I own a HHKB and several other 60% keyboards.
I'm a developer. I don't use Visual Studio but I use several IDEs that are similar.
If you program, you should stick with a TKL or with a keyboard that at the bare minimum still provides arrows. This includes the FC660C/FC660M and several keyboards manufactured by Matias.
FC660M:
http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1172 http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1217Matias "compact" keyboards:
http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard/matias-mini-quiet-pro-for-pc-usa.asp http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard/matias-mini-quiet-bluetooth-laptop-pro-keyboard-for-mac-usa.asp (it does not matter that the keyboard above is "for Mac" - it can be used on PC)
http://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard/matias-wireless-mini-secure-pro-keyboard-for-pc-usa.aspFor two years I have tried hard to use strictly 60% keyboards for work: HHKB, Poker 2, GH60...
I have even designed 2 layouts that help navigating easily, giving access to the arrows, Home/End/PgUp/PgDn on easily accessible keys. These layouts are SpaceFN and GuiFN.
SpaceFN:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=51069.0GuiFN:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=57723.0After months of use, I had to come back to a TKL or a more compact keyboard with arrows.
You are just not as productive on a 60% keyboard. If you install an utility to monitor your keystrokes, you will see that you use the arrows all the time when you program. Personally, I use the arrows and navigation keys more often than the space bar.
Does it make any sense to have to use an Fn key to access these keys?
There is an argument I read often in favor or 60% keyboard, and it is that you don't have to move your hands much to reach for the arrows. For example in SpaceFN the arrows are accessible without moving your hands from the "home position" of touch typing.
I have experienced this myself, and it's true that it's shocking how much you have to move your hands when you go back to a TKL for example.
However, in the end this does not matter much. When you program, you spend a lot of time navigating, just navigating. You read stuff. Then you go to some place in the text and you type. Sometimes you will type something, move somewhere else, type something else, but most of the time you don't alternate like that in short bursts. So keeping the arrows near the home position is not such an advantage, after all. Having to press a key to access the arrows ends up being more of a burden than having to move your right hand to access them.
If you use chords like Shift-Ctrl-Right to select the next word, Ctrl-Shift-End to select to the end of document, and so on... then you need to press 4 keys at the same time quite often. It's tiring after just a full day of use.
The 60% layout is very seductive, but ultimately it's a failure for serious productivity.
There is also one thing to take into consideration: in Visual Studio, I think you have to use the F1-F12 keys fairly often. You don't have these keys on a 60% board, and once again you have to use an Fn key to access them. The FC660C/FC660M do not have them, but you have these keys on a standard TKL or on the Matias keyboards above.
Edit: WOW! This was my 1000th post. I have evolved a lot since I have discovered Geekhack, going from just looking for TKL keyboards, to 60% lover, and now 60% sceptic.