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Product: Ergonomic Keyboard and Mouse
Developer: Microsoft
Requirements: Mac OS X v10.2 (with extra software), Mac OS X v10.3.9, or preferably Mac OS X v10.4
Retail Price: Around $90 for keyboard with mouse, $70 for a better mouse

A funny thing happened at this past MacWorld; as I walked around the exhibit hall floor, I entered the Microsoft booth. There, they had a number of computers running Microsoft Office on Macs (no surprise there). But, as I looked around, I realized all of the keyboards in the Microsoft booth were PC keyboards. That is, there was no Command keys, only the Start keys and Control keys as used by those PC folks. I asked one of the sales reps why this was and she rolled her eyes and said something to the effect of, "That's what they send us to these shows with." I asked her with all of the hardware that Microsoft makes, do they make a Macintosh keyboards? She said they do. I thought it would be a good thing to check one of these out. Now, after using a wireless Microsoft Ergonomic Mac Keyboard for several weeks, I have to admit I like it, despite its quirks (and it has several).

You can find the keyboard I tested on the Microsoft website. I point this out because Microsoft does explain (correctly) that just about all of their keyboards are Mac compatible, but only one is designed from the onset to work with a Mac. [Legal point: if you look at this keyboard, you will notice that the Command key does not have the standard "Apple" logo, but only the butterfly icon. This is because Apple does not let anyone else use the Apple logo.]

If you are expecting to have an extra USB port available because this keyboard will use your Bluetooth, you are wrong on both accounts. Yes, this is a "wireless" keyboard and mouse, but it is not Bluetooth. These keyboards and mice use a different technology that goes by the fancy name "27 MHz technology." This technology requires you plug in a "mouse-sized" receiver into a USB plug on your computer, and the receiver sits someplace on your desk.

The keyboard's keys are just as wide as the Mac's keyboard (eleven inches from the left of the Tab key to the right of the Delete key). The MS keyboard does appear deeper (as seen below next to a standard Mac keyboard for comparison), but this is mostly due to the size of the bottom row of keys. In addition to the bottom row of keys being larger, the function keys are placed further away from the number keys—a feature I really, really like (more on that later). Beyond the spacing of the keys, the physical space that the keyboard itself occupies is significantly larger. I will go over the specific differences later in the review.

The keyboard comes with a laser mouse that is okay at best. Microsoft also sent me one of their higher end mice to test as well. You can see the mice I tested, and the wireless receiver below. The mouse in the middle (the dark gray one) is the "Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000," and the light gray thing on the far right (with the attached USB cord) is the wireless receiver. The specific mouse I tested can be seen on Microsoft's website here. [Note: neither of these mice can be used left-handed. Some of Microsoft's mice can be use by either hand, but I could not find any information on their site if the ergonomic mice come in both left and right-handed versions.]

To use the keyboard and mouse, you must first install the software supplied on a CD. This will add two applications to your system that let you set the functions and features of the new hardware. You can access the two applications from the Mac's System Preferences. Once you've installed the software, you can push aside your keyboard and mouse (you do not need to unplug them yet (or at all)). To connect the keyboard and mouse, you first press the single button on the receiver (seen above on the right, the button is the oval circle on the lower part of the receiver). Then, you turn the keyboard and/or mouse over to display a button on the bottom of each. After pressing the button on the keyboard and/or mouse, a message on screen will display that there is now a successful connection.

The mouse that comes with the keyboard is okay, not great. Both mice are ergonomically designed to fit in the right hand, which means that the right side of the right hand should lie on the table, with the hand leaning over the mouse (this means the weight of the arm is resting on the hand, and you are not using your deltoid muscle to support the arm). The Mouse 6000 stands taller (as seen below), but both of them have the same primary left and right buttons, two buttons just above where the thumb lies, and a scroll wheel that also rocks left and right for side-to-side scrolling and, if you press down on the scroll wheel, serves as a button.

I found the scroll wheels wonderful. I've typically seen scroll wheels with textured rotation "nubbies" that causes the scrolling to be very jerky. [The Apple Mighty Mouse doesn't have this texture rolling, but I do not like the delicacy of that wheel.] Both mice had wonderful, smooth scrolling. However, to let you bear down on the scroll wheel, the resistance for using this as a button made the scroll wheel button essentially non-functional. I've usually used the scroll wheel button as a double-click button, but I've given up that functionality on the Microsoft mice.

The two buttons for the thumb are, in use, only one. I have a medium sized hand and I can only reach the button closest to me, and it's not all that comfortable for me to get to it. So, both of these buttons have become mostly irrelevant to me.

While both mice perform similarly, I found the Mouse 6000 to be vastly more comfortable. It has greater weight, which seems to provide better control and balance. Notice in the side-by-side view how the Mouse 6000 is taller and completely fills the hand. What you may not be able to fully see from the photo is that the Mouse 6000 is covered with soft rubber, as opposed to the keyboard mouse which is just plastic. The keyboard mouse does not fill the hand, causing it to lie more on the mouse, which I found required more work to move. Like all ergonomic mice, you need to rock these mice onto their right side and slide and move (as opposed to lift and reset). I found the Mouse 6000 much easier to rock and slide than the keyboard mouse. [If you want to switch from one mouse to the other, you need to reset the receiver to let it know you are switching mice.]

The keyboard takes about 20 seconds to get used to, so ignore the first 20 seconds. Although I've been typing for well over 40 years, I am still a bit of a wild typer. That is, my fingers sort of fly around and hit the keys I expect to be hitting most of the time. It's also common for me to intend to type a capitol letter, but I seem to hit the shift key just a moment too soon so the capitol letter remains lowercase. So, one of my benchmarks for a keyboard is whether the keyboard can save me from myself. The answer with this keyboard is a strong yes. I find I'm using the palm rest and the slight, natural "bend" of the keys for full benefit so the hands are not forced to be facing a straight line. I can type longer with greater comfort and accuracy.

Earlier in the review, I mentioned that there is an extended space between the number keys and the function keys. I've found this to be fantastic, as I can't tell you the number of times I've gone to tap either the "=" or "Delete" key, only to inadvertently tap the F12 key, causing all of my Widgets to suddenly appear. I have not once had that happen to me with this keyboard.

The keys are shaped a bit differently, with a sloping front pitch. This both provides a bit of extra space between the keys (which assists me in preventing myself from inadvertent key tapping) and provides a bit of room for some key-command hints, as seen below. There are not many of these, and you probably do not need these if you've used a computer keyboard for any length of time, but they do not get in the way and may help beginning computer users. Also notice the extended vertical height on the lower keys. I surprisingly found this nice and productive.

As you can tell from the first photo at the top of this review, the extra keys are radically different from the Mac keyboard. Let me detail the differences—you can compare the following photos on your own Mac keyboards.

Starting on the right side of the keyboard, notice first that the volume control buttons are gone. They are on the left side on top, I'll cover then in a moment. Another big difference is that the "+" key is doubled in height. The "=" key has been dropped to make room for the doubling of the "+" key's size.

New are three small buttons for the Calculator, Log Off, and Sleep (the Computer).

Also dropped are three function keys: f14, f15, and f16. The placement keys (home, page up, end, etc.) have been rotated so instead of three across and two down, you have two across and three down. Three down except for the forward delete key which has been doubled in vertical height (another great improvement). The Help key was moved to location where the f keys used to be and is added to a new Find button. The Find button will open most Find files for most applications.

On the left side are five buttons for specific programs. From top to bottom, you have E-mail, Chat, Music, Photos, and Web. These are all pre-configured for their obvious Mac application, but you can change these applications to any program you want. For example, I have "E-mail" opening Eudora, and "Photos" opens Photoshop. The only things that just doesn't seem to want to work at all is the "Zoom" slider. It's supposed to zoom in if you toggle it up and zoom down if you toggle it down. I've had it work partially (zoom in only) once in Photoshop, and on another occasion I've had it only zoom out. I haven't been able to figure out what secret handshake is required for constant and correct operation, so, as it stands, the Zoom function is ignored.

The top of the keyboard has five "anything" buttons in the middle which you can assign to start any application. If you wish to change the settings (and/or do not remember what you assigned to what button), you can press the "star" button (underneath the "3" button); the window to set the buttons comes up, letting you see what you have and/or change accordingly. To the right of these are buttons for iTunes that let you Start/Pause, Stop, Go back, and Go Forward. To the left of the application buttons are the Mute, Volume Lower, and Volume Higher buttons for your speakers.

Of all of the changes, I like the placement of the volume controls the least. I'm right handed, and I am used to reaching up and setting the volume with my right hand. Now, I have to either do it with my left hand or move my right hand across and over the keyboard to adjust the volume. Yes, it's petty, but it is annoying.

I found one problem with the keyboard in that every time I started the computer and/or woke the computer from sleep, as soon as I typed the first key, a window would pop up telling me that the keyboard signal was low, what do I want to do about it. For a while, I tried to do something about it, but it never stopped the message. So, now I just tell the message I'm going to ignore the problem, now go away.

The other problem, albeit also minor, is waking the computer from sleep. I would click two or three times with my standard keyboard to awaken my sleeping Mac, but now I find I have to tap on the spacebar six to ten times before there is any sign of life. Surprisingly, there is no light indicator for the Caps Lock key.

In short, I'm finding I like the keyboard. It has some quirks, and although not everything works as advertised (e.g., the Zoom Key), I'm finding that the important thing—my typing—is better, faster, and with fewer mistakes. The mouse that comes with the keyboard is okay, not great. The Mouse 6000 is a better mouse. I love the scrolling on both mice, and I found the control on both fine. The Mouse 6000 is more comfortable to hold and use.

What I found most disappointing is that neither device is Bluetooth. Microsoft does make Bluetooth hardware, so I'm not fully sure I understand why this uses "27 MHz technology." If you want to upgrade from the Mac keyboard, you might want to give the Microsoft keyboard and mouse a look.

___________ Gary Coyne has been a scientific glassblower for over 30 years. He's been using Macs since 1985 (his first was a fat Mac) and has been writing reviews of Mac software and hardware since 1995.