Hello everyone! New here. I recently decided to get a mechanical keyboard and I've been doing a lot of research and a lot of my searches brought me here. So, I finally decided to become a member!
I'm a long time programmer and spend many years on IBM Model M keyboard back in the day (when they came with your IBM PC). I remember those keyboards fondly so I finally decided I should try to get one again. I quickly found Unicomp and was delighted that I could basically buy a new Model M for a price that isn't outrageous. I'm now mostly a Mac user so I was looking at their Spacesaver M keyboard as it has the "Mac" keys. I almost ordered one but the look of the graphics they put on the function keys (brightness symbols, media controls, volume controls, etc) really kept turning me off. But, I still almost bought one as I really loved using the BS keyboards back in the day.
So, before I took the plunge with Unicomp I thought I'd look into other options and found that Cherry MX switches seem to be the most common switches available right now and they are very customizable with all kinds of keycap colors and legends. But, even so, I'm finding there still aren't that many options out there for a Mac user. That is, keyboards with Command and Option keys in the right places as well as the function key symbols (brightness, multimedia, volume, etc) . I know that you can use pretty much any Windows keyboard on a Mac, but I really would like my keyboard to look like a Mac keyboard.
I finally found WASD keyboards and got excited! They have a Mac specific layout you can use with any of their V2 keyboard and you can also select which switches you want as well as specifying keycap colors. And, they have a DIP switch so us Mac users can have the Command and Option keys in their correct positions. The only downside is that even in "Mac" mode the function keys won't operate the Mac specific functions like an Apple keyboard's function keys do. But, I can add this functionality via free third party software (KeyRemap4MacBook).
And, now I've found the GH group buy for the Galaxy Class keycaps and being a Star Trek fan I decided I needed to get that set as well as a WASD keyboard to put them on!
I haven't ordered the keyboard yet as I haven't finalized what keycap colors I want and I'm putting finishing touches on my own custom legend layout file that will have the standard Apple legends on the function keys as well as some other changes from their standard Mac layout file.
I'm also trying to decide which Cherry MX switches to get with this keyboard. As I mentioned already, I really love Buckling Spring keyboards so after some research I thought I'd go with the greens. But, after further research I think they may be a bit heavy so I now am pretty sure I'll be going with blues. I want the clicky sound as well as the tactile feedback these switches offer. I mostly will be using the keyboard while programming / typing.
