..why so many people prefer WKL?
Is it because they don't use those keyboards with Windows?
There are so many Win key combinations you use in Windows, these are very useful in daily use.
Am I missing something?
The Windows key is useful now... 20+ years after it was introduced by Microsoft, and forced on OEMs and users to satisfy MICROSOFT's needs, not the users' needs.
Microsoft, at the time heavily into the "embrace, extend, extinguish" strategy (which later turned out to be a key factor in Microsoft being declared guilty of monopoly abuse), did exactly that to the Enhanced layout standard, by placing THREE keys on the keyboard that no one wanted and screwing the layout for no good use, with the added insult of calling what should have been called the "GUI" or "Super" key... after their flagship product, as if at the time no other windowed environments existed. This makes the keys... stained in their origin, and this is why everyone and the dog will use alternate legends or icons (the "Code" legend, a diamond, a drawing of Tux the penguin, a buckling spring icon...), with the fact that you have to pay MS a license for using the Windows logo a secondary one.
The location for the Windows keys was ill-chosen (those spots between Ctrl and Alt on either side were left unused for a reason), becoming an annoyance if hit when that wasn't wanted. The Windows' keys obtrusive behaviour was so notorious, gamer keyboards had to pioneer the "Windows key lock" so they could be deactivated at will. More so, the location of the Menu key (which screamed of "whim" when introduced) messed up the bottom row, forcing the movement of the right Alt key leftward, something that's specially grating for people who use that key as AltGr. More so, the amount of things you could actually DO with the Windows keys (not to say anything of the Menu key) back when they first came out was rather limited, making the whole thing even more irritating.
It did not help the fact that the propaganda machine talked about "older keyboards" being obsolete and getting new units being not only "desirable" but inevitable, infuriating our pockets. The replacement of XT keyboards for AT models was justified as a massive improvement (which it was), and those being phased out in favor of Enhanced layout keyboards was justified in the same manner (which it also was)... but replacing the then-extant keyboards for "Windows keyboards" was simply a transparent attempt by MS to force themselves into a monopoly on the hardware market.
(by the way, this was at the same time as "Windows printers", "Windows modems", and other unholy hardware like that was being pushed in... and thank God THOSE abominations did not last)
The above said, sure, some features accessed with the Windows key(s)
are useful, but some look like they were added to make the Windows key seem more meaningful. And in one particular case, you can now select a screenshot with Win-Shift-S, which seems pretty cool... until you notice you can't use Alt-PrtSc anymore to that effect (and how long until MS tweaks the standard again and removes the core functionality of PrtSc under Windows just to force the usage of the Win key?).
