Enable true laptop function keys with 10.3.3

Mar 22, '04 09:02:00AM

Contributed by: n8gray

This is a nice detail for PowerBook users. One persistant annoyance with OS X on PowerBooks for programmers has been the way it forces you to hold down the "fn" key to use the function keys as normal function keys. If you don't hold it down then you get, for example, the brightness or volume controls. This is really annoying to programmers, who typically have macros bound to function keys and need them infinitely more often than the brightness controls. There have been a variety of hacks, including a feature in uControl, to enable "real" function keys.

With the 10.3.3 update, there's a new checkbox in the keyboard preferences pane labeled "Use the F1-F12 keys for custom actions." If you check it, then you get "real" function keys, while holding down fn gives you the brightness, sound, etc controls. Kudos to Apple for this -- it's always nice to be able to drop a hack in favor of an official feature!

[robg adds: I can attest it's not just programmers who value those 12 keys! I use them to hot-launch certain apps or tasks. Also, we don't generally run "look at this dialog box option" hints, but since Apple chose to sneak this one into the 10.3.3 update, I felt it was worth a mention.]

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