I'm gonna throw out some questions and comments, I'd like your feedback
-The TrulyErgonomic keyboard has a release date of end of January, about four weeks, for my order. The March orders are a second batch.
-Maybe I didn't make clear that the Kinesis doesn't support symmetrical 3 key modifiers as there are only two modifiers per thumb. I prefer a symmetrical arrangement with three modifiers per side.
-Function key usage is alive and well, OS X uses them for computer control, visual studio uses F5/F6 for doing a build, etc.
-In 15 years of Kinesis usage I am still unable to keep from resting my hand on the palm rests more than I should. I used to work in the ergo dept at my company and found the same results with others.
- Don't know about the contour but the Advantage is the biggest keyboard I've used.
- The Advantage requires to be unplugged and re-plugged in after every time I sleep the computer to reset the keyboard firmware, which is to say every day, on OS X. Doesn't matter which USB port it's on, a hub, and I've tried it with two Advantage Pro's. I suspect that Windows is getting some kind of USB reset on wake from sleep (the keyboard gives a click) that OS X isn't doing, however the company is washing their hands of it, and I'm not going to keep replugging the keyboard every day so it's useless.
- I don't see why keyboard macros are better than OS, rather the reverse as it's more powerful. For example, the software I use is context sensitive, meaning the macro behaves differently based on which program is in the foreground.
- Yes the Kinesis arrow key handling was a wonderful alternative in it's day, however the TrulyErgonomic dual arrow key design is superior, I believe.
Your project is intriguing, not least of all for the intermissions. The Function key mod looks great, as for splitting the keyboard I'm not sure I would go that far, were you doing that so as to have a mouse in the center? I've accomplished that by either using the Logitech Marble Mouse, which fits perfectly. All you need is three rubber feet on the bottom. The Magic Trackpad, with rubber feet, also works fairly well. The older PC style trackpads also work too.
I only did that to save desk space though. The keyboard is spaced well enough for me, and in general I find it somewhat unergonomic to have a mouse in the keyboard center. Anyhow, your project looks great, and I considered doing something like that once to add another pair of modifier keys, but after looking at the internal design of the Kinesis decided it would be too much work.
I'm really, really hopeful that the TrulyErgonomic will be my end all/be all keyboard. We'll see.