Keyboard Selection Base Filter: Keyboard Arrangements

Many people will recommend choosing the switch body first, but if your goal is to buy a mechanical keyboard as a daily tool, the key factor that really affects whether you can achieve "daily use" is the keyboard arrangement. The right configuration can greatly shorten your adaptation time, so that you can break in with new tools faster.

The basic arrangement of modern keyboards is modeled after the IBM Model M keyboard, which went on sale in 1986. Taking the ANSI American standard adopted in China as an example, after the Windows system became the mainstream, the keyboard further added Windows logo keys and menu keys, and the complete layout gradually stabilized from the early 101 keys to 104 keys.

But if you have a brief understanding of mechanical keyboards, you will find that a large part of them are not complete 104 keys. Common mass-produced mechanical keyboards are basically between 61 and 108 keys, and there are also a few keyboards with less than 50 keys or more than 110 keys. The difference between them is the arrangement.

The arrangement largely determines the uniqueness of a mechanical keyboard. To give an extreme (not even a mechanical keyboard) example, the HHKB electrostatic capacitive keyboard, which is regarded as a "programmer's artifact", is small and exquisite. The entire keyboard has a total of 60 keys. Form triggers without diminishing function. But if you are a heavy user of arrow keys, function keys, or even caps lock keys, HHKB will not increase your input efficiency, only the little finger pain can be increased. Therefore, the configuration also determines the limitations of a keyboard. There are so many good-looking keyboards, there is no need to compete with your fingers just for the sake of looking good-after using keyboards with various configurations from 42 keys to 118 keys, etc., I just figured it out.

Now, you need to think carefully about your daily keyboard use and answer this question honestly:

When you use the keyboard, which keys are used most frequently?