Using alt in applications

[Kenneth P. Turvey]

I use NetBeans under Ubuntu on a daily basis.  This is a great setup for 
Java development, but there are a few things about it that I find 
annoying.  

The biggest of these is that I can't use the alt key in NetBeans.  
Whenever I hit alt something the operating system seems to intercept the 
key before NetBeans gets to see it.  

Is there a way to tell Ubuntu to use the Windows key or something instead 
of the alt key?  Basically a way to substitute meta keys for the 
operating system?  Or do I have to go through and change every keyboard 
shortcut individually?  

If I have to change them all individually, is there a way to tell it to 
use the windows key here?  

Thanks. 

-- 
Kenneth P. Turvey <kt-usenet at squeakydolphin.com>I