This is kind of an odd discovery. I used part of my $100 Apple iPhone rebate to purchase the new Apple aluminum flat keyboard, with the expectation that I would be using it for my Mac. It arrived this morning and since my primary computer of choice is a DELL Windows XP desktop, I figured ah what the hell, I’ll plug it into my DELL monitor to see what happens.

Much to my surprise, it detected it just fine and not only that, it functions perfectly with Windows XP as well. The Command/Apple key doubles as the Windows key, and the Option key doubles as the ALT key. There are only two drawbacks, both of which are minor. First, the Windows key is swapped with the ALT key, so that will take some getting used to. Second, the multimedia controls to change the sound settings and pause/play movies do not work on XP. Perhaps there’s a driver out there somewhere that will allow this but I cannot seem to find one.

As far as the keyboard is concerned, it is similar to typing on a notebook keyboard (like my DELL) but better. I can typically type about 75 WPM, and it seems a heckuva lot easier on this keyboard. Plus it is low profile, so it is easier and a more natural way to type which should help with my tendinitis. Time will tell, but I think this is a keeper.

So in case you are curious, that is my current desktop setup above for Windows XP, and yes, that is Windows XP (not a Mac). I replaced the Windows taskbar with ObjectDock which I have been using for several years now and is very stable. It is very configurable, but as you can see I have it set to mimic the Apple OS taskbar. As for the big screen, that’s my beautiful 27″ DELL widescreen monitor running at 1920×1200 resolution. I absolutely love that thing… which for me is necessary since I spend so much time in front of the computer.