Keyboard Shortcuts - Hesitant about switching to Mac Excel

[Chuck]

I've used Excel in Windows for several years. For my job, I spend much of my
time in excel. At this point, I cannot work with a mouse since it slows me
down too much, and I rely solely on keyboard shortcuts.

I'm very interested in switching to Mac over Windows, but am worried that I
may not be able to continue using keyboard shortcuts in Excel.

My main question: in Windows, pressing Alt will take you to the menu bar, in
which you can navigate with the keyboard. For example, to 'paste format',
it's a quick <Alt, e, s, t>. 'The 'Alt' key is therefore crucial to me in
using Windows Excel. When/if I switch to Max, is there a way I can get to the
menu bar using a single button without using the mouse?

I figured out that you can set up your Mac to take you to the menu bar when
pressing Ctrl-F2, but if you make that change to the keyboard settings, you
sacrifice some of the cool functionality of the Function keys, such as the
ability to use F9 to tile the applications. Also, Ctrl-F2 us rather awkward,
and I'd rather press Alt to get up there, or another one of the buttons near
the bottom of the keyboard such as Ctrl, Shift or Command.

Can this functionality be set up somewhere in the settings of Mac OS or
Excel? Alternatively, is there an application such as a plugin that I can
download for me to use my Mac Excel as if it were Windows Excel?

Thanks!

Chuck

 

[Socrates]

Defintely yes. It's called "Sticky Keys" and it's part of the OS. I
personally don't have the need for it so I don't know if I can explain
it properly. To check it out, your best bet would be to go to an Apple
Store. If one isn't nearby, try CompUSA or some other reputable
reseller and ask them to demonstrate Sticky Keys for you. That way,
you can make absolutely certain that the Mac is for you.

Good luck!

 

[CyberTaz]

Not exactly the same in OS X, but you can shift focus to the Menu Bar using
Ctrl+F2, then hit the first letter of Menu name & Down Arrow to open Menu.
Most others are comparable to PC version. I train with PCs almost
exclusively but have always used a Mac.

*Note* that the features in Mac vs PC are _not_ identical, so you might want
to directly compare Excel on both.

However, you can also run Virtual PC on your Mac (suitability depends on
model) and Run the PC version of your choice in Windows. I currently run VPC
7/ Office 2000 on my Mac as well as Office:Mac 2004.

There are also 3rd party utilities that give you even more capability to
modify keyboard addressing.

Regards |:>)

 

[Chuck]

I'd be interested in changing Ctrl+F2 to, for example, Alt, Ctrl or Command.

Can I do that?

 

[CyberTaz]

Not thru OS X... Certain keystroke assignments are set by the OS & although
they can be turned on/off individually they can't be modified. At least not
without some risky hacking or the use of more reliable utilities such as
those listed here:

http://guide.apple.com/action.lasso

Also, regarding

but if you make that change to the keyboard settings, you

Not true, at least not in more recent versions. If you refer to Exposé, it
works like a charm in 10.4.2, even with Full Keyboard Access active.

Regards |:>)