Apple Wireless Keyboard for Wired Keyboards

While you can use an Apple keyboard on a Windows PC with no issues, it is not normally possible to take advantage of the special features of the function keys. On a Mac, these allow you to alter brightness, increase or decrease volume and control playback.

Apple Wireless Keyboard for Wired Keyboards is an open-source program, based on the original Apple Wireless Keyboard, that enables you to take full advantage of the function keys. What’s more, it includes a few fixes for wired Apple keyboards.

The original application by uxsoft, Apple Wireless Keyboard, offered much the same functionality, but the Fn key did not work when using a wired keyboard. What this means is that it was not possible to temporarily enable or disable the function keys’ special features.

While this utility still does not make the Fn key work, it can emulate it using the Eject key. Essentially, this allows you to use the special or regular function keys only while Eject is pressed.

Once the program has been configured, you can just leave it running in the system tray. You will then be able to use the function keys to manage playback, control the volume, take screenshots, open the task manager and even alter screen brightness (on supported devices). Overlays are also displayed when the keys are triggered.

The program worked very well during our tests, but we noticed that it lacks some important configuration options. You cannot disable the overlay shown when a special key is pressed, and it is not possible to disable certain keys.

Overall, Apple Wireless Keyboard for Wired Keyboards can prove very helpful for those who use Apple wired keyboards on Windows PCs. However, it lacks some configuration options that were available in the original application.