Thursday, January 12, 2006

It's not every day that Microsoft Corp. asks to put a competitor's logo on one of its own products. And the kicker is, the answer was "No."

In a first for Microsoft's hardware group, the company is developing a keyboard designed just for the Mac. But regular Mac users will notice there's no Apple key.

To be clear, there is a key to the left of the space bar that will do everything the regular Apple key does. But the customary Apple icon is missing. Asked about the situation at the Macworld Expo this week, a Microsoft representative said Apple declined the company's request to use the iconic symbol on the wireless keyboard.

"Apple controls the licensing," explained Scott Erickson, director of product management and marketing in Microsoft's Mac Business Unit. "It's their trademark."

Mac users can rest assured that the key on Microsoft's Mac keyboard will still work the same as the Apple key, Erickson said. But Microsoft knew better than to default to the Windows logo found on its other keyboards. Instead, it will simply use the traditional clover symbol that is next to the Apple logo on the key on official Mac keyboards.

In addition to using a very Mac-like silver color for the keyboard, Microsoft has adapted to Mac standards and layout in several ways, including using the word "return" instead of "enter." Behind the scenes, it has also written the keyboard's device drivers specifically for the Mac.