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A keyboard is a long flat device that has 102, 104 or more keys on it that is designed to allow a user to type data and feed it into the computer.

Keyboards are attached to either the PS2 port or the USB port on your computer. Keyboards draw electrical power from the computer, detect your keystrokes and transmit the keystrokes back to the computer.

Types of Keyboards

Windows Keyboards

Windows keyboards aren't all that special. You DO NOT need a Windows keyboard to work with a Windows computer. The Windows keyboard contains one special key that opens up the context menu in Windows. Most computer stores that sell keyboards call Windows keyboards 'standard keyboards', so like it or not, you often get a Windows keyboard whether you want it or not.

Mac Keyboards

Yes, MacIntosh computers DO use a special keyboard. The Mac computer has the following special keys: 'Open Apple', 'Closed Apple', 'cmd', 'Option' and 'Alt' which are not found on other keyboards. Yes, other keyboards will work, but the keys won't be marked correctly and you may have to guess which key is which.

Multimedia Keyboards

Multimedia is a term used to describe anything that combines audio, video and/or graphics. Multi-media keyboards often have a Pause/Play and volume buttons on them for controlling audio and video players configured on the computer. These keyboards don't work with all multimedia applications and you have to install special drivers just to get these keyboards to work. If you can't figure out how to change the volume on Windows media player or in WinAmp, you're probably going to have a hard time getting your spiffy new multimedia keyboard to work (since you must install the driver and installing drives is far more difficult than changing the volume setting).

 

Wireless Keyboards

These are keyboards that do not use a physical wire to communicate with the computer. A small object is connected to the keyboard port (PS2 or USB port) and that small device communicates with the keyboard using a radio frequency. Problems with this technology: radio interfereance--someone else might be using the same keyboard you are or using a device that uses the same radio frequencies. Second problem--a standard keyboard draws electricity from the computer through the port it is connected to. Wireless keyboards aren't plugged into the computer so they can't draw power. Therefore, all wireless keyboards (and mice) use batteries. When the batteries go dead, the keyboard goes dead and you can't use your computer.