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What they do out of the box
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Apple and OS X have defined the 'fn' keys as "special" and mapped a bunch of functionality to them
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F1 - Brightness Down
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F2 - Brightness Up
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F3 - Exposé
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F3 - All Windows
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Control+F3 - All Application Windows
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Command+F3 - Show Desktop
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F4 - Dashboard
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F5 - Backlight Keyboard Brightness down
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F6 - Backlight Keyboard Brightness up
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F7 - Previous Track/Rewind
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F8 - Play or pause
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F9 - Next Track/ Fast Forward
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F10 - Mute
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F11 - Volume Down
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F12 - Volume Up
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Getting function keys back
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Go to your System Preferences --> Keyboard & Mouse --> Keyboard
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Check the box that says “Use all F1, F2 etc. keys as standard function keys.”
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To use the "special" key functionality after the change
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Hold the “Fn” (function) key to enable them.
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On most Apple compact and built in keyboards the 'fn'"key is to the left of the 'Control' key on the left side
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On extended keyboards it's in the little group to the right of the delete key
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By the way if you have the fn keys in "special" mode you can use the "fn" modifier key to use their standard functionality.
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What can I do with them now?
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Actually use them as 'F' keys. Many apps, especially pro ones use these keys for various shortcuts
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Access Expose, "the old way"
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I prefer this method as I don't need a modifier key to access the different expose modes
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F9 - Tile or untile all open windows
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F10 - Tile or untile all open windows in the currently active application
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F11 - Hide or show all open windows
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F12 - Hide or display Dashboard
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Keyboard access to Dock, menubar, and menubar items
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Control-F1 - Toggle full keyboard access on or off
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Control-F2 Move focus to the menu bar
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Control-F3 Move focus to the Dock
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Control-F4 Move focus to the active (or next) window
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Shift-Control-F4 Move focus to the previously active window
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Control-F5 Move focus to the toolbar.
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Control-F6 Move focus to the first (or next) panel
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Shift-Control-F6 Move focus to the previous panel
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Control-F7 Temporarily override the current keyboard access mode in windows and dialogs
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Tab moves between Text Boxes and lists only or All controls.
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Navigating menus and Dock, etc with the keyboard is generally
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Tab or arrow keys to move between items
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spacebar to activate (click), sometimes Return (Enter)
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Esc to exit
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Apps for better control of FN
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Paula, Molowa ($0.99)
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A menubar item that lets you quickly toggle between standard mode and Apple Mode
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Keyboard shortcut (Command+Option+Tab) to toggle or use drop down
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Nice HUD to see which mode you've switched to.
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App Store Link
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Function Flip, Kevin Gessner (Donation)
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System preference pane that lets you selectively assign which key use standard mode and which use Apple mode
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So if you just want to enable Apple's iTunes controls you can have those, but let the other keys still function as standard.
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Can control built-in notebook keyboard separate from external Apple keyboards
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