The ProType provides the full complement of standard keys, including the traditional QWERTY section; a numeric keypad; 12 function keys (F-keys), properly arranged in groups of four and separated from the QWERTY area; the forward-delete/home/end/page up/page down group; and an inverted-T group of directional arrow keys. Unlike some keyboards, nearly all of these keys are positioned normally, with two minor exceptions: the directional arrows are shifted partly below the right-hand shift key, pushing the right-hand modifier keys slightly to the left; and, like , the forward-delete/home/end pod is arranged vertically, so the home and end keys are above the forward-delete, page up, and page down keys.
On the other hand, like most keyboards designed to work with both Macs and Windows PCs, the option and command keys have Windows labels: alt and start, respectively, on the left side, with an alt key and a Razer-icon key (a Windows menu key when used with a Windows PC) on the right. However, once you install Razer's ProType software drivers, covered below, these keys work as properly placed Mac modifier keys. The ProType also includes several additional keys, in the upper-right corner, that are mostly useless when the keyboard is connected to a Mac: insert, print screen, scroll lock, and pause break; the last key has an eject icon, but, as with most Mac keyboards these days, F12 is actually the eject key.
The ProType makes up for these useless Windows keys by adding 26 additional special-feature keys. Along the left edge of the keyboard are power, home, rotate, zoom in and out, and 100 percent keys. Pressing these keys, respectively, brings up the Mac OS X sleep/restart dialog; opens your home page in your preferred browser; or rotates or zooms (in, out, or to 100 percent) the image view in your preferred image viewer or editor (Preview, by default). On the right edge of the keyboard are media player, play, stop, back, forward, shuffle, volume up and down, and mute keys. Pressing these buttons launches your preferred media player (iTunes by default); controls playback; changes volume; and mutes audio, respectively. Using the ProType software--configurable via System Preferences--you can choose your preferred image program and media player.
There are also 10 macro keys--L1 through L5 on the left side of the keyboard and R1 through R5 on the right side--that can be assigned custom functions using the Razer software. Each macro key can be configured to launch a program or to replicate a series of up to eight actions (keystrokes or keyboard shortcuts); you can include delays between the keystrokes, if necessary, although a delay counts as an action. Interestingly, the 10 macro keys (and the Profile key, noted below) are all lit with a soft, blue backlight that shines through each key's label and around its base.
What's especially unique about these macro keys is that you can use the ProType's software to configure up to 10 keyboard profiles, each with its own macro-key settings. In other words, you can set up those 10 macro keys in 10 different ways, and then switch between sets. You switch between profiles manually by pressing the keyboard's Profile key along with the corresponding function key, F1 through F10, or you can set a profile to activate automatically when a particular program is launched or switched to. For example, if Profile 3 includes 10 Photoshop-related macros, you can configure Profile 3 to automatically activate whenever Photoshop is launched or whenever you switch from another program to Photoshop. (Profile switches are noted by a faint-green text label that briefly appears on the screen.)