Thank you for these explanations!

Le 10 mai 07 à 19:42 Soir, Kirk Gray a écrit:

> On May 10, 2007, at 11:13 AM, Arnaud Nicolet wrote:
>> Le 10 mai 07 à 18:55 Soir, Kirk Gray a écrit:
>>
>>> On May 10, 2007, at 10:48 AM, Kirk Gray wrote:
>>>> The original Mac keyboard had no numeric keypad and no arrow keys
>>>> for
>>>> cursor movement (you were supposed to use the mouse).  But it did
>>>> have a Return key in the normal position, and a small Enter key  
>>>> next
>>>> to the right side Command key by the space bar -- right where it is
>>>> on Mac laptops today.
>>>
>>> Just checked.  The original layout for the keyboard bottom row was
>>> Option, Command, Space, Enter, Option.  There was no right side
>>> Command key as there is now.  My bad.
>>
>> Apparently, you don't mention the control key...
>> I've seen one of those old Macs when I was young so I don't recall
>> the keyboard. So there were no control keys? Do they come from the PC
>> world? (please, no).
>
> Control keys were on keyboards long before MS-DOS and the "PC
> world".  But the Mac was supposed to be the next big thing -- a GUI.
> The Apple II (and III for that matter) had a control key.
>
> The Mac had a Command key (and an Option key).  It didn't have a name
> on it, just a little icon of a square with loops at all four
> corners.  It existed to enter menu commands from the keyboard without
> having to use the mouse.  Command-S for Save, Command-P for Print and
> so on.
>
> The original Mac was a purist's machine -- there were no function
> keys, arrow keys, control key, escape key -- nothing to tie you to
> the past of computing.
>
> The IIgs used a key labeled with an apple rather than the loopy
> square.  Later keyboards (which could be used on either system) had
> both the apple and the loopy square on the key.  People started
> calling it the Command key, because it needed a name and Apple hadn't
> given it one.  (Or maybe Apple called it the Command key, but just
> didn't label it as such.  It's been a while)
>
> Eventually, interoperability became an issue and Mac keyboards began
> to acquire "normal computer" keys.  On the Mac Plus keyboard we got
> arrow keys and a numeric keypad.  Later an Escape key and function
> keys were added as were Help, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, and
> Delete.  (The first keyboards had a Backspace key, like a typewriter,
> rather than a delete key.)
>
> At first, these keys did nothing in the Mac OS.  They were there for
> compatibility when running MS-DOS or a terminal program to connect to
> another computer.  Eventually, programmers figured, "Since they're
> there, we might as well support them."
>
> After NeXT acquired Apple, we got volume controls and an eject key
> and the power button that had been on the Apple keyboard since the
> Mac II was removed (actually moved to the monitor - IF you buy an
> Apple monitor).
>
>
> Kirk
>
> -----------------------------------------------
> REALbasic Professional 2007r1
> MacBook Core Duo, Mac OS X 10.4.9
>
>
>
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