OK, if that's the motivation. We can probably cover all Latin-script languages with the available real estate. But no complaining about "clutter" then!
This is what I've been saying for a while now, why I became so keen on Grench's idea. Forget DosBox compatibility, it frees up space and helps with mental mapping.
Regarding clutter, I've never believed that three symbols was cluttered and have yet to see anyone present evidence that it is. It's been proven that we can get quite a few characters by only using 3 symbols per key with implicit upper/lowercase letters.
Agreed. The clutter police thing is far overblown. It may have been relevant on early layouts with 4 characters presented on each key, but we've progressed a LONG ways since then.
_wb_'s layout above and this one are very similar with some distinct differences. Is this still on track or have I deviated too far from the layout that you liked?
http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/layouts/467f092b9169fe6c6b411baa5a39beeb
The dead stroke and double-acute on Meta+A is more or less redundant:
as I discovered earlier today, if we have üö already precomposed, then the Meta+" can act as double-acute for the Hungarian űő, and the stroke in Ł is actually a Polish acute (kreska) so we can let it be produced by Meta+' L. So there is no more need for double-acute, and stroke is only useful for Đ and Ħ, but those are relatively obscure.
Dedicated primary PrintScreen and Pause feels like a bit of a waste, and why no more primary Esc?
I prefer a dedicated primary Tab.
F11 and F12 up top feels more 'correct' than down below, though a mashable F11 to toggle fullscreen is quite nice.
Redundant diacritics?:
The two diacritics on the A key may very well be overkill, but they complete the set. If they truly are redundant, then I'm sure we could find something else to put on the A key's Fn layer. That isn't a primary design piece.
Tab or `~ as a primary key?:
Having `~ on a primary key IS a primary design piece. ` and ~ are both used in Linux command line. That this also frees them up for consistent Diacritic use is a convenient bonus. Embedding ~ at Fn+shift layer on the left side of a keyboard with the Fn key on the left makes ~ require shoulder buttons or funky left thumb and a left finger combo desktop typing. This also reduces the number of US keyboard symbols that are present in the Fn+shift layer.
With Fn on the left and space on the right, Tab can live on the space bar without any serious pain. Multiple tabs can be entered easily. Tab being a 'wide space' and having been there on the Pandora makes sense - though it is MUCH easier to use on this layout than it was on the Pandora (left Fn).
Yes, this is a trade-off. I think it's a well thought out one.
Top layer PrtSc and Pause:
Dedicated PrintScreen and Pause make sense to have (present on a normal keyboard). Why? Because these two keys are prone to use with additional modifiers (Alt+PrtSc screen captures current foreground app) (Ctrl+Pause/Break is used as an interrupt in many programs and editors). Subjecting them to the Fn or shift+Fn layer then using them with additional Alt and Ctrl modifiers may be more than the users want to sort out. Added bonus, 'Pause' goes nicely with Start and Select for gaming - this puts it in a nice spot to reach from the nubs.
Esc on Fn layer:
Esc is an important key, but rarely used without great forethought. It can live on the Fn layer. That same key, though, has the hardware menu selection (≡) tied to it. I.e. press the key and it pulls up the menu with controls for the radios, USB ports, HDMI, etc. It's intended to be a configuration shortcut.
F11 and F12 bottom row left:
F11 and F12 look like an afterthought in EITHER position (up top OR in keys area). If we wanted them to look like they belong, they would have to take the only 12 button row in the main keyboard area. I tried that and the idea was collectively shat on. Having it where it is easy to toggle full screen is about as good as it gets with these - i.e. some added function.
There were a few other concepts that I'm exploring in this layout.
http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/layouts/467f092b9169fe6c6b411baa5a39beeb
Power button behavior:
"Power" button normal use is wake/standby. This is common to most of these layouts
Logically Fn+ power button should be Shutdown.
Ideally simply pressing the button would 'power on' and/or 'wake', regardless of state.
Holding Fn and power for 3+ seconds together should be a 'Hard' shutdown.
Back Light button behavior:
No modifier press is screen brightness up.
Shift+ press is screen brightness down.
Fn+ press is keyboard brightness up.
Fn+shift+press is keyboard brightness down.
Change in how Alt/Start, Ctrl/Select are labeled:
In the spirit of "call it what it IS" I decided that the primary labels for these should be Alt(Gr) and Ctrl with small labels for Start and Select. Frankly, they're used far more as Alt and Ctrl than they are in the few emulators and games that are actually mapped to use them as Start/Select. So, I want to label the computer function of the key primary and the, "Only works in some applications," label secondary.
Insert and Delete key's 'game letter' labels:
People have toyed with +,-, Greek, (z),© and likely other options.
If they're going to be Insert and Delete, why not give them lettered labels (I) and (D) to go with the (X) (Y) (A) ( B) set?
None of these were done haphazard or without reason.
