Support for Alternative Layouts
This is a summary of how alternative layouts have been supported by kits such as Colevrak and Homing. It is not a discussion of alt layout performance and development, but if that interests you I highly recommend starting with Pascal Getreuer’s A guide to alt keyboard layouts (why, how, which one?). It’s a concise and comprehensive overview with links to some great sites that go deeper. He also has a separate Links about keyboards page. The Keyboard layouts doc he recommends explains layout goals and metrics in detail, summarizing the alt layouts discussed here as well as more than one hundred others. Sculpted-profile The majority of custom keycap sets are sculpted-profile (Cherry, SA, MT3, KAT, etc. - more on profiles generally here) so let’s start there. Because each row has a unique keycap shape, alt layouts require a unique keycap for each legend that moves off its QWERTY row. At first there were two The Dvorak layout was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak & William L....
Apr 23, 2024
What OS do I use it with? Linux (many flavors) & Windows 7 and 10, it works just fine, the YODA 2 is completely driver-less, you can even adjust the SPEED of the track-point WITHOUT a driver! It can be done in hardware (through re-programming and real-time using FN keys).
Using mechanical switches for mouse-buttons is honestly a great experience, it is tactile (I use greens and I dislike linear switches). It feels firm and you couldn't just click (press) it by mistake.
The following photo shows how the mouse keys are lower and angled compared to the space bar and the rest of the layout.
Visit it and see for yourself! It creates a configuration file that you upload to your keyboard. The configuration is then preserved no matter which computer you plug it into (as I said before, this is a driver-less keyboard)! You can configure 3 layers of FN keys + macros! You can pretty much change ANY key to do anything (with or without FN's being pressed). It is 100% re-programmable.
Explore the web configuration tool, click a key you'd like to edit and re-assign it to a different function and or macro, you will see how easy it is to re-program!
By the way, I have my right ALT, right MENU, right WIN and right SHIFT keys configured as right, down, left, and up arrow keys (in that order) - I matched the DIP switches settings from my YODA 1 since I got so used to it!
Honestly, I'd still consider this keyboard if you see yourself using a Track-Point at all!
As I said above in my other comment, I have mapped my right ALT, right MENU, right WIN and right SHIFT keys as right, down, left, and up arrow keys (in that order). For page slide keys you can easy make them FN left arrow and FN right arrow (after the re-map above), or FN + '<' and FN + '>', and so on. Again it is 100% re-programmable and with ANY 60% layout, you're going to become an FN key master! YODA 2 supports 3 levels of FN BTW!
But yes, there is indeed a learning curve, and once you get there you will see how fast and quick it is and with YODA 2 having the track-point you'll never even need a mouse, even for little annoying things that cannot be done with keyboard shortcuts. I too use keyboard shortcuts for 98% of everything, the remaining 2% gets handled by the track-point, and it is a MUCH better experience than moving my hands off the keyboard to the mouse to do something simple!