VICE on Macs runs in the X11 Window Environment and thus on the X11 Display Server provided by Apple called X11.app. It will be automatically launched if you click on a VICE application icon.
The X11.app will run in the menu bar if VICE is active. The Preferences.. in the Apple Menu have some settings that help you to simplify the usage of VICE:
- Emulate three button mouse: This setting is required if you have a single -button mouse or trackpad on your mac. It enables the standard shortcut Option + Mouse Click = Right Mouse Button. Use this inside a VICE Window to open the Settings Menu.
- Use the system keyboard layout: This feature automatically maps all keys set in your language setting on macs (The flag icon in the menu bar) to equivalent X11 keys. This setting is required for the symbolic key mapping in VICE. In this mode the symbol labeled on your keys is sent to the emulator.
- Enable keyboard shortcuts under X11: If enabled the Command/Apple key is handled directly by X11.app and not sent to any X11 application. Thus pressing Command+Q will quit X11.app! For VICE I disable this setting. Now pressing Command+Q is sent to VICE to quit the emulator but not X11. Furthermore all other VICE shortcuts work with the command key, e.g. Command+A is a Smart Image Attach