of keys must be pressed to invoke certain commands. Consider PageMaker, for example: to use the magnifying glass, which happens all the time, you have to first press the Shift key, then the Alt key and finally the F7 key. This means that you have to hold all three keys down at the same time. Think also of the special characters, for which you have to first press the Alt key and then enter a threedigit or five-digit number using the numeric keypad.