The symbols have been around as long as the macintosh. They are not mysterious to those who have been using them since 1984.

They may be familiar to longtime Mac users, and half of them may be obvious, but some of them are quite cryptic to newcomers, and I don't remember ever seeing them explained in official apple documentation. They should be on a laminated wallet card shipped with every new Mac. Or better yet, printed on the keys themselves. Apple sells the Mac Mini without keyboard, to appeal to switchers on a budget, and little "insider secrets" like this would be nice to know. I like Apple and its products, but some of its longtime users are a bit too smug. (Kinda the way I feel about Jesus versus his fan club, if you get my drift.) Great tip!

Kewl! I made it a dashboard web clip! Thanx!

wow
that's EXACTLY how i feel
i'm new to apple and i didn't know what the heck the symbols meant
haha ty

I just bought an iMAC with the wireless keyboard, complicated by the fact that the keyboard is French. There was NO EXPLANATION WHATEVER in the documentation, nor on the Apple sites, of what the keys mean and how you create symbols that are not labeled on the keyboard. What is "intuitive" about that, Apple? The "documentation" with the new Mac said press the "option" key. Of course, on the new keyboard -- which they do not tell you -- there is no "option" key. Total block. So you go to the internet where some kind soul -- not Apple -- explains that the keyboard uses "alt" and that weird little symbol. Apple's explanation for previous users of PC's SAYS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT THIS. Do they think that previous PC users are born knowing this? That with all of their marketing, they cannot have one sheet of paper that explains this? Shameful.

how rude to assume everyone knows what the symbols mean. Ever heard of new users???

Thanks - as someone new to Mac this is just what I needed