Hot Keys in MacOS 2007

I've recently purchased a foxy MacBook Pro and I'm adjusting fine to the new world. It's just like learning French: Horse is called "cheval", and it's like that all the way. 

My one great problem was that the F-keys are used for hardware functions, and I needed them to navigate my way through TimeLog Project. A problem I now have solved. 

The problem is that I am used to navigating with the F-keys in TimeLog Project. F12 takes me to the weekly timesheet, F7 to the main manu, F3 to TimeLog CRM and so on and so forth. 

On a Mac, the F-keys are used on other functionalities. F3 - F5 control the volume, F12 is for Dashboard Widgets. Each F-key has an important functionality that would be hard to live without.

I searched for a solution and found it in System Preferences located in the Apple menu. Here, I click on Keyboard & Mouse in the group called Hardware.

In the settings for Keyboard & Mouse I tick the check box located next to "Use F1-F12 keys to control software features". That means, which is also what Apple writes as shown below, that the software - in this case TimeLog Project - uses the F-keys. If you want to use the F-keys for hardware functions you have to press and hold the Fn-key while using the F-key.

That saved my day. At least that was what I thought. Because F9 and F12 still functioned as hot keys to MacOS and still didn't work in TimeLog Project. Yes, they are controlled by software, but that is the software implemented in MacOS called Dashboard & Exposé.

If I want to navigate my way around them to be able to use the F-keys in TimeLog Project I once again have to visit the System Preferences, and in the group Personal I select Dashboard & Exposé. Here I can change my Keyboard Shortcuts so they now require me to press and hold the Ctrl and Shift-key and press F12 if I want to view e.g. my Dashboard.

Consider whether or not it's worth the effort to make the hot keys work in TimeLog Project. That I will leave up to you. The most important thing is that, if you desire to do so, the possibility of converting the shortcut functionality to be used with a mac is available to you.