Keyboards (specifically for a Mac Mini)

I've been seeing many Mac Minis going surprisingly cheap on eBay recently, and have been seriously considering investing in one.

However, I did have one question which I've not been able to find a clear answer to; I know that one of the selling points of the Mini is that it can be used with a switcher's pre-existing PC set-up, simply replacing the PC itself, and connecting to the same keyboard/mouse/monitor/etc, but I've never seen it made clear if OS X has keymaps for all the regional variations of PC keyboard out there, or if it only has keymaps for Mac keyboards & one simply has to remember the different layout (either that or re-mark the keys on the keyboard!)...

Obviously, for US users this would not be significant, as US PC & Mac keyboards are almost identical in layout; but I would be using a British PC keyboard, which is quite different (it's not just the inclusion of a key for the £ symbol, a lot of the punctuation marks are in completely different places, and there are quite a few substitutions; so even the British Mac layout would not match very well).

So, my actual question - in case ^that^ was all a bit TL/DR - is:
Would any Mini I bought be able to accommodate my British PC keyboard's layout; or would I need to invest in some form of Mac keyboard to get it matching-up?

You would be able to change the layout so that it matches what you are typing.

Settings --> Keyboard --> Input Sources

Select the English (UK) and it should match up with all of the keys just fine.

One caution on buying a Mac mini used: DON'T get a PowerPC (G4) or Intel Core Duo (as opposed to Core 2 Duo) Mac mini unless you are WELL aware of the limitations.

chas_m said:

One caution on buying a Mac mini used: DON'T get a PowerPC (G4) or Intel Core Duo (as opposed to Core 2 Duo) Mac mini unless you are WELL aware of the limitations.

Click to expand...

Agreed completely. The G4 one is obvious, but the first Intel Mini (Core Solo or Core Duo) are a 32-Bit CPU's and will not run Lion at all, so you would be forever stuck with Snow Leopard. Just a heads up.

_Stormin said:

You would be able to change the layout so that it matches what you are typing.

Settings --> Keyboard --> Input Sources

Select the English (UK) and it should match up with all of the keys just fine.

Click to expand...

You sure? A UK PC keyboard is somewhat different to a UK Mac keyboard (which is very similar to a US Mac keyboard, except for the replacement of the # with £).

See below for a generic UK PC keymap:

chas_m said:

One caution on buying a Mac mini used: DON'T get a PowerPC (G4) or Intel Core Duo (as opposed to Core 2 Duo) Mac mini unless you are WELL aware of the limitations.

Click to expand...

dtravis7 said:

Agreed completely. The G4 one is obvious, but the first Intel Mini (Core Solo or Core Duo) are a 32-Bit CPU's and will not run Lion at all, so you would be forever stuck with Snow Leopard. Just a heads up.

Click to expand...

Don't worry, I am fully clued-up on the differences between processors

Not that it would be terrible to be limited to Snow Leopard, but I wouldn't want to be stuck at Leopard with PowerPC-only apps, so I'll definitely make sure it's an Intel processor, even if I go a bit cheaper & only get a CS or CD rather than C2D...

Cool. Snow Leopard is still a Fine OS. Some even prefer it to Lion. Just thinking of the future when SL is being treated like Leopard is today.

Keep us posted on what you end up with. Good luck!