As you know by now, switching to the Mac entails switching your brain, especially when it comes to the old keyboard shortcuts. All of those Ctrl-key sequences become, on the Mac, ⌘-key sequences. (Check your Macintosh keyboard: The ⌘ key is right next to the space bar, usually on both sides.)
But plenty of other Mac keys may seem unfamiliar. For your reassurance, Chapter 1 offers a rundown of what they do.
In Windows, you may have grown accustomed to certain common keystrokes for navigating text—key combinations that make the insertion point jump to the beginning or end of a word, line, or document, for example.
OS X programs offer similar navigation keystrokes, as you can see here:
Function | Windows keys | Mac keys |
---|---|---|
Move to previous/next word | ||
Move to beginning/end of line | Home/End | Home/End* |
Move to previous/next paragraph | ||
Move to top/bottom of window | Home/End | Home/End (but see below) |
Select all text | Ctrl+A | ⌘-A |
Select text, one letter at a time | ||
Select text, one word at a time | Ctrl+Shift+arrow keys | Option-Shift-arrow keys |
Undo | Ctrl+Z | ⌘-Z |
Cut, Copy, Paste | Ctrl+X, C, V | ⌘-X, C, V |
Close window | Alt+F4 | ⌘-W |
Switch open programs | Alt+Tab | ⌘-Tab |
Hide all windows | F11 | |
Incidentally, the keystroke for jumping to the top or bottom of a window varies, depending on the program. You need ⌘-Home/End in Microsoft Word, ⌘-up/down arrow in TextEdit and Stickies, and Home/End in iPhoto and Finder list windows.
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