Xah Lee
2006-06-14 00:36:40 UTC
A Review of Two Microsoft Keyboards
Xah Lee, 2005-11
The Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard
Microsoft Natural Multimedia keyboard
above: the Microsoft Wireless Natural Multimedia (WNM) keyboard.
In 2005, i bought Microsoft Wireless Natural Multimedia keyboard,
introduced in 2004. This is basically a one-piece split keyboard with
special buttons on top.
MS keyboards comes with IntelliType software, which lets user customize
the keys fairly extensively. For example, the function keys can be
assigned to launch applications or do other commands, and the
functionality of “Start” key and Alt key can be swapped (suitable
for Mac users), and cap-lock key and control key can be swapped as
well. The IntelliType comes in both Windows and Mac versions. I'm not
sure about Linux.
I'm a input device nerd. I find this keyboard in general better than
all i've used in my 14 years of computing experience.
The few outstanding features are:
• Quality split design. If you use a keyboard more than several hours
a day, then try to get used to a split keyboard. It prevents your wrist
from bending. You still need to take typing breaks, but once you get
used to split keyboard, typing on a flat keyboard will immediate feel
unnatural and discomfort.
• Large keys modifier keys (e.g. Alt, Control.) Large modifier keys
are especially nice if you operate your computer with them. For
example, using emacs.
• The modifier keys are positioned symmetrically with respect to your
hand positions. Most keyboards, including those made by Apple Computer
Incorporated, the right-side modifier keys are inferior citizens. They
are placed far more to the right, so one has to curl the thumb way
inward to press them, making the key essentially decorative in nature.
The few design flaws i see are:
• The led indicators for cap lock, F-Lock, num lock are not on the
keyboard. They are on the receiving device. (the little mouse-sized
block connected to the USB)
• F-Lock key is a pain. (it has a F-Lock key, which toggles the
standard function of function keys with predefined functions (e.g.
help, undo, open, new, reply...(these can be redefined thru the
driver.)))
• There is no way to disable F-Lock thru the bundled driver. The
F-Lock key is placed right beside F12 without a gap. This makes
accidental toggling frequent. F12 key is important for those who make
use of function keys to do various things, because F12 is located on
the edge of a key group therefore easy to blindly press. But now the
F-Lock takes its edge position, and the ease of toggling by mistake
essentially makes F12 unusable. This is exasperated by the fact the
F-Lock led indicator is on the USB block, making state of F-Lock harder
to know.
• The F-keys are arranged together in two continuous groups on top,
with f1 to f5 as a row, and f6 to f12 and F-Lock as another row. This
is different from the standard arrangement of 4 keys per block. The
continuous arrangement makes touch-typing of these F-keys impractical,
because touch typing are much enhanced by the gaps in the
4-key-per-block arrangement. The continuous row makes the keys in the
middle of the row impossible to eaesily touch type. So, effectively,
f8, f9, f10 are made unusable to me. (coupled with the F-Lock key
problem, f11 and f12 are both also made unusable for those who use
f-keys with touch typing.)
(I use F-keys extensively. For launching/switching apps (email, web,
emacs, terminal, IM, ...), close window, hide app)
• The functionalities of f13, 14, 15, and insert keys are munged
together into two physical keys. Their function depends on the F-Lock.
This is done in a very confused way with confusing labels on the keys.
(one keys says “PrtScn,SysRq,Insert”, and another says
“Pause,Break,ScrLk”. The third label are printed in front of the
keys. The labor's placement and the key's active functionality is
inconsistent with the state of F-Lock among the two keys.)
• The standard block of 6 keys: del, ins, home, end, page up, page
down, in a 2 by 3 block, is munged into a vertical block of 3 by 2,
with 5 keys only. The insert key is gone, and delete key expand to its
place. (I being a mac user, don't miss the insert key, nor have use of
the “delete” key here. However, the home and end keys are now
placed side by side, making it unnatural to use for mac users, because
on the mac home usually means moving to the top of document, as opposed
to beginning of the line. The page up/down also are less usable,
because they are not in a column by themselves. The End key is the top
key in their column. So, intentions of Page Up can come to the End.)
(fixed in 4000)
But over all, this is a best keyboard i've used.
-------------------------
Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard Microsoft Natural Multimedia
Keyboard
The Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
Xah Lee, 2006-06
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
In 2005, Microsoft produced a new keyboard called the “Natural
Ergonomic Keyboard 4000”.
This keyboard is a relatively major change from the previous one. Here
are few notable changes:
Good Changes
* The keyboard features a front-tilt, and large palm rest. Most
people likes to prop the back legs so that they actually have to bend
their writs upward to type. This this bad. This keyboard tilt the the
opposite direction, so that fingers actually “droop down” to type.
* The home/end/paging key block has been reverted to the
traditional design of 2 rows by 3 columns formation.
* The F13, F14, F15 keys are each a physical key. (as opposed to
having just 2 physical keys as with the WNM keyboard).
* the keyboard is now quieter.
* The led indicators for Num-Lock, Cap-Lock, ScrLk, F-lock are
right in front of the keyboard, below the space bar.
* There is a “zoom” knob, which is designed to allow one to
enlarge or reduce fonts in a web browser. However, this does not always
work. It is not possible to make this knob to function as a
scroll-wheel with the accompanied software.
* There are Back and Forward keys below the space bar. This is
convenient for browsing the web.
* There are 4 new keys: “=()←” on top of the number pad. This
is convenient for those who uses the number pad for input or as a
calculator. Although they cannot be re-programed.
Bad Changes
* In the WNM keyboard, there are skip-to-next-song and
skip-to-previous-song keys for playing music. This is missing in the
4000. So, now you have to switch to your music player in order to skip
to the next song. This is a terrible oversight.
* The physical shape of the keys are now curved in several ways,
some good and some questionable. In WNM and previous generation of MS
keyboard, the rows of the keys on each side lines up straight. For
example, Cap-Lock and ASDFG keys all are on a straight line. But with
4000, this is no longer so. This is not a good change. With the new
layout, when you need to press shift or control keys, you have to bend
your wrist to the side.
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 Microsoft Natural Ergonomic
Keyboard 4000
----------
This post is archived at:
http://xahlee.org/Periodic_dosage_dir/t2/ms_keyboard.html
Xah
***@xahlee.org
∑ http://xahlee.org/
Xah Lee, 2005-11
The Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard
Microsoft Natural Multimedia keyboard
above: the Microsoft Wireless Natural Multimedia (WNM) keyboard.
In 2005, i bought Microsoft Wireless Natural Multimedia keyboard,
introduced in 2004. This is basically a one-piece split keyboard with
special buttons on top.
MS keyboards comes with IntelliType software, which lets user customize
the keys fairly extensively. For example, the function keys can be
assigned to launch applications or do other commands, and the
functionality of “Start” key and Alt key can be swapped (suitable
for Mac users), and cap-lock key and control key can be swapped as
well. The IntelliType comes in both Windows and Mac versions. I'm not
sure about Linux.
I'm a input device nerd. I find this keyboard in general better than
all i've used in my 14 years of computing experience.
The few outstanding features are:
• Quality split design. If you use a keyboard more than several hours
a day, then try to get used to a split keyboard. It prevents your wrist
from bending. You still need to take typing breaks, but once you get
used to split keyboard, typing on a flat keyboard will immediate feel
unnatural and discomfort.
• Large keys modifier keys (e.g. Alt, Control.) Large modifier keys
are especially nice if you operate your computer with them. For
example, using emacs.
• The modifier keys are positioned symmetrically with respect to your
hand positions. Most keyboards, including those made by Apple Computer
Incorporated, the right-side modifier keys are inferior citizens. They
are placed far more to the right, so one has to curl the thumb way
inward to press them, making the key essentially decorative in nature.
The few design flaws i see are:
• The led indicators for cap lock, F-Lock, num lock are not on the
keyboard. They are on the receiving device. (the little mouse-sized
block connected to the USB)
• F-Lock key is a pain. (it has a F-Lock key, which toggles the
standard function of function keys with predefined functions (e.g.
help, undo, open, new, reply...(these can be redefined thru the
driver.)))
• There is no way to disable F-Lock thru the bundled driver. The
F-Lock key is placed right beside F12 without a gap. This makes
accidental toggling frequent. F12 key is important for those who make
use of function keys to do various things, because F12 is located on
the edge of a key group therefore easy to blindly press. But now the
F-Lock takes its edge position, and the ease of toggling by mistake
essentially makes F12 unusable. This is exasperated by the fact the
F-Lock led indicator is on the USB block, making state of F-Lock harder
to know.
• The F-keys are arranged together in two continuous groups on top,
with f1 to f5 as a row, and f6 to f12 and F-Lock as another row. This
is different from the standard arrangement of 4 keys per block. The
continuous arrangement makes touch-typing of these F-keys impractical,
because touch typing are much enhanced by the gaps in the
4-key-per-block arrangement. The continuous row makes the keys in the
middle of the row impossible to eaesily touch type. So, effectively,
f8, f9, f10 are made unusable to me. (coupled with the F-Lock key
problem, f11 and f12 are both also made unusable for those who use
f-keys with touch typing.)
(I use F-keys extensively. For launching/switching apps (email, web,
emacs, terminal, IM, ...), close window, hide app)
• The functionalities of f13, 14, 15, and insert keys are munged
together into two physical keys. Their function depends on the F-Lock.
This is done in a very confused way with confusing labels on the keys.
(one keys says “PrtScn,SysRq,Insert”, and another says
“Pause,Break,ScrLk”. The third label are printed in front of the
keys. The labor's placement and the key's active functionality is
inconsistent with the state of F-Lock among the two keys.)
• The standard block of 6 keys: del, ins, home, end, page up, page
down, in a 2 by 3 block, is munged into a vertical block of 3 by 2,
with 5 keys only. The insert key is gone, and delete key expand to its
place. (I being a mac user, don't miss the insert key, nor have use of
the “delete” key here. However, the home and end keys are now
placed side by side, making it unnatural to use for mac users, because
on the mac home usually means moving to the top of document, as opposed
to beginning of the line. The page up/down also are less usable,
because they are not in a column by themselves. The End key is the top
key in their column. So, intentions of Page Up can come to the End.)
(fixed in 4000)
But over all, this is a best keyboard i've used.
-------------------------
Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard Microsoft Natural Multimedia
Keyboard
The Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
Xah Lee, 2006-06
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
In 2005, Microsoft produced a new keyboard called the “Natural
Ergonomic Keyboard 4000”.
This keyboard is a relatively major change from the previous one. Here
are few notable changes:
Good Changes
* The keyboard features a front-tilt, and large palm rest. Most
people likes to prop the back legs so that they actually have to bend
their writs upward to type. This this bad. This keyboard tilt the the
opposite direction, so that fingers actually “droop down” to type.
* The home/end/paging key block has been reverted to the
traditional design of 2 rows by 3 columns formation.
* The F13, F14, F15 keys are each a physical key. (as opposed to
having just 2 physical keys as with the WNM keyboard).
* the keyboard is now quieter.
* The led indicators for Num-Lock, Cap-Lock, ScrLk, F-lock are
right in front of the keyboard, below the space bar.
* There is a “zoom” knob, which is designed to allow one to
enlarge or reduce fonts in a web browser. However, this does not always
work. It is not possible to make this knob to function as a
scroll-wheel with the accompanied software.
* There are Back and Forward keys below the space bar. This is
convenient for browsing the web.
* There are 4 new keys: “=()←” on top of the number pad. This
is convenient for those who uses the number pad for input or as a
calculator. Although they cannot be re-programed.
Bad Changes
* In the WNM keyboard, there are skip-to-next-song and
skip-to-previous-song keys for playing music. This is missing in the
4000. So, now you have to switch to your music player in order to skip
to the next song. This is a terrible oversight.
* The physical shape of the keys are now curved in several ways,
some good and some questionable. In WNM and previous generation of MS
keyboard, the rows of the keys on each side lines up straight. For
example, Cap-Lock and ASDFG keys all are on a straight line. But with
4000, this is no longer so. This is not a good change. With the new
layout, when you need to press shift or control keys, you have to bend
your wrist to the side.
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 Microsoft Natural Ergonomic
Keyboard 4000
----------
This post is archived at:
http://xahlee.org/Periodic_dosage_dir/t2/ms_keyboard.html
Xah
***@xahlee.org
∑ http://xahlee.org/