The Bottom Line: A great keyboard for people who own Macs, love good industrial design and need an external keyboard, but beware of getting it dirty.

I have to say that Apple probably makes some of the best computer keyboards out there.

I recently switched over from a Windows machine to a Macbook Pro and got a new display, keyboard, and mouse to go along with it.
I was looking forward to the new keyboard – I had always admired Apple’s keyboards dating back to, well, forever.

Unlike keyboards that come from companies such as Dell or HP, the new Apple keyboard has an extremely sturdy feel, as its body is made of the same aircraft-grade aluminum that its new Macbook like is made from.

The keys are a departure from the older Apple keyboards. Rather than large, kernel-like keys similar to other keyboards, Apple’s new keys are more Scrabble tile-like, with a generous amount of space in between the keys.

The keyboard is very similar to that of the original Macbook Air, for better or worse. Therefore, it’s got more of a laptop feel than a desktop feel.

I admit it takes a bit of getting used to, but I really like it. They keys don't make the loud "clickety-klack" that my officemate is used to hearing. Instead, the sound is similar to that of a laptop keyboard. My officemate said it reminded her of the sound of freezing raining tapping off the ceiling and windows.

Apple also includes two USB ports on either side of the keyboard. Most users will plug a mouse in on one of the ports, leaving the other port free for a USB memory key, USB card reader, iPod connection, or some other device.

So what’s not to like?

I have two concerns. First, I’ve only been using this keyboard for a few days, so it’s still got that “new car” look and feel to it. I have to wonder, thought, after a few months or years, will the white keys still be as clean? I suspect no. I tend to eat a lot at my desk. And although I’m not sitting in front of the computer with a bucket of the Colonel’s fried chicken, I’m not naïve enough to think my fingers don’t pass on some dirt.

Luckily, the keyboard doesn’t have lots of crevices for dirt or crumbs to fall between. For that I’m thankful. I also think one can probably use some mild cleaner in order to get the keyboard back to its more pristine state.

If it were up to me, I think I would have made the keys black, rather than white. It would have been nice for the keyboard to mimic the laptop keyboards with a backlight too.

My only other major concern is with the angle at which it rests. Though I don’t mind it, the keyboard lays rather flat and doesn’t offer any mechanism to prop up. And because of its extreme flatness, a lot of wrist rests may not work well with the Apple keyboard.

One other note … I’m running Windows Vista on my Mac through Fusion. The keyboard works reasonably well with it, though some things, such as the numeric keypad, don’t function in the Windows virtual environment. I don’t know if that’s just the way things are or if there’s some kind of setting I’m not aware of on the Mac end to enable it.

For Windows users, they keyboard uses a USB plug, so in theory it should work with a machine running Windows. Some keys, such as the function keys, may not work, however.