I hate the mushy chicklet keyboard which came with my iMac OS X 10.6.8. I am a fast touch typist and am looking for a keyboard with tactile feel and concave keys. Can you recommend one? -

Logitech makes several that have 10.6.8 compatible drivers. Make sure the one you get does. http://www.microsoft.com/mac/ also has some compatible keyboards.

Although expensive, the Matias Tactile Pro

http://matias.ca/tactilepro3/

Is the closest thing to the old M3501 ADB Apple Extended keyboard (nicknamed the "Nimitz" for its imposing size) with discreet switches instead of that darned membrane technology. IHMO, the Nimitz was the best KB ever built.

http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-2001-ADB-iMate-Universal-adapter/dp/B000067V8L Will hook you up with Apple's old Extended Keyboard II with an ADB cable. So yes, you can get still get that "Nimitz" and hook it to your Mac.

a brody write:

So yes, you can get still get that "Nimitz" and hook it to your Mac.

Not quite so,

That's the gadget that kept my Nimitz in use for 20 years. Griffin dropped support for it at 10.3.9. I used it a long time under 10.4.11 but had to employ several workabouts to keep it from making me crazy. Gave up at 10.5, and have not tried it under 10.6, figuring the grief I had at a lower OS would be magnified on an Intel Mac.

I talked to Griffin support and all they could offer is sympathy if I used it beyond 10.3.9.

The other problem is they've not made them for years and the device has an internal battery that doesn't last forever, so a used one or one that's languished on the shelf for years is likely to have a dead battery. To replace it you have to break the case open. It's easy enough to use a rubber band to hold the now-compromised case together, but it s a bit inelegant and does nothing about the OS support issue.

A second vote for the Matias Tactile Pro3. I use one. It's the closest approximation to the old Apple ADB keyboard you can find.

Note, each key is an individual switch just like the old ADB keyboard. So it is "clicky". Some don't like that. Doesn't bother me.

Reviews:

Matias Tactile Pro 3 Keyboard Returns to the Alps

Review: Matias Tactile Pro 3 Keyboard

And a youtube video so you can see and hear it in action.

That's too bad to hear. At least Apple did have some USB extended keyboards without flat keys. Too bad they no longer sell them. Amazon may have a few:

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-M9034LL-A-USB-Keyboard/dp/B0000ACOBG

My only qualm about them was they got really dirty inside the plastic, and there was no easy way to take them apart. I had to toss mine out.

I'm not sure if that was the one, or if this was the one I had to toss:

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-109-Key-Version-Keyboard-1003199/dp/B002C7JG4A/ref=p d_sim_e_1

But both were certainly less flat that what we have now.

I couldn' abide the all-plastic version that had side-facing USB ports as in your first Amazon link. The feel was griity after only a little use, likely due to wear on the key shafts

The second one you linked is the last of the all-plastic boards with rear-facing USB ports. I can tolerate that one--we have two. We got the fist in 2006 and its feel is still acceptable, My wife has put a lot of miles on it.

The Al boards work better for me than the last two all-plastic models, but are still not to the high standards of the Nimitz. We paid US$150 for our first Nimitz in 1990, so the TactilePro is probably a bargain in adjusted dollars.

I know, it has been a while, but I figured I'd throw my two cents in:

1) The Matias has now a worthy contender in Das Keyboard: http://shop.daskeyboard.com/products/professional-for-mac. It's big, heavy, and not exactly pretty, but it is a wonder.

2) And, speaking of big, heavy and not exactly pretty battleships, I'm typing this post on my good ole Apple Keyboard II, which is working as it should in Mountail Lion. I guess Griffin cannot guarantee support for the iMate, which is a discontinued product, but mine keeps on working regardless of computer and/or OS.

3) Added bonus: For a magnificent post on clickety Mac keyboards, check out this: http://shawnblanc.net/2012/04/clicky-keyboards/

Rubs me the wrong way when someone asks a question and people criticize the question, but I thought I'd pass on my experience. I was disappointed that the "Nimitz" keyboard with the separate calculator-type numerical keypad and extra programmable buttons disappeared. Part of the reason was that the keys on the "chicklet" board felt a little more tightly-spaced (way back in the day I had even gotten a keyboard that splayed apart and you could adjust the angle of the keys you hit with your left hand from those you hit with your right). I didn't like the feel and I was typing more slowly (I'm a fairly quick typer).

I started looking around to see what replacements would match the uncluttered modern look (wireless being part of that) while giving me the conventional keyboard feel. (I'm also a keyboardist, as in synthesizer-player, so I know from the differences in tactile feel and resistance and such.)

But the truth is I stayed with the "chicklet" keyboard. I just got used to it. Going back and forth from synth to piano means you never really get used to a bad keyboard feel and it affects your expressiveness. But once I got used to the "chicklet" keyboard, now when I use a conventional typewriter-style keyboard, it feels clumsy and I find I type no faster than I do on the new one.

My two cents. If you find that's not so, good luck on the search for something suitable for you. Would be nice to have the option for those who want it.

Many think the old IBM Model M keyboard was the finest keyboard ever made. Many are still in use. See Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Model_M.

The Unicomp people have been making clones of the Model M since the mid-1990s. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicomp. I have their Space Saver model and wouldn't trade it for any keyboard I know of. It works great on my 10.4.11 iMac. You can find Unicomp at http://www.pckeyboard.com.

Keyboard preferences are a bit like sexual orientation: you know what you want when you see it. Or, in this case, feel it.

In any case, it is a very personal matter. I have personally spent too many years typing on mushy chicklet keyboards, and resigned myself to them, but I have no love for them. I recently got a Nimitz and a Das Keyboard, and my fingers are in heaven. (On second thought, I could have not bought the Das Keyboard and save all that money, since I'm perfectly happy with this old beast, but it's good to have a backup plan, especially when dealing with hardware this old.)

Before you decide, you might find the following article (PC centric) helpful:

http://www.overclock.net/t/491752/mechanical-keyboard-guide