IBM XT Keyboard Original Layout (from Clickykeyboards.com). Note that the modifiers are "shouldered" keys. I got the keyboard from eBay. It was made in 1984 and needed only some cleaning. I connected it to my Mac using a Hagstrom converter and remapped keys using KeyRemap4MacBook (KR4MB). To reflect the remapping, I swapped some keycaps, using keys from a 101-key Model M, a 122-key Model M, or purchased from Unicomp. Because I had been using a HHKB Pro 2 with my Mac, I decided to reconfigure the XT keyboard to the extent possible to a HHKB layout with Mac settings.
IBM XT Keyboard, HHKB - Mac Layout, Right Side. Original Backspace replaced by a 1.50x Backslash (\). NumLock toggles arrow keys and numbers in the NumPad. Scroll Lock/Break = Power. The original 1.25x right bracket (]) is replaced by a blank 1.25x Backspace, located above the green Return key, which replaced the original Backquote (`) key. The right bracket now occupies the space formerly taken by the Return key. Right Shift is now a 1.25x Shift from a 122-key IBM. The NumPad Multiply (*) is now a Fn key (light blue). Among other things, Fn toggles Backspace to Forward Delete and provides a HHKB-style cursor diamond with the [ / ; ' keys. Right Command is shown next to the Spacebar. Right Option (Alt) is dark blue and Right Control is Red.
IBM XT Keyboard, HHKB - Mac Layout, Left Side. Escape is toggled by Fn (light blue) to Backquote (`) and Fn+Shift to Tilde (~). Red keys are Control, dark blue is Option (Alt), and Left Command is shown next to the Spacebar.
Although I have advised others that putting garishly colored keycaps on an IBM board is rather like putting lipstick on the Venus de Milo, I thought that these "Fisher-Price training wheels" would be helpful with identifying the keys, and they actually looked better than some of the custom printed keycaps in standard colors. However, the colors are growing on me and I actually like them. Nevertheless, I am considering using standard printed caps or blanks.
The real joys of this board include its solid construction (it weighs nearly 6 pounds!) and its superb capacitive buckling spring switches. They are somewhat heavier than the membrane buckling springs in a Model M, and they have a more precise feel with a definitive metallic click like an electromagnet snapping up a steel washer. By comparison, my Model M now feels mushy.
This IBM XT is now my daily driver, and I am considering further modifications, including replacing the foam that is sandwiched between the metal plates and replacing the external Hagstrom converter with an internal Teensy and Soarer Converter, so that the remapping will not be dependent on the Mac software.
This is a very easy modification, requiring only the purchase of a converter box, remapping keys using free software, and swapping some keycaps. I hope that this post might be useful for others who are thinking of using an IBM XT keyboard. I would also welcome suggestions about other ways to modify the IBM XT.
