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  • Are Chromebooks the New Netbooks, and What Does That Mean?

    - by Chris Hoffman
    Netbooks — small, cheap, slow laptops — were once very popular. They fell out of favor — people bought them because they seemed cheap and portable, but the actual experience was lackluster. Most netbooks now sit unused. Windows netbooks have vanished from stores today, but there’s a new super-cheap laptop — the Chromebook. Chromebook sales numbers are impressive, but their usage statistics tell a different story. Are Chromebooks just the new netbook? The Problem With Netbooks Netbooks seemed appealing, especially in an age before tablets and lightweight ultrabooks. You could buy a netbook for $200 or so and have a portable device that let you get on the Internet. The name “netbook” spelled that out — it was a portable device for getting on the ‘net. They weren’t really that great. The original netbook was a lightweight Asus Eee PC that ran Linux alone and had a small amount of fast flash storage. Netbooks eventually ran heavier Windows XP operating systems — Windows Vista was out, but it was just too bloated to run on netbooks. Manufacturers added slow magnetic hard drives, bloatware, and even DVD drives! They couldn’t run most Windows software very well. The build quality was poor and their keyboards were tiny and cramped. People liked the idea of a lightweight device that let them get on the Internet and loved the cheap price, but the actual experience wasn’t great. Chromebook Sales Chromebook sales numbers seem surprisingly high. NPD reported that Chromebooks were 21% of all notebooks sold in the US in 2013. If you combine laptop and tablet sales into a single statistic, Chromebooks were 9.6% of all those devices sold. That’s 2/3 as many Chromebooks sold as iPads in the US! Of Amazon’s best-selling laptop computers, two of the top three are Chromebooks. These definitely look like successful products. Unlike netbooks, Chromebooks are taking off in a big way in the education market. Many schools are buying Chromebooks for their students instead of more expensive Windows laptops. They’re easier to manage and lock down than Windows laptops, but — more importantly for cash-strapped schools — they’re very cheap. Netbooks never had this sort of momentum in schools. Chromebook Usage Statistics Here’s where the rosy picture of Chromebooks starts to become more realistic. StatCounter’s browser usage statistics show how widely used different operating systems are. For example, Windows 7 has the highest share with 35.71% of web activity in April, 2014. The chart doesn’t even show Chrome OS at all, although there is an “Other” number near the bottom. Click the Download Data link to download a CSV file and we can view more detailed information. Chrome OS only accounted for 0.38% of web usage in April, 2014. Desktop Linux, which people often shrug at, accounted for 1.52% in the same month. To its credit, Chrome OS usage has increased. Chromebooks were widely mocked back in November, 2013 when the sales numbers came out. After all, they only accounted for 0.11% of web usage globally in November, 2013! But Chrome OS numbers have been improving: Nov, 2013: 0.11% Dec, 2013: 0.22% Jan, 2014: 0.31% Feb, 2014: 0.35% Mar, 2014: 0.36% Apr, 2014: 0.38% Chrome OS is climbing, but it’s definitely still in the “Other” category. It isn’t as high as we’d expect to see it with those types of sales numbers. Chromebooks vs. Netbooks Chromebooks are more limited devices than traditional PCs. You can do quite a few things, but you have to do it all using Chrome or Chrome apps. Most people won’t be enabling developer mode and installing a Linux desktop. You don’t have access to the powerful desktop software available for Windows and even Mac OS X. On the other hand, these Chromebooks are less compromised than netbooks in many ways. They come with a lightweight operating system designed for portable, mobile devices. They don’t come packed with any bloatware, like the bloatware you’ll find on competing Windows PCs and the original netbooks. They’re cheaper because the manufacturer doesn’t have to pay for a Windows license. There’s no need for antivirus software weighing the operating system down. They’re larger than the original netbooks, with many of them being 11.6-inches instead of the original 8-inch bodies many older netbooks came with. They have larger, more comfortable keyboards and fast solid-state storage. Really, Chromebooks are what netbooks wanted to be. People didn’t buy netbooks to use typical Windows software — they just wanted a lightweight PC. Of course, for many people, the real successor to netbooks is tablets. If all you want is a portable device to throw in a bag so you can get online, maybe a tablet is better. Where Does This Leave Chromebooks? So, are Chromebooks the new netbooks? It’s a bit early to answer that question. Chromebooks are definitely not out of the competition — their sales look good and their usage share is increasing. On the other hand, Chrome OS is still pretty far behind. They’re not catching fire like tablets did. Maybe netbooks were just before their time and Chromebooks were what they were always meant to be. Just as Microsoft’s Windows XP tablets failed, Windows XP netbooks also failed. Tablets took off with a more refined operating system on better hardware years later. “Netbooks” — or Chromebooks — are now taking off with a more purpose-built operating system on better hardware, too. It’s hard to count Chromebooks out because they provide a much better experience than netbooks ever did. If you’re one of the people who wants to use old Windows desktop apps on your portable laptop, you may think netbooks were better — but most people don’t want that. But maybe people either want a full desktop PC experience or a full mobile tablet experience. Is there a place for a laptop with a keyboard that can only view websites? We’ll have to wait and see. Image Credit: Kevin Jarret on Flickr, Clive Darra on Flickr, Sean Freese on Flickr

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  • How to remap "Dashboard" key to show the Desktop on OSX [Snow] Leopard?

    - by Mike
    I use my Desktop far more often than I use my Dashboard. However, my MacBook Pro comes with a dedicated key for Dashboard but it doesn't come with one for Desktop. Using this article, I was able to remap my Dashboard key to show the desktop by changing the values for keys 62 and 63 ("Dashboard") to the same values used by keys 36 and 37 ("Show Desktop"). Specifically, I changed the value for both array index #1s to 111. This worked great for my external (kinesis freestyle) keyboard. But when I went back to my internal macbook keyboard, I discovered that the Dashboard key still mapped to the Dashboard rather than the Desktop. How can I complete this mapping for all of my keyboards? The Kinesis Freestyle, my internal MacBook Pro keyboard, and my external Apple Aluminum Bluetooth keyboard? Update: I'm definitely not looking for a solution that involves using the Function keys instead of the special keys. I wish to keep using my Function keys as function keys as they're indispensable for other applications.

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  • Conditional hotkey or include in AutoHotKey

    - by Bowen
    Is there a way to define a Hotkey conditionally in AutoHotKey? I want to do different keyboard mappings for different machines with different physical keyboards. This is what I want to do: RegRead, ComputerName, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, System\CurrentControlSet\Control\ComputerName, ComputerName If ( ComputerName = BDWELLE-DIM8300 ) { #Include %A_ScriptDir%\Mappings-BDWELLE-DIM8300.ahk } OR RegRead, ComputerName, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, System\CurrentControlSet\Control\ComputerName, ComputerName If ( ComputerName = BDWELLE-DIM8300 ) { LWin::LAlt [more hotkey definitions that only apply to this machine] } but since AHK parses Hotkey definitions and #Include statements BEFORE interpreting If statements, the Hotkeys definitions (whether buried in an #Include or not) do not respect the If condition. Thanks for pointing me to AutoHotKey_L! Do you have a specific example of how to conditionally define a hotkey? The syntax is very confusing. Here's what I'm trying (after having installed AutoHotKey_L.exe in place of AutoHotKey.exe): RegRead, ComputerName, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, System\CurrentControlSet\Control\ComputerName, ComputerName #If ( ComputerName = BDWELLE-DIM8300 ) LWin::LAlt but that doesn't seem to work...

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  • How to swap the "fn" use of Function keys on al Apple Keyboard in Linux

    - by jfmessier
    I have an apple slim keyboard (USB) and if I want to use one of the Function Key as-is, I also have to press "fn " key first. Otherwise, it will try to perform the other function of the key, such as increasing or decreasing the display intensity, change the volume/mute, etc.... As well, the fn key is actually in the position of the "insert" key for regular keyboards. How can I fix all of that ? I really like this keyboard, as it make my typing much easier, and much more silent too. But some of those mappings that are different sometime bug me. Thanks :-)

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  • keyboard key mapping gone haywire

    - by arvind
    I have a Sony VGN-CR353 running Windows 7 Ultimate. For typing purposes I use two keyboards: The Inbuilt Laptop Keyboard A Standard External Desktop Grade USB Keyboard Since yesterday, My inbuilt keyboard's keys have gone all awry. This is Similar to http://superuser.com/questions/11537/keyboard-keys-not-working-or-resulting-in-the-wrong-key But the high point is that the external keyboard is working just fine. I have already tried System Restore, Reinstalling Keyboard Drivers etc. but to no avail. This is really bugging. Please Help. Thanks in Advance.

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  • Inverted function keys (F1-F12) on HP Pavilion dv4t

    - by The Electric Muffin
    (I know there have already been a lot of questions about this, but none of them mentioned the dv4t specifically.) I'm thinking about getting an HP Pavilion dv4t-4200 or -5100, but something that's really irritating me is that by default the function keys (F1-F12) are "inverted"—without holding the Fn key, the function keys do things like change the brightness, change or mute the volume, and switch to an external display. Only if you hold Fn will they actually produce F1, F2, etc. This is not how keyboards are supposed to work. Is there any way to disable this "feature" that has been verified to work on the HP Pavilion dv4t-4200 or HP Pavilion dv4t-5100? I don't want to buy this computer unless this is possible.

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  • Apple keyboard key remapping under Ubuntu

    - by jfmessier
    I have an Apple keyboard that I simply love. I now hate my regular keyboard at work. I just have a small problem with the Apple keyboard. There is no "insert" key. The one that is usually Insert on regualr keyboard is replaced by the "fn" key. I would like to keep the fn functionality, as it is useful with the Fx keys on the top of my keyboard. If I have another key that I want to remap, whoe can I get the code, and then assign the code to the "Insert" function ? I mainly use this key for clipboard stuff (Ctrl-Ins, Shift-Ins), and sometime I have no other option than use the mouse, which is something I want to avoid. For example, the "Eject" button could be re-assigned, or use the F13..F19 keys, which are not on regular keyboards anyway. Thanks :-)

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  • Inverted question mark only on Microsoft Office applications

    - by inerte
    My dad has a notebook and the key which has the "/?°" symbols acts like ctrl. Known factory problem. Anyway, his keyboard also has a "?" marked under the "w" key. Pressing "ctrl + alt + w" will display the "?" character (question, interrogation mark). Except on Office applications, like Word and Outlook, which will output "¿". I've searched Word and Outlook menus looking for a parameter that could be, somehow, remapping the notebooks keyboards, applying different regional configurations, language, or encodings. Since it only happens on Office apps, I believe the solution is within its options, but I was unable to find it where. Pressing "ctrl + alt gr + w" will display ? correctly, but I am stumped by this problem. I could remap the keys and make "/?° behave correctly, but my curiosity now is eating me alive. Why only on Office! Thanks,

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  • Keyboard shortcuts to control WinAmp

    - by Kip
    Some keyboards have a play/pause button built into the keyboard. I don't have one of those, but I'd like to set up a keyboard shortcut to do the same thing. I'd like the shortcut to work no matter what application has the focus. Is there a way to configure this in WinXP? Also, I'm using an old version of WinAmp (2.95). I'm not sure if that matters, as I thought these keyboard buttons worked universally somehow (but maybe I'm wrong?).

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  • Inverted question mark only on Microsoft Office applications

    - by inerte
    My dad has a notebook and the key which has the "/?°" symbols acts like ctrl. Known factory problem. Anyway, his keyboard also has a "?" marked under the "w" key. Pressing ctrl + alt + w will display the "?" character (question, interrogation mark). Except on Office applications, like Word and Outlook, which will output "¿". I've searched Word and Outlook menus looking for a parameter that could be, somehow, remapping the notebooks keyboards, applying different regional configurations, language, or encodings. Since it only happens on Office apps, I believe the solution is within its options, but I was unable to find it where. Pressing ctrl + alt gr + w will display ? correctly, but I am stumped by this problem. I could remap the keys and make "/?° behave correctly, but my curiosity now is eating me alive. Why only on Office?

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  • In what way does non-"full n-key rollover" hinder fast typists?

    - by Michael Kjörling
    Wikipedia claims (although the latter claim does not cite a source) that: High-end keyboards that provide full n-key rollover typically do so via a PS/2 interface as the USB mode most often used by operating systems has a maximum of only six keys plus modifiers that can be pressed at the same time.[4] This hinders fast typists, ... In what way would the system being able to recognize only six non-modifier keys at once hinder a fast typist? I consider myself a relatively fast typist and I usually press one key, plus modifiers, at once; I can't imagine any real-life situation in which the system only recognizing six non-modifier keys being pressed at once has been a limiting factor in my keyboard usage. (Multi-stroke keyboard shortcuts as used by high-end software like Visual Studio, Emacs and the like are a different matter.) Note that I am not really interested in answers centered around multiplayer computer games; I'm looking for answers that give reasons that would be relevant to typists, somehow supporting the statement made on Wikipedia.

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  • IBM PS/2 Keyboard with OS X 10.6 and PS2->USB Converter

    - by public static void
    Just got a new Mac Pro at work and as I can't stand the ZX Spectrum-esque 'dead flies' feel of the new Apple keyboards, I brought my trusty IBM SpaceSaver II to the office (with a USB/PS2 adapter) All seems generally to work ok - even the Trackpoint 'nipple' but periodically the modifier keys, notably the Ctrl and Windows keys seem to go into 'sticky' mode so that typing an 'S' brings up the save dialog, 'O' = open dialog etc. etc. Its generally fixed by switching windows and then returning back to the offending one, but this is really beginning to cheese me off. Can anyone suggest a fix?

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  • USB port not recognising mouse on first bootup

    - by Pacifika
    On a computer here when first powered on the USB wired mouse is not recognised. The light under the mouse is not lit up. Other usb hub's and keyboards work fine. Disconnecting it and reconnecting it fixes the issue, even after a restart - after the pc is switched off for a length of time (for example overnight) the problem reappears. I swapped the mouse, updated the bios and installed updated intellimouse drivers, turned of power saving on the usb ports. Any ideas?

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  • How to get rid of diacritics on my keyboard?

    - by stevenvh
    I searched Google and SU for my problem, but everybody seems to want to add diacritics, while I don't want them. I'm using Windows 7 and have a US keyboard installed, not the international version. Despite that some keys, like ", ^ and ~ are used for diacritics, which means that I have to type "SPACE to get a double quote. How do I get rid of this? My other PC, with the same settings, doesn't show this behavior. edit re Stefan's answer I don't see the icon Stefan refers to in my taskbar, probably because I have Classic Shell installed. But this is a screenshot of the Input Languages dialog, there are no other keyboards installed:

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  • What is a good motherboard for the Intel i7 series processor?

    - by jasondavis
    I am lost on choosing a good miotherboard at a decent price for my Intel i7-930 CPU. I have read bad things about all of them so far. Issues with RAM not working correctly, Windows not loading with USB keyboards plugged in and all kinds of nightmare stories. Here is my needs. - 6g/b SATA 3 - USB 3.0 - Cheaper is better - Support for up to 24gb of RAM, I will start out with only 12gb though - I will use 64bit v. of Windows 7 so the 4gb RAM limit should not be a problem from my OS - Should be able to boot even if I have a USB keyboard plugged in. If you have experience with a motherboard that meets these specs, please do tell about it. I appreciate any help, I am stuck right now on picking a good board.

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  • Lost USB BlueTooth Dongle for Keyboard and Mouse

    - by Tyndall
    I lost my USB bluetooth dongle (from HP) which I used for a wireless keyboard and mouse. They came together in a set when I bought my last HP computer. Are the keyboard and mouse useless now? or will any bluetooth dongle allow them to work? If I can just buy a new one - any recommendations on a replacement (good price, and perhaps works with Windows and Ubuntu out-of-the-box? Forgive me if this is an easy question. I'm just not that familiar with wireless mice/keyboards.

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  • VMWare and ALT GR key results in missing characters

    - by donat
    For some odd reason WMware products hijack the AltGy-key despite I make sure that other keys are used as hot keys to release mouse and keyboard from the virtual machine. While this is not a problem for US keyboards, european however who extensively use AltGR for characters such as pipe (|), at-sign (@), left brace ({) and right brace (}). This seem to happen both in Windows and Linux and I can not seem to find a solution that works for both. :( Anyone have an idea how to fix this without the need to modify the guest OS every time? Thank you.

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  • Solaris x86: Non working keys on keyboard (<, >, #, |)

    - by Thomas
    Hello everyone, I have a new installation of Solaris 10 10/09 on x86 hardware. The attached keyboard has a normal German layout. The system is configured accordingly by 'kbd -s'. The generic keys (letter, number, umlaut) work fine. Unfortunately some keys like <, , | or # do not. They produce no output on the text console at all. I tried PS/2 and USB keyboards. I cannot test it under X11 as it is currently not working. Thanks.

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  • Function key emulator for Dell inspiron 6400 on external keyboard

    - by hardik988
    I have a 3 year old Dell inspiron 6400 with windows 7 and ubuntu 9.10 dual boot. I messed up my Laptop keyboard and hence my Fn key is not working and I need it to activate the wireless whose activation combination is Fn+F2. Is there any way I can emulate the Fn key or get my wireless to start in windows or ubuntu ? My bios has an option for Fn key emulation but that only supports external PS/2 keyboards and my laptop doesn't have a ps/2 slot. Any ideas would be appreciated ..

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  • Microsoft Natural Keyboard 4000, more problematic keys?

    - by Saebin
    So my new motherboard doesn't have a ps/2 connector, so I bought a Microsoft natural keyboard 4000 to replace my old natural keyboard. But, some of the keys stopped working, so I bought another 4000... which then had different keys stop working. I tried cleaning them out, but no go. My guess is some condensation or something fell on it and shorted it out... but if it is that easy to short out, I can't imagine how my old keyboard lasted for years. Did I just get unlucky or are newer keyboards more vulnerable? Any recommendations?

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  • Function key emulator for Dell inspiron 6400 on external keyboard

    - by hardik988
    I have a 3 year old Dell inspiron 6400 with windows 7 and ubuntu 9.10 dual boot. I messed up my Laptop keyboard and hence my Fn key is not working and I need it to activate the wireless whose activation combination is Fn+F2. Is there any way I can emulate the Fn key or get my wireless to start in windows or ubuntu ? My bios has an option for Fn key emulation but that only supports external PS/2 keyboards and my laptop doesn't have a ps/2 slot. Any ideas would be appreciated ..

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  • Differences between Cherry mechanical keyboard switches?

    - by TreyK
    I want a comfortable, responsive mechanical switch keyboard. My only concern about mechanical switch keyboards is the noise. Boards based off of the Cherry MX Blue seem to be the loudest, but apparently offer increased tactility. I don't mind a clicky noise (I would actually prefer a bit of noise), I just don't want anything overpowering. What are the different types of Cherry mechanical switches are out there, and what separates one from the other? Also, where would I be able to test one out?

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  • Changing keyboard layout for login screen on Mac OS X

    - by R.A
    I have a Mac Mini with Mac OS X Lion. Basically I am a developer and practiced coding with DVORAK keyboards. So I changed my keyboard layout to DVORAK and I'm working with it. I'm using the admin user on my Mac Mini. When I restart my computer, during login, the layout is changed to QWERTY and it's hard to type the password. It happens only for the admin user though. If I create the another user and set the layout as DVORAK and restart, that user has the DVORAK keyboard for login. Note: I have a QWERTY keyboard, I'm only changing the layout in the keyboard preferences. So, to summarize, how can I get the DVORAK keyboard layout for the admin login as well?

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