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
https://imgur.com/a/pmmLi for more beautiful shots.
The 1800 makes it slightly easier to go back and forth between a mouse and keyboard, due to the decrease in space between the home row and the right side of the board. (If you use a mouse left handed, obviously, this doesn't matter). But I'd say the difference between the 1800 and a traditional 104 fullsize is the numpad, function keys, and arrow cluster.
Look at this: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1994/3097/products/Kira-Wide_1024x1024.jpg?v=1517621238 Without looking, it's much more difficult to move from the home row to the arrow keys and numpad, and a farther travel for function keys like END or HOME. Because there's no negative space around these keys, it's harder to do it by touch. And the only thing you get in return is a mouse that's ~2 inches closer to the home row.
lol I realize this is a ridiculous discussion... and 1800 layouts look great, but they aren't a *better* layout unless you really care about your mouse placement.
Your posted picture of the kira 96 is actually one of the reasons I would not buy that keyboard. I think the kira 1800 is the perfect compromise of compactness and functionality. I don't actually agree with your opinion on the WASD though. I would much rather purchase a Varmilio or a Ducky. The keycaps alone are a massive drawback on a WASD.
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/varmilo-108-keyboard https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_list&c=111
One last thing the 1800 style is available easily via kbdfans and has all the keys of a full size, you just have to use numlock. Since it's programmable that's not really an issue.
https://kbdfans.myshopify.com/collections/keyboard/products/pre-orderkbdfans-kbd19x-90-mechanical-keyboard-diy-kit