Lenovo goes crazy, lets you switch Fn and Ctrl keys in BIOS
By Vlad Savov 
posted November 5th 2009 4:14AM
posted November 5th 2009 4:14AM
posted November 5th 2009 4:14AM
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@Alp:
Apple fixed this for you recently by putting the Fn key in the lower left of even iMac's standard keyboards (it was there for the optional wireless keyboard previously, just now it is standard).
So just like my MacBook Pro, I popped those keytops off, swapped CTRL and Fn, and never looked back.
Horay for the cmd key!
Left and right of the space bar, there shall be command keys, and to the sides of those the alts.
Should i get a new laptop, i will just remap ctrl to alt and alt+gr, and those two to the useless windows keys.
qwert
The lack of a real Delete key on Mac laptops (and the small keyboard that comes with iMacs) is a way bigger problem than this.
WTF, shipping a computer that has only a Backspace key. Leave it to Apple. Totally out of touch with the real world.
Finally! Only took em 5 years and a forum full of complaints. I'd never buy a PC that botched this placement - Toshiba and MSI have also made this ridiculous mistake. Oh and Apple of course, who manage to mangle it even further with their lack of 'normal' delete. Idiots.
This is a big usability mistake.. I have to use a packard bell-laptop for work where some idiot had the same "brilliant" idea.. very, very irritating..
This has actually kept me from buying a Lenovo laptop - had to use it for a 2 month training once and just couldn't get used to it. I always thought it was just me being difficult :)
Really Nice function !!!
Darn my Gateway laptop has the keys like this too. Wish it would let me switch them in bios too :(
It seems like I bought my Thinkpad at just the right time: A few months BEFORE Lenovo goes to the shit.
OMG, I thought I was the only one with the CTRL key freakout. I have a T500 my school gave me and it drives me nuts.
Why not moving the control key to the caps-lock key? This is much easier and you do not need to wait for miracles ;)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897578.aspx
replacing one arbitrary rearrangement with an even less standard one isn't a viable solution.
Some people, including certain Engadget editors, just can't live without a Ctrl key in the bottom left of their keyboard and a Delete key in the--------------- top right-------------.
So. you mean 'some people' never use the DESKTOP KEYBOARD....
I hate thinkpad before I own one.
But after you get familiar with it..you will really found that
fn in the bottom left is really good.
and desktop keyboard layout is also a good thing.
So on my new T400, I am out of luck? It is very annoying having the FN key on the outside :(
YESSSSSSS! I've Always Wanted To Do Exactly This!!!!!!!!
I never get used to the fn key of ThinkPad which is on the left of ctrl
swapped fn/ctrl keys was the sole reason i didn't get the lenovo laptop i was looking at a while ago.
Everyone else can just stick with AutoHotkey for swapping key placement on Windows. And I'm sure this never bothered the Linux geeks. xmodmap, done!
Fn isn't interpreted by the OS, though, it's interpreted by the keyboard controller.
Gotta hack the BIOS to remap Fn.
whoa, who uses the fn key? it just sits on my laptop with no love.
People who need to use the print screen feature.
this is the one feature of lenovos that has kept me from peronsally buying one for myself. they have it all backwards.
about time they fixed this. now how do we change the actual buttons?
THANK YOU!!!!! Man this was driving me nuts, I would hit fn on my Eee because of my IdeaPad Y730's keys and they once I would switch back from the Eee I would do the same on my IdeaPad. This was really annoying.
i applaud lenovo on this big leap for mankind
I adjusted on my Thinkpad. In fact, once you start having the FN key in the bottom left, it becomes really convenient for all the shortcuts that Lenovo has mapped out. It only becomes inconvenient when you use a computer other than a Thinkpad.
Man I need that on mine...
Just can't... crouch correctly
I would KILL to have this option on all my laptops. I can't stand the way they are on my Gateway laptops.
Thumbs up!
I always hated that about my "gaming" laptop.
I wish they would put out an update to existing Lenovo users. I use Lenovo, probably always will. Glad they are putting this on all future computers, just really wish I could get it for my S10.
OMG FINALLY.
good job lenovo
how if you only dont release white glossy screened thinkpad x200's i wont hate you for life.
About time, now people can stop griping about the FN key placement. Persoanlly I prefer the FN key on the outside, as it is convienient for the thinklight. I also use FN far more than CTRL (Turning on/off WiFi, or Bluetooth, switching monitors, etc.) And maybe I am just crazy but I have never had an issue going from using a desktop keyboard with Ctrl in the corner to a laptop with FN in the corner. No Copy/Paste failures for me.
Why would you bother with a BIOS update? You can rebind keys quite easily if it bothers you that much. I rebound my "caps lock" key to be another "delete" key, for instance (which is dead useful, fyi).
I've been using KeyTweak Keyboard Remapper on my Kensington slim keyboard for a long time now. It worked in Windows XP and still works in Windows 7. You use it once and it makes the changes to the registry. It does not have to run as a background process.
In my case, Kensington added an additional forward slash key right next to my Windows key (so dumb) and I kept hitting the wrong one so I swapped them using KeyTweak. I then swapped the actual keyboard buttons and you'd never know it wasn't factory unless you used it on another computer.
This would work great for the IBM/Lenovo laptop keyboards. We have a bunch of Lenovo laptops at work and I always end up hitting Fn+C instead of Ctrl+C and it drives me bonkers.
Go here to read more about KeyTweak here:
http://webpages.charter.net/krumsick/
I've never seen a Delete key in the top right before. Is that Mac thing?
Windows specific shortcuts dont start with ctrl.