Extra Keys

Extra Keys is a simple yet effective tool for inserting accented characters for languages such as Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Italian and other European and Scandinavian languages. The application is an alternative to Windows Character Map and functions efficiently.

Features

Extra Keys is a useful tool for adding characters of languages other than English in a document. These languages include Scandinavian languages, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese among others.

The program is a good alternative to Windows Character Map and incorporates several symbols which are generally not a part of the keyboard of a user. The application runs in Windows system trey and it is easy for the users to insert these characters to their documents and text editors. These characters can be directly inserted into the text documents by the users or can be copied to the clipboard. The application detects the currently running programs and users can choose to enter the characters into these files.

Users can place the application anywhere on the screen and can have it displayed over all other applications. This is useful while working with multiple documents in which the characters are to be inserted. Users can also choose whether they want all the characters in the application displayed or only a few of their choice need to be displayed. Extra Keys has an intuitive interface and therefore it is very easy to use. Even new users can manage the application effectively. It uses low system resources and therefore does not affect the performance of the system. The program supports Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.

Comparison

WizKey is an application similar to Extra Keys. WizKey enables users to easily enter accented characters into their documents. The application includes accented and special characters and these can be easily entered into the text editors by the users. The most commonly used characters can be inserted using the keyboard shortcuts and the lesser-used characters can be selected from the application and can be entered into the documents. Users can also define the keyboard mapping according to the most commonly used characters used by them.

Conclusion

Extra Keys is a high utility application when it comes to entering special and accented characters into the documents. On several occasions users are needed to enter accented characters to their documents especially while entering words from non-English languages. These can be easily done by using this application. The application runs in the system trey and can be placed over all other windows for easily managing it. The simple and intuitive interface makes it very easy to operate this application. It also allows the users to define which characters to be displayed according to their preferences.