Xah Lee, 2005-11.
above: The Microsoft Wireless Natural Multimedia (MS WNM) keyboard.
In 2005, i bought Microsoft Wireless Natural Multimedia keyboard, introduced in 2004. This is basically a one-piece split keyboard with special buttons on top.
MS keyboards come with IntelliType software, which lets user customize the keys fairly extensively. For example, the function keys can be assigned to launch applications or do other commands, and the functionality of “Start” key and Alt key can be swapped (suitable for Mac users), and Caps-lock key and control key can be swapped as well. The IntelliType comes in both Windows and Mac versions. I'm not sure about Linux.
I'm a input device nerd. I find this keyboard in general better than all i've used in my 14 years of computing experience.
• Quality split design. If you use a keyboard more than several hours a day, then try to get used to a split keyboard. It prevents your wrist from bending. You still need to take typing breaks, but once you get used to split keyboard, typing on a flat keyboard will immediate feel unnatural and discomfort.
• Large Alt and Ctrl keys. Large modifier keys are especially nice if you are a programer, in particular, if you are a emacs user.
• The modifier keys are positioned symmetrically with respect to your thumbs. Many keyboards, especially those made by Apple Computer, the right-side modifier keys are placed far more to the right, so one has to curl the thumb way inward to press them, making the key essentially decorative in nature. See: Photo of a Apple 2006 Keyboard.
Over all, i think this keyboard is far superior than any in my 14 years of computing experience. However, here are a few design flaws i see:
• The led indicators for Caps-lock, F-Lock, Num-lock are not on the keyboard. They are on the wireless receiving device. (the little mouse-sized block connected to the USB) So, if you tuck your receiving block under your desk, then these leds are not in sight, making them useless.
• The F-Lock key is a pain. The keyboard has a F-Lock key located at the right neighbor of F12. The F-lock key acts like a toggle (but it does not physically stuck when down). When f-lock is “down”, the function keys f1 to f12 sends normal signals. But when f-lock is “up”, f1 key is “help”, f2 key is “undo”, f3 is “redo”, and undo, open, new, reply, etc. Basically each function key gets a predefined function. These definitions can be redefined in the IntelliType software. The F-lock is a pain because whenever you use the function keys, you need to know what is the state of the F-lock. In a sense, it is disagreeable like the cap-lock key. You type and then groan because you realized something is wrong because the cap-lock/f-lock is down.
• There is no way to disable F-Lock thru the bundled software. The F-Lock key is placed beside F12 without a gap. This makes accidental toggling frequent. F12 key is important for those who make use of function keys to do various things, because F12 is located on the edge of a key group therefore easy to press without looking. But now the F-Lock takes its edge position, and the ease of toggling by mistake essentially makes F12 unusable. This is exasperated by the fact the indicator led for F-Lock is on the radio-receiver block. So, the state of F-Lock is very inconvenient to know especially if your usb-receiver is tucked away.
• The function keys are arranged together in two groups on top: f1 to f5, and f6 to f12 and F-Lock. This is different from the standard arrangement of 4 keys per block. The continuous arrangement makes touch-typing of these F-keys impractical, because touch typing are much enhanced by the gaps in the 4-key-per-block arrangement. The continuous row makes the keys in the middle of the row impossible to easily touch type. So, effectively, f8, f9, f10 are made unusable to me. (coupled with the F-Lock key problem, f11 and f12 are both also made unusable for those who use f-keys with touch typing.)
(I use F-keys extensively. For launching/switching apps (email, web, emacs, terminal, IM, ...), close window, hide app)
• The functionalities of PrtScn, Insert, Break, ScrLk keys are mingled together into two physical keys. Their function depends on the F-Lock. This is done in a very confused way with confusing labels on the keys. The left key has these 3 lables: “PrtScn,SysRq,Insert”, and the right key has “Pause,Break,ScrLk”. The third label are printed in front of the keys.
Normally, it wouldn't be a problem of jamming 4 functionalities into 2 physical keys thru a state-toggling key. However, in this case, it's very confusing because the PrtScn, Break, ScrLk are conventionally a set of 3 keys often considered as one unit. To put these 3 keys plus the Insert key, into 2 physical keys, is confusing. What made it worse is that the PrtScn, Break, ScrLk keys are somewhat historical and they do not have a definite purpose today (except the PrtScn key). Also, there's another esoteric key SysRq that is sometimes confused or jamped into the same key as PrtScn. Somewhat similarly, the Break key is sometimes labeled Pause. These reasons made it very confusive.
• The standard block of 6 keys: del, ins, home, end, page up, page down, in a 2 by 3 block, is mingled into a vertical block of 3 by 2, with 5 keys only. The insert key is gone, and delete key expand to its place. (I being a mac user, don't miss the insert key, nor have use of the “delete” key here. However, the home and end keys are now placed side by side, making it unnatural to use for mac users, because on the mac home usually means moving to the top of document, as opposed to beginning of the line. The page up/down also are less usable, because they are not in a column by themselves. The End key is the top key in their column. So, intentions of Page Up can come to the End.) (fixed in 4000)
But over all, this is a best keyboard i've used.
above: Side view of the Microsoft Wireless Natural Multimedia keyboard.
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