Well I finally settled on a Poker 2 keyboard. It more than meets my expectations
Firstly, let me say you shouldn't expect any keyboard should be usable in any OS without remapping. Steve Losh has a blog post that was particularly inspiring for my setup:
http://stevelosh.com/blog/2012/10/a-modern-space-cadet/So here is my setup (in OS X, accomplished with Karabiner):
1. no numbers by default
numeric constants are almost never needed for programming (code). The only exception to this is interaction with databases, etc., where one must enter record ids and such. I'm not sure if this is a big win, but I like it so I'm sticking with it so far.
In Karabiner "Change Num Key (1...0) -> Swap numbers and symbols". This means you will have to press shift to get a number, and without shift will get the corresponding punctuation mark (eg. & instead of 7).
2. (From Steve Losh's blog) Caps_Lock -> Control_L + Esc
Yes, that's right, my Caps Lock is remapped to 2 keys simultaneously. If I press Caps Lock and immediately press another key, it counts as a Control_L (Control), but if I just press and release Caps Lock I get an Esc. This is great for e.g. Vim and Zsh, where I would like to get out of Insert Mode, instead of having to press Esc (farther away for the left pinky) or Ctrl-[ (2 keys) now I only have to tap Caps Lock and boom, I'm in Normal mode.
However, If I want e.g. a Ctrl-J, I can hold Caps Lock and hit J. Very Useful, and saves pinky stress.
3. Change Escape Key -> Escape to Backquote(`)
Now that I have a proper Escape on my home row, I don't need the Poker 2's default mapping of the backtick key to Escape anymore. To reverse this, this mapping is chosen in Karabiner. Now it is as easy as pie to subshell out via `` or find Home via ~.
I am really enjoying this keyboard, particularly with the 1976 keycaps I got for Engicoder's group buy (surplus).
If you use Visual Studio or other IDEs with heavy dependence on lots of special keys, you may miss the F-row, but if you are a UNIX lover/web developer on OS X or the like, a 60% board like the Poker 2 can be perfectly usable if you remap the keys intelligently. I was really apprehensive about giving up some keys, but this board has been a pleasure to use and has not hindered my productivity in the slightest.
If you are into a real programmable editor such as Emacs or Vim, I would say a smaller board should enhance your experience by keeping you on the home row and challenging you to remap and program your precious few keys to get the most out of them. That can only enhance your productivity in the long run.
Well cheers, I hope this may help anyone interested in a 60% board for development or the like.
HB
