I use a simple program called SharpKeys to map CTRL to CMD and vice-versa. The program uses the registry to achieve this. This removes the need for Parallels to do any of the mapping for me, so I disable every shortcut mapping in Parallels.
The main reason is that while Parallels will map many keyboard shortcuts, it is missing a great deal of them and I don't want to try adding ALL of them manually. It's far easier for me to just switch the key mappings and call it a day.
The problem is while Parallels typically will respect these shortcut settings and disable them, in Coherence mode it will not.
I will give a classic example using Visual Studio 2012. CTRL+H is Find & Replace. With my swapped mappings, it registers as CMD+H on the keyboard, but Windows interprets it as CTRL+H due to SharpKeys. Parallels will try to use the "Show Desktop" shortcut in Coherence mode and I won't get Find & Replace, instead it shows the desktop. If I try outside of Coherence mode, the shortcut works fine and I get Find & Replace in Visual Studio.
I can't imagine this is a feature, as I work mostly in Coherence mode, it's quite annoying. Anyone else have this issue? If anything, I wish Parallels could just take SharpKeys out of the equation with a "Swap CMD and CTRL" option globally.
I am using the latest build of Parallels 8, Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, on a 2011 11" MacBook Air (and 2011 27" iMac).
Last edited: Sep 25, 2012
