Vortex Race 3 on Mac/Windows
I recently decided to tidy up my home office, by having one keyboard and mouse shared between two computers.
I decided to use the keyboard from my Windows machine, the Vortex Race 3. It’s a 75% keyboard and it comes with many different configurations regarding switches and layout, mine have silent red switches and the nordic layout. It contains programming layers and Mac, Windows and Linux modes which can easily be toggled through.
Configuration
For Windows there is no need to change anything, not for me atleast. Just keep the bad-boy in Windows mode! On Mac, there are a couple of tweaks that needs to be done to keep your sanity. None of the tweaks require installation of any additional software, which is pretty sweet!
Mac Mode -> no function keys
Skip Mac mode on the keyboard and keep it in Windows mode.
Otherwise you’ll not be able to use the Function keys unless you use the fn key at the same time.
It would seem that the function keys are by default bound to media controls in Mac mode.
I suppose you could keep it in Mac mode, but you’ll have to remap all function keys, which seems to be a hassle that I would like to avoid.
Input source
This seems like a no-brainer but there are several input sources for each language. Make sure you’ve selected the right source. I specifically needed Swedish Pro, just Swedish messed up the position of some buttons and among them @.
Modifier keys
Since I’m using Windows mode, I had to remap the modifier keys since they are the opposite on Windows. This can be done at System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Modifier Keys
By swapping:
Option->CommandCommand->Option
You’re all set to go! 🎉
Update
In my job I spend a lot of time in Intellij, and I try and use the keyboard as much as possible. I’ve run into some issues with the modifier keys; some keybindings refuse to work on my Vortex keyboard.
When swapped Option and Command the keybinding Ctrl + Option + i stops working, the same goes for Ctrl + Option + u.
These are the default keybindings for Optimize imports and indent lines when editing a Java class.
Removing the modifier swapping resolves the issues, but then the position of the keys are incorrect.
The solution in the end was to use Karabiner-Elements to do the same re-mapping as I did in Modifier Keys.
This is a bummer, but it seems to be working correctly now even though I had to use additional software to solve it.
Hopefully 🤞 you’re all set to go! 🎉
