Isn't it annoying that apple doesn't set a mouse back button in os x, or even give you the option?! Well there is a cure for those of us that cannot live without a back and forward button when browsing with safari and firefox.

Unfortunately DCE hasn't discovered a way to script this yet without relying on software, but we are working on it. Though we have figured out how to remap on Windows XP here, figures. Right now we are using a program called Steer mouse. You have the options to configure each mouse button to whatever you like, including a combination of shortcut keys. In this case we want to bind our back button (button 4) to cmd + [ open safari and your backing with ease. You can set the forward button assigning cmd + ] for mouse button 5. My forward button is set to expose shortcut keys (as seen in the image). To do this you must set temporailty unbind your expose setting to have the key register in steermouse.

Download the steermouse installer here

Living in both the design and computer world forces one to have both a PC and MAC. Commonly I'm back and forth to the pc to the mac and having two keyboards is a pain in the ass. Also shifting from typing on one board to the other get very annoying. One common solution is a KVM switch. This does not require the computers to be networked and will maximize my desk space. KVM's are pretty cheap but os x only runs USB keyboards so its necessary to have a USB to USB KVM. Most are PS2 which is fine PC to PC. After some fishing it comes up that the IOGEAR KVM GCS623U works perfect. You can pick it up at best buy for $70.99 or AMAZON for half the price.

The iogear's KVM was simple to set up, literally just plug in your keyboard and mouse and its switchign between the apple and pc when scroll lock is double tapped. Once installed I entered into hotkey mod (holding down the numlock key and holding the minus key for one second) and changed the double tap switch port key to CTRL. The KVM also supports VGA video and usb audio which is cool but not pratical in my situation. This KVM also saved a USB port since it combines the two peripherals into one USB plug. This is a bonus since there is only 3 ports on an iMac. The IOGEAR KVM GCS623U is an awesome investment if your stuck between Windows Xp and OS X.