MY Favorite Leopard Feature

I would just like to take a moment to point out a new feature in Leopard that hasn’t gotten as much hype as a keyboard nerd like me would like. Backstory: I own 2 diNovo Edge bluetooth keyboards (and a Revolution MX mouse to go with each). I’d been relying on a location switcher that would detect the presence of the keyboard and then run an Applescript to switch the modifier keys (flip Option and Command) for the PC keyboard layout. The Applescripts relied on Universal Access behaviors to manually pull down the menus. Not elegant, but way better than doing it by hand. So anyway…

I was a little distraught when they stopped working after installing Leopard. Not wanting to lose hours of my life to switching modifier keys by hand, I quickly began revamping the Applescripts. And in the process I discovered… multiple keyboard layouts on a per-keyboard basis. I just set it once and now every time I hook up an Edge it Just Works. Meanwhile, my MBPro’s modifier keys are just fine, and should I switch off keyboards, well, I will soon forget those dark days of the past.

I also recently learned that you can use Exposé while in Spaces. If you’re using default function keys, hit F8 then F11 to see some magic. I’m duly impressed.

So that’s my “Hooray for Leopard”. I manually dimmed my dock, but I personally dig the 3D polished look. Time Machine seems pretty wicked so far, and I’m actually using Finder again. Coverflow’s not quite enough to pull me away from Path Finder, but it’s close. Throw in Quick Look and I’m starting to falter. Anyway. I’ll stop annoying those of you who decided not to jump on the Leo bandwagon yet.