I’ll start by giving you an easy macro example for the keyboard, and in future posts I’ll reveal even more macro mojo.

In the last post, I told you about using Alt v x and Alt v d to switch between large icons and file details. On my Wireless Desktop 7000 keyboard, I have a button with a camera icon and a button with a document icon that I never use to open my Pictures or Documents libraries, so I reassigned them to be my pictures/details macro keys. Here’s how:

On the Start menu, type “keyboard” and press Enter. The Keyboard Properties box is displayed.

In the Key Settings List, click Pictures and then click Assign/Manage Macro. The Macro Editor appears.

Don’t panic! There’s a lot going on here for advanced users but we’ll keep it really simple. Type a File Name for your macro, something like “show extra large thumbnails” then click in the Editor box. Click Insert Special and then click Left Alt (or Right Alt, it doesn’t matter for what we’re doing). Type the letters V X. You’re done! It should look like this:

Click OK to save the macro and close the editor, then click OK again to assign your macro to the Pictures key. That’s all there is to it. For now, ignore the clocks and the numbers and the other stuff on the Insert Special menu. We’ll get there later.

Use the same steps to create a macro for Alt v d and make the Documents key show file details.

What other simple macros can you think of to help your daily routine?

• Read Keyboard Shortcuts Using Alt Key for Microsoft Office – Part I
• Read Keyboard Shortcuts Using Alt Key for Microsoft Office – Part II

Remember that to reassign your Microsoft keyboard keys, you have to install IntelliType Pro. After you install IntelliType Pro, start it by going to the Start Menu, clicking All Programs > Microsoft Keyboard > Microsoft Keyboard.

On my home office computer, I always use Zune instead of Media Player. In IntelliType Pro, I just select my media key in the list and click Configure. In the Reassign a Key dialog box, I click Start a program, Web page, or File and then click Next. In the path box, type “C:Program FilesZuneZune.exe” and then click Finish. Of course, if you have different MP3 player software, you can enter the same path to start that software. If you get stuck, look at the properties of the icon on your Start menu to see where it’s pointing.

On our living room computer, I remapped the media key on that keyboard to start Windows Media Center. The path to that is usually “c:windowsehomeehshell.exe”

On my work computer, I don’t want to deal with ripping music and playlists, so I just listen to my Pandora station. If you have numbered My Favorites keys on your keyboard, it’s easy to assign them to open a web page like www.pandora.com. You can also assign the URL to your media key as previously described. One tip, though: if you just use the URL and you’re in a tabbed version of Internet Explorer, IE will open Pandora on a new tab in an existing IE session, which I don’t like. If you want to launch a website in a new IE session, use the path to iexpore.exe and type the web page after it, like this:

“C:Program Files (x86)Internet Exploreriexplore.exe” “http://www.pandora.com”

What programs have you assigned to your music/media hot key?

Try these out and start discovering your own key combinations that you can use to keep your hands on the keyboard. Then in the next installment, we’ll show you how to make these key combinations even more efficient!

If you want to insert a table, for example, you would press Alt and then type N to get you to Insert. After you see the Insert ribbon, you can see all the shortcuts for that ribbon:

Type T for Table, then use your arrow keys to select the table size you want:

The advantage of using the Alt key is you don’t have to memorize anything. Just watch the screen for the box or underlined letter.

Sounds simple enough, right? I’ll leave you with one more keyboard hint – on many Microsoft keyboards, we printed shortcuts right on the front of the keys. For example, you don’t have to remember that Ctrl+O will “open” if you just look at your keyboard on the front of the letter O key.

Click here for a complete list of our top Windows shortcuts. What shortcuts do you use regularly?

Whether you’re looking for something to excite a busy mom on the go or the teenaged gaming enthusiast who barely breaks from the computer for meals, our team has done the research and is here to help!

For the Visionary Designer or Early adopter…

• If only hardware could take the runway, the Arc Keyboard would steal the show. Weighing in at less than a pound, the Arc Keyboard throws the standard keyboard a chic curve. It’s small enough to move easily around the house, with sleek lines to fit in seamlessly with any stylish home accessory. Best of all, the domed keyset of the Arc Keyboard is comfortable to use whether resting on a lap or on the kitchen counter.

• Find a new level of elegance in the Arc Touch Mouse: With clean lines and edges, the Arc Touch Mouse is made for the way we live today. Its flat shape makes it easy to throw in a bag or stack on a notebook. When you’re ready to work, just pop it up into its curved form. And a touch strip with vibration feedback means easy, controlled scrolling.

For the Mobile Maniac…

• Boldness and sophistication bring life to the selection of colors and patterns found with the Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 and 4000. Both of these mice provide portable, wireless freedom in a comfortable, compact shape – a must for the mobile enthusiast on your gift list.

For the Well Connected…

• The LifeCam Studio is the perfect gift for someone who wants the next best thing to being there in person.  Keep in touch with family and friends across the country or chat with the BFF you rarely see because of work, school, or other commitments. 

• Even better! Pair LifeCam Studio, which offers a 1080p sensor for the best possible image at any resolution, with the latest version of Windows Live Messenger, the first consumer IM program with HD video calling.
• And if you’re looking for a webcam under $50, the LifeCam HD-5000 offers a 720p HD sensor and Auto Focus—it’s the only cam to do this for the price.

For the Ultimate Gamer…

• Call the shots and don’t miss a minute of the action with the SideWinder X4 Keyboard. A virtual command center at your fingertips, this new keyboard gives you powerful programming and versatility to enhance your work or game play. But it wouldn’t be complete without a gaming mouse as the perfect partner in crime!

• Do you know someone who feels the need…the need for speed? Keep the action fast and furious by giving the SideWinder X3 Mouse. With features that put you ahead of the competition, this versatile gaming mouse delivers speed, performance, and comfort for either hand.

Sound too good to be true? We promise it is.

Check out these and other great gifts at http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/ and let us know if you get BIG smiles for bringing Microsoft Hardware home this holiday.

-Microsoft Hardware Team

Today’s keyboards still have function keys, typically labeled F1 – F12. While we know there are some people who would be lost without their F keys, there are many others who either forget they are there or are just too intimidated to figure them out. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You too can know about this world of ‘secret’ functionality.

Within Windows for example:

• F1 displays help
• F2 renames a selected file
• F3 allows you type immediately type in a Windows Explorer search box
• F4 selects the Windows Explorer address bar
• F5 refreshes the active window
• F6 cycles through elements of the active window or desktop
• F10 gives focus to the active window’s menu bar (if it has one)
• F11 maximizes and minimizes the active window

There are other areas within Windows though where these keys do different things. If you are interested, you can learn more about Windows keyboard shortcuts online. For each applications you use, these keys often do something different. If you want to learn more about what they do in the apps you use, a good place to start is that application’s help. At this point you may be thinking, how am I ever going to remember all of this stuff? While it may be difficult to learn each function right off the bat, picking one F key a week to master might be a good way to make them part of your day-to-day over time.

If these function keys don’t seem useful or the task seems too daunting to remember what they all do, you may be interested in using their alternative functionality which come with many Microsoft keyboards. All you have to do to access the alternative functionality is first make sure the Microsoft IntelliType software is installed and then just press the F lock key to switch between the F1 – F12 functions and the alternative functions with icons. With the alternative functions:

• F2 will undo your previous action
• F3 will redo the previous undo action
• F4 will create a new document in applications that use documents
• F5 will open a document or file
• F6  will close a document or file
• F7 will reply to a selected email message
• F8 will forward a selected email message
• F9 will send the email message
• F10 will spell check a document
• F11 will save a file
• F12 will print a file

Let us know what you’ve tried out. We’d love to hear how using them has changed how you work with your keyboard.

**UPDATE: This offer has now expired.**

We’re all excited about the recent launch of Office 2010, not just because it can take productivity up a notch, but because we know that Microsoft Hardware products will make the Office 2010 experience even better.  To celebrate, we’ve partnered with some of our retail partners to offer special savings for the next two weeks on Microsoft Hardware products. Whether it is mice, keyboards or HD webcams, there are hot deals to be had right now.

Head on over to our promotion page to see all the great offers that are currently available for a limited time. Will you be adding a new device to complement your Office 2010 experience?

Just announced today, in addition to computers and computer accessories like mice and keyboards, Reconnect will now be collecting Microsoft entertainment products including Xbox, Zune and accompanying accessories for free recycling. You can check out more details on the newest additions to the program here.

So go ahead – clean out your junk drawer and help the environment at the same time. Visit the Reconnect website to find the drop-off location nearest to you.

Imagine you’re on your PC, playing your favorite racing game. You are roaring past your opponents, and your favorite ride is hugging every twist and turn of the road to perfection. You swing left and right as the scenery whizzes past. Suddenly you realize that you’re taking that tight curve a little too fast. You stomp on the brake, but nothing happens, and soon you are pounded against the guard rail.

When this sort of thing happens in a game, most people assume that they messed up. Maybe I hit the brakes too late. They worked fine every other time I used them. So it must be me.

Little do they suspect that the real culprit just might be their keyboard.

How could that be? The dirty little secret is that most keyboards have a virtually fatal flaw: some combinations of keys simply do not work!

So just how bad is the keyboard problem? The most cost effective way to build a keyboard is to place the switches on a grid of wires. It is easy to show that if this is done in the obvious manner, you end up with about 10,000 different sets of 3-keys that won’t work right if pressed at the same time! Yes, you read that right. 10,000. And it gets worse if you try to press more at the same time.

Why do we stand for this? Well, 10,000 is a big number, but it typically works out to less than 5% of the 3-key combinations. So most combinations work. And manufacturers often try to move the bad combinations to places where they are less noticeable. (Ctrl-Alt-Del has to work!) So most people don’t even notice that there are these problems.

But the real reason we tolerate this is because, up until now, the alternatives were very expensive. The classic solution is to build the keyboard with a diode in series with each switch. That’s a lot of diodes, and there’s no good way of attaching those without resorting to a massive circuit board. So that puts the price of these keyboards out of reach for most gamers.

The big news is that we finally found a way to make keyboards that don’t have this problem, AND don’t cost a fortune. In a nutshell, the trick is to leverage multitouch technology. So now, ALL of the 3-key combinations work. The same with the 4’s, 5’s, 6’s, 7’s, etc. up to a ridiculous number.

As luck would have it, just as we figured this out, our design group was busily working on a low cost gaming keyboard to be called the SideWinder X4. So we decided to do something radical – we decided to put this very high-end multitouch feature in right away, rather than waiting for the next high-end keyboard. And the amazing thing was that we were able to do it without significantly impacting the cost. The SideWinder X4 has a U.S. list price of $59.99, putting it in a class by itself.

Want to know how good/bad your keyboard is? Visit our keyboard testing page…