Re: I miss my Windows keyboard access!!!!! help!!

In article <9r1Fi.39303$mp6.3260@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Tim Murray <no-spam@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Sep 9, 2007, Gil Bates wrote:
Hi all,

i am yet another one of those annoying win->mac switchers that you all
seem to hate. vista finally pushed me over to the "light side".
anyhow...

i'm 3 months into the transition and i've yet to find a way to control
any program menu without a mouse. in windows you could press the ALT
key to access the menu in ANY program, then move around with the arrow
keys. responsible programmers even underlined the shortcuts for you.

but on OSX it seems like you have to use the mouse to initiate the
menu, then move around with the arrow keys. what do you do when you
want to use a command that doesn't have a shortcut? and please don't
say "create a shortcut dumbass". i've already gotten that wonderful
piece of advice from quite a few forums.

so my question is this. is there a way to get focus to the menu in any
program to then be able to navigate with the arrow keys? i don't want
to spend all summer creating shortcuts for every application in case i
might need to use it once or twice. (dreamweaver aside. since they seem
to make up their own rules)

cheers all! it's good to be aboard.

Gil Bates


While I'm aware of the keyboard access the others have posted, one cannot
deny that Windows does enable you to leave your mouse alone for longer
periods of time. As a keyboard user, that has always been the one area that I
like most about Windows.

Amen! So often there are kb shortcuts available and they are not even
displayed in the drop down Menus. Why we are kept in the dark is just
another example of Apple's irritating mouse-centric way of thinking.
Its been rumored that Steve Jobs bows down to a giant mouse in his
office every day before commencing the days tasks. Methinks its true.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: I miss my Windows keyboard access!!!!! help!!
    ... On Sep 9, 2007, Gil Bates wrote: ... in windows you could press the ALT ... responsible programmers even underlined the shortcuts for you. ... then move around with the arrow keys. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.system)
  • Re: I miss my Windows keyboard access!!!!! help!!
    ... any program to then be able to navigate with the arrow keys? ... No matter how hard I've looked, I've not found a way to have the same speed & efficiency of the Windows way of accessing menus the way Windows does. ... In OS X, the keyboard shortcuts you're provided are set by the developer, or by you if you muck around in the Keyboard pref pane. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.system)
  • Re: I miss my Windows keyboard access!!!!! help!!
    ... in windows you could press the ALT key to access the menu in ANY program, then move around with the arrow keys. ... i don't want to spend all summer creating shortcuts for every application in case i might need to use it once or twice. ... i had seen that control panel many times in my search, but to be absolutely honest, i thought it was broken. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.system)
  • Re: I miss my Windows keyboard access!!!!! help!!
    ... i don't want to spend all summer creating shortcuts for every application in case i might need to use it once or twice. ... As others have said, the default shortcut Control-F1 turns on full keyboard access to menus, and the default shortcut Control-F2 initiates the selection. ... Use the arrow keys after that to navigate. ... You can configure Mac OS X to allow you to select all user interface elements in windows and dialog boxes as well. ...
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