If I was making this, I would move the leftmost column of set of keys into standard spacing with the two colums next to them, and make all of those keys relegendable/remapable keys. Need to use a Nav Cluster at the same time as the numpad? No problem, map a 'Nav Cluster Lock' key and use F3/Pause/F5/F6 as a Nav Cluster....
| PRINT SCREEN | SCROLL LOCK | PAUSE |
| F9 | F5 | F1 |
| F10 | F6 | F2 |
| F11 | F7 | F3 |
| F12 | F8 | F4 |
I think this makes sense because it's usually easier to reach to the side with your fingers than to reach up - to press the function keys on this layout you just need to rotate your wrist a bit unless you have you have very small hands, whereas with a regular keyboard you usually need to lift your entire hand up to reach the function keys. It also makes it much easier to type modifier/function combos like Alt-F4, not to mention saving space behind the keyboard.
That's a good idea, f16, ordering the function keys by column gives you quick access to the low-numbered ones and would probably make touch-typing easier, especially if you put a bump on F1. And an upside of your design and Rajagra's is that Alt-F4 is really easy to enter. I'd rather not have F1 far away as in Rajagra's design, though.
But having the left cluster be 4 keys wide is an interesting idea... it give you room for 5 more keys on top. You could put some programming and macro keys up there. It's also nice because it makes the keyboard completely symmetrical, but a downside is the added width.
And flyball, what do you mean by the real home row cluster?
People in China are working on keyboard with such layout. Probably will be in market in another half year time.Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/nXfeZ.jpg)
I think switching Del with Ins on the keypad is a great idea.
Great, f16, I'm looking forward to the finished product. If you want ALPS keys for this project, you could take them from a Northgate keyboard.
The main difference from other layouts is that there are only 5 rows and the function keys are stacked up like on a PC/XT or Northgate keyboard. I think this makes sense because it's usually easier to reach to the side with your fingers than to reach up - to press the function keys on this layout you just need to rotate your wrist a bit unless you have you have very small hands, whereas with a regular keyboard you usually need to lift your entire hand up to reach the function keys. It also makes it much easier to type modifier/function combos like Alt-F4, not to mention saving space behind the keyboard.
People in China are working on keyboard with such layout. Probably will be in market in another half year time.Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/nXfeZ.jpg)
Do you have telescopic fingers?! My fingers are quite long, but I still have to move my arm to reach the F-key row. And that's the whole arm moving, whereas it's just the lower part that swings left a bit to reach F-keys on the left. No, the reason the F-leys moved up top is because of the cursor key block being added; the keyboard would be too wide otherwise. Heh, by your logic, the cursor keys should be above as well! :-)
I think you'll find the 83/84 style function key layout was abandoned because it's much easier to splay your fingers to cover the board than it is to move your whole hand to the left.