Some remarks and thoughts on the new kits:
Base Kit
Support standard layouts, UK ISO Support, Full Size, TKLs, 75s, 65s, WKL boards, minimal 40s support and more!
• Looks like there is a duplicate R1 End key. One of them can be removed :)
• The 1u numpad 0 key should be alpha-colored instead of mod-colored.
• The kit is missing a R4 1.25u Fn key, which is used on a lot of layouts going from staggered 40% all the way up to full-size. I would suggest replacing the Menu key with Fn, as most sets do. Menu has limited uses, primarily for “standard”/non-programmable TKL and full-size layouts with 6.25u bottom rows. But in these cases, Fn is a viable replacement, whereas Menu isn't really a viable replacement for Fn in other cases. Fn is also more popular overall, so it would be the preferred legend choice here.
• There is a small discrepancy with the legends of the lock keys — Scroll uses a single-line legend, whereas the other two do it the OG way with two lines. However, since a lot of the legends in this set aren't OG-Cherry–style, I would recommend changing Num↲Lock to Num and stepped Caps↲Lock to Caps for a cleaner, more consistent look.
• On the topic of 40s support: adding a R3 1.25u Tab to the base kit does not give you minimal 40s support. Not really, anyway. Physical coverage is one thing, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a 40s user that would be looking forward to covering their board with End or PgDn for Esc, Control or Caps Lock for Enter, and Shifts for spaces. As mentioned previously, 40% users are much more interested in getting proper compatibility than
any compatibility, especially if they are already paying for a premium product. This is why the most of them end up getting the 40s kit anyway.
With that in mind, I think the R3 1.25u Tab on its own does not go very far in the way of giving 40s support to those that need it. And to others, it's a dead key. If you'd like to offer a more useful minimal 40s compat in base, consider the following (in addition to the Tab):
- Change R2 PgUp to Out — this lets the R2 PgUp key double as a 1u Esc key for 40s and orthos.
- Change R3 PgDn to Read or Data — this lets the R3 PgDn key double as a 1u Esc, Tab, Enter, Ctrl, ... key for orthos.
- Add a generic R4 1u key, e.g. Code — this could work as 1u Enter or Shift for orthos (and even some oddball 60% layouts).
- Add R3 1.75u Enter — the most popular Enter size on staggered 40% boards.
This is the bare minimum for what most would consider usable 40% compatibility. But even then, a few important keys would still be missing, e.g. Lower/Raise, and you'd have to resort to using End/PgDn or Super for those. So in summary, I suggest just moving the R3 1.25u Tab into the Additional kit to make it easier for everyone.
Additional Kit
F13, more 40s Support, alternate Tsangan support.
• Two boards use R3 1.5u Enter: Pearl and Minivan (and its derivatives). In addition to this key, Pearl also requires a R3 1.5u Tab/Fn, and Minivan requires R2 1.75u Backspace (included) and R4 1.75u Lock. So, as it stands, the support for these boards is incomplete, and consequently, including just R3 1.5u Enter and R2 1.75u Backspace on their own doesn't do much good. You have two options here:
- add the missing keys (R3 1.5u Fn, R4 1.75u Lock) and have full support for these boards and their derivatives; or
- remove R3 1.5u Enter and R2 1.75u Backspace as they are otherwise not useful.
I'd like to add that R4 1.75u Lock can also be used to cover: JD40/JD45/Prime_L, as a second 1.75u spacekey (more on that below); Dimple, as a second 1.75u Shift; and Filco Minila, when combined with a 3u space from the spacebar kit. This, together with the popularity of the two aforementioned boards in the 40% space, makes option 1 the better choice imo.
• I think this kit needs more in the way of ortho support. At least a R3 Enter, R3 Esc and R2 Tab (all 1u).
The thing is that the Planck/Preonic coverage is inconsistent at the moment: the kit has a R4 Enter, which is used on the default OLKB layout, but it doesn't have R2 Tab, R3 Esc which are also part of that layout. On the other hand, a lot of people prefer to use the more familiar R2 Esc and R3 Tab, but then R3 Enter is missing. It'd be nice to have all of these options.
Ideally there would also be a second R4 1u Ctrl and second R4 1u Shift. A generic key like Code could come in handy for these.
• The 1.5u Shift seems a bit of an odd inclusion for such a small kit. This would be useful only for Evolv (which isn't out yet) and UT47.2.
Spacebar Kit
Split bars, 6u bars, 3u bars
• If you aren't going to include the R4 1.75u Lock key in Additional, then the 1.75u space can be removed from here as it's pretty much useless — the only keyboard that uses a single 1.75u space is Vortex Core. No keyboards larger than 40% use this spacebar size.
