I need a compact desktop keyboard for my new G5 iMac. The pretty white
keyboard supplied is too long for my work area.  I don't need the
number keys and would like to just have more desk space.

I have seen advertised, the Mac Mini Keyboard with Cherry Key Switches
and the Happy Hacking compact keyboard. (What are Cherry Key Switches,
anyway?) These two are just the size I was hoping for.

Will Mac Mini work with all the functionality of the Apple keyboard
(minus the number  keys, of course?) They are difficult to get on the
phone.

Thanks for answers and any suggestions.

Hi gladstone!

Cherry Electrical Products is a maker of various kinds of switches:

Cherry Keyswitches
http://www.cherrycorp.com/english/switches/key/index.htm

If you are looking for a USB (wired) keyboard, the Mini keyboard I
think you found should work quite well with your iMac- there are
several places I can find that sell it on the web, and am not
endorsing any particular one. It sounds like you already found it
somewhere, but here are a couple of sites which show it:

Mac Mini - Compact Keyboard
http://www.notestation.com/smk-88.htm

Mini USB Keyboard for the Mac
http://www.fentek-ind.com/kbmmacusb.htm

The Happy Hacking keyboard with USB should work just fine, as well,
and many people prefer its control-key location next to the 'a' key;
it is a bit more expensive than the mini keyboard above. Here is a
nice review of it:

Product Review: Happy Hacking Keyboard LG #35
http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue35/dinsel.html

I hope this answer has helped!

This looks to me like an excellent answer. Why only 3 stars?

Because the answer only dealt with a general feeling and had no
specifics about the hardware. Although the speedy answer confirms my
thought that it might be a satisfactory keyboard, it didn't deal with
the Mac compatibility in any detail. There are issues, I discovered,
that have to do with the functionality of the f-keys and presence of
volume and other direct control functions that do not appear on other
so-called compact Mac keyboards.

The functionality was the key part of the question and it was not
addresses in any detail. Otherwise, the answer was good enough to help
me move toward making the purchase simply by the added confirmation if
not with specific details.

regards


gg