Introduction

A few weeks back, we took a look at the new Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop Suite for Bluetooth. Though the keyboard and mouse were of the usual Microsoft quality, the Bluetooth performance and installation was slightly disappointing. In light of that, I went on a search for another keyboard that was similar in style – alas Microsoft had the same keyboard except wired with a USB/PS2 cable – the Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard. I promptly picked one up for home usage and decided to provide a short writeup.

A look @ the keyboard

Let’s take a look at the packaging. No surprises here; there’s nothing here other than the keyboard and CD software application.

Front of the box	Back of the box
A look inside	The keyboard and wrist guard

Bottom of the keyboard

The Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard is like many other Microsoft keyboards. The keys are tactile enough for most users out there though it doesn’t have the same feel as a classic IBM keyboard of course. The keys are slightly on the mushy side though there’s enough feedback provided to let you know that a key was depressed. Those looking for a more solid feedback should consider the Logitech keyboards.

The following shots are of the keyboard as a whole. You’ll notice the extra keys up at the top of the keyboard – Right in the middle of the set of buttons are the keys for Mute, Play/Pause, Stop, Volume Control, Rewind and Fast Forward. This is essentially the reasoning for the label of the Multimedia keyboard. You can launch your favorite media program with these keys which Microsoft dubs as the Multimedia Center.

The Multimedia Keyboard	The top keys

Microsoft also has a number of other keys surrounding the multimedia center keys. To the left of the middle are keys that basically allow you to launch the standard set of Microsoft folders found on a Windows desktop. From right to left these include:
My Documents
My Favorites
My Music
If you don’t want to use the settings specified by Microsoft, you can always customize the buttons to do hopefully something close to what you want if not exactly what you desire. The key item to remember is that this is a very Microsoft centric keyboard but you probably already knew that coming into this article.

On the left side of the multimedia center keys are more hot keys for applications such as:
Mail
Web/Home
Messenger
If you want to customize – again check out the Microsoft Intellitype software to do this for you. For your viewing pleasure, I've included some pictures of the property tabs for the keyboard

As with the Bluetooth keyboard, Microsoft has also provided other operations for your venerable Function keys. With the press of the Function Lock key, your function keys can now act as common Windows shortcuts. Here are what the Function keys translate to:
F1 – “Help”
F2 – “Undo”
F3 – “Redo”
F4 – “New”
F5 – “Open”
F6 – “Close”
F7 – “Reply”
F8 – “Fwd”
F9 – “Send”
F10 – “Spell”
F11 – “Save”
F12 – “Print”

Those of you who have worked with a Microsoft Office Keyboard will see the influence of that keyboard on the Multimedia keyboard. The one annoying aspect of the keyboard is the fact that the Function Lock key is off by default. This will throw many people off because instead of being able to do Alt-F4 to exit an application, you end up issuing a “New” command.

The last set of keys are above the numeric keyboard – these are for the Calculator, Logging Off, and putting the system to Sleep.

The left portion of the keyboard	The numeric keyboard area

Another carryover from the Microsoft Office keyboard is the new arrangement found in the keys above the directional keys. You will notice that the “Home” and “End” keys are side by side instead of on top of one another. There is a large “Delete” key and the “Page Up” and “Page Down” are moved below the “End” key. This will definitely take some getting used to if you are not familiar with this setup. The one item that didn’t make it from the Office keyboard is the little rocker switch which acted like the “Alt-Tab” key combination.

For comparison purposes, I've included a picture of the Microsoft Wireless Keyboard for Bluetooth and the Multimedia Keyboard.

Comparing the two keyboards

Summary

The Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard is the current blend of a number of different keyboard styles that Microsoft has developed over the past few years as well keyboards from their competition. It takes on characteristics found in their Office keyboard as well as new button arrangements typically found on a Logitech keyboard. If you’ve always had an affinity for the Microsoft keyboard, then the new Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard will not disappoint even if it is wired. If you desire a wireless keyboard, Microsoft also has the Wireless Multimedia Desktop suite which combines a Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse with the keyboard. However I chose to use a Logitech MX 700 mouse instead which will be reviewed separately. If you’re in the market for a solid inexpensive keyboard then give the Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard a look.

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