Since the keyboard isn't from Microsoft, you need to install the provided software to make use of some of the additional features on the keyboard.

The MCK 9000 keyboard seems to be geared mainly for an office environment. Almost all of its additional features are aimed towards office applications.

On the left top corner are a new set of features; namely, "Copy, Paste, Cut, Close, App Sw, Mark and Office Lock."

Most of the above features are self explanatory, "App Sw" stands for application switching. Say you want to move from one window to another, simply press this button and it'll move from one window to the next. It's just like pressing Alt + Tab key on conventional keyboards. "Close" is for closing a current application window. The "Mark" is also another handy button if you purely a keyboard user. Say you want to highlight a selected amount of text in word. You go to the start point of where you want to highlight and press mark. Thereafter simply use the arrow keys to highlight the text. This is just like using the left mouse button and using the mouse to highlight what you want.

On the top center are a whole bunch of office, internet and multimedia feature enabling buttons.

To get these features working you first have to install the software provided. The keyboard provides instant access to MS Word, MS Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook Calander service. 

In the center are a bunch of controls for accessing Media player functions. Pressing play will open up media player and start playing what ever media you have in your CD ROM drive. The volume is controlled by a jog dial in the center. Mute is done by simply pressing down the dial.

Next are internet keys that provide the basic requirements for browsing. The internet buttons provide quick access to starting your web browser, displaying favorites, back and forward, starting up your default email client and it also provides a search function, which opens up google.com's search page.

On the right top most corner, the keyboard offers a few more handy buttons such as "Sleep, which puts the PC on standby mode, a power switch, which turns the PC off, a log off button, which logs you off the current PC, My Computer and Calculator.

Going back to the left side of the keyboard, the board offers a scroll wheel and "back and forward" buttons. Most high end keyboards today offer similar functionality to this feature.

One of the cool features of this board is its high level of customizability. One would tend to believe a scroll wheel is just another scroll wheel. Ortek have gone a step further and assigned user definable short cuts to this scroll wheel. Simply press on the wheel and a small screen will pop up asking you what to do. The great thing about this feature is that every user can customize the short cuts to his/her requirements. It's definitely a great tool for advanced users who rely heavily on short cuts.

If you looked closely, you'll notice that all the function keys of the board have various office application functions written on them. Basically these keys allow you to perform most of the widely used functions in office applications. Creating a new document, Opening a document, saving etc are all built into the keyboard. Of course you do not need these functions unless you're using an MS office application, which is why the "Office Lock" button has been implemented. Once the office lock button is activated, the function keys act as functions in an MS Office environment, and on all other occasions they act as normal function keys. The num pad has also been introduced with the new Euro character as well.

The keyboard uses two AA batteries which the specifications say will last for 6 months. That would be pretty impressive if it actually does last that long. We couldn't test the validity of that; however we have been using this keyboard for almost over a month now with no problems.

The keyboard consists of two transmission channels. You can choose either one, but make sure all the devices are using that same channel or nothing would work.

The Receiver:

The receiver includes 5 LED indicator lights, namely Num Lock, Caps Lock, Office Lock and a Low Battery warning LED. The receiver has 360 degrees of receptive capability, which means you can have your Keyboard &/or mouse at any angle and still get a response. The receiver comes with a 5ft long cable for trouble free placement.

The receiver consists of a reset button on top of it. Once you have attached all the cables to the system, you need to press this button. Once you do that an LED in the receiver will start blinking. It'll continue to blink until you press the ID button on the Keyboard or mouse. You don't need to do this all the time, just on the initial setup, where the devices need to recognize each other. Make sure you choose the same channel for all devices.

The Mouse:

The included mouse is an Optical mouse, with a 400DPI resolution. An optical mouse will work on almost any surface other than reflective surfaces. The mouse consists of a left and right click button, a scroll wheel and a back button on the side which fits your thumb position perfectly.

The software CD provided consists of a utility called the "Magic Function" for the mouse. This utility allows you to configure your mouse buttons to something other than the standard. For example, you could assign your right mouse button to open My documents. Similarly you could configure all the other buttons as well. I personally didn't want to reconfigure these functions since I have become too reliant upon the standard functions. However it's certainly nice to see that this option is provided.

The mouse uses two AA batteries, which is included in the package. Make sure you set the correct channel before you insert the batteries, or you'll have to do it all over again.