Prior to releasing the new Apple Pro Keyboard with the G4 series of machines, all Apple keyboards had a button that was very unique. That button was generally located along the top right edge of the keyboard and was used to power the system up and down. With the new Apple Pro Keyboards, Apple’s designers opted to dispose of the power button in favor of sound control buttons and an eject key.
The new keyboard design is comfortable and much more visually appealing than any PC keyboard I have ever seen. I even like the addition of the sound control keys. My only problem with the new design was that it had no power button. I don’t mind pressing the button the front of my tower to start the system up, but I used the button on the keyboard every time I wanted to put my system to sleep or shut it down.
In the past, in order to shut the system down, I simply tapped the power button one and hit the enter key. The power button brought up a small dialog box that gave me options to Restart, Sleep, Cancel, or Shutdown. The enter key preformed the default behavior which was Shutdown. This meant I could have my computer shutdown faster than I could get out of my chair! I simply no longer had the option!
I was actually complaining about this very issue when a friend showed me a hot key combination that I had never seen documented. If I hold down the Control key and hit the eject button on the keyboard, the Restart/Sleep/Cancel/Shutdown dialog now pops up just as it had with the old power button. I also have the option to type R, S, or Enter to perform a specific action without touching the mouse. Everything works just as it once had, except that now I hit a key combination in place of the power key.
It is also worth mentioning that there are other key combinations to achieve the desired result without bringing up the dialog box. For example, if I simply want to reboot, the key combination would be Apple+Control+Eject. The system will then reboot as if I had used the reboot option under the Apple menu. Alternatively, Apple+Control+Option+Eject will shutdown your system. Apple+Option+Eject will put the system to sleep.
Apple has always made an effort to excel in both form and functionality with each subsequent hardware release. I do miss the power button, but now I can live without it. And, as long and I try not to think about the poor choices Apple has made with mouse design over the years, I can sleep well at night.
