I came here with the exact same concern as the GP comment.

“We’ll continue to have Internet Explorer, but we’ll also have a new browser called Project Spartan..."

It just reeks of marketing double-speak that gets engineers excited, only to find out that they're stuck maintaining code for N + 1 browsers now.

Incidentally, Microsoft rebranding exercises infuriate me. Arguably, Spartan is a "new" product, but by that measure any product rewrite should get a completely new, unrelated name rather than a version number. I remember COM + DispInterfaces ==> ActiveX, Outlook Express ==> MSN Messenger, MSN ==> Bing. It's just irritating and confusing to both developers and consumers.

http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/shop/advantage-lf-for-pc-mac/

The only flaw is the row of horrible, rubbery, membrane function keys. I don't know why, but they just won't fix them. That said, I just remap my common F-keys (Visual Studio user) to other key chords and get on with my life. The firmware allows on-keyboard remapping and macros, by the way, so my Caps Lock ==> Esc remap follows my wherever I go.

If anything, I'd rather that the separate key wells were even a bit further apart. I don't know how people can type with their wrists jammed so close together, even with the Atreus's angled halves.

By the way, on the Kinesis, the hand wells are actually dished. They achieve this using a flexible PCB that's split into separate 'fingers' for each row of keys. To my knowledge none of the 'hacker' keyboards are dished like this.

The Atreus was actually originally designed to be complementary to a stationary keyboard like the Kinesis Advantage or the Ergodox. Keep a big keyboard on your desk, and toss a small portable keyboard in your bag for when you're on the go and can't bear the thought of having to fall back to your laptop's internal keyboard.

That said, since I've gotten used to the Atreus I've hardly used my Ergodox; in the end I've found that having all the keys close to the home row is a lot more comfortable, and I don't like having to reach for the edge keys on the Ergodox.

There's something not bad for the ergodox on https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=55960.0 but it would be better on a thumb.

(As a fellow Emacs and Conkeror user, the time is rare that I have to touch my mouse.)

I did buy a pre-made Atreus kit and have been playing with it. For a portable/compact solution, it is a reasonable but not full substitute for a Kinesis (basically on the go).

I think the default layer-switching choices are still uncomfortable for me, and I am looking for a better layout to stabilize.

My main interest in the Atreus is hobby-oriented, to learn how to use Plover with it: http://plover.stenoknight.com/

I've forked the Atreus for my own preferences (http://imgur.com/a/sCwcP), but use an Ergodox at home, and am currently working on a fork of the Ergodox for work. I'd love to try a Kinesis out, but I'm extremely happy with building my own keyboards and customizing them to my exact needs.

Smallish, cut in half, great switches, no staggered columns (I want to stay "compatible" with my laptop keyboard). It looks just like my old kinesis freestyle but of better quality.

I did try an ergodox for a while, but instead of biting the bullet and using for a while I would tweak the keymap to infinity hoping to find more compatible memory muscle to what I already know.

For example, I went from a traditional keyboard to a Kinesis Maxim, which was a traditional layout but split. That required a bit of typing adjustment, like what you mention.

Then I switched to a Kinesis Classic (old version of the Advantage, PS/2 port). Now that was a pain, literally. Having to interrupt decade-old touch-typing muscle memory was annoying, and I actually experienced slightly increased pain (tendinitis) for the first several days.

Within two weeks, though, I was automatically using the new arrow key position and thumb keys (Ctrl, Alt, Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, Backspace, Delete, Enter, and Space) smoothly.

My change from QWERTY to Dvorak was even more troublesome and a bit painful. I would say it honestly took me about two weeks to become even barely functional, and a year to become completely proficient. I'm skeptical that I've ever hit the same WPM that I had on QWERTY, which I mastered while still an adolescent. Not that it matters, I just think a bit more and type a bit less now. :-)

Edit: for the record, I absolutely DO NOT advise learning Dvorak. Its ergonomic benefits pale compared to the mechanical keys, split wells, etc. Also, it means lots of key remapping for games, copy/paste shortcuts become kind of arbitrary, and so on. Stick with QWERTY, but use better keyboard hardware. Learn Colemak if you absolutely insist on the 1337-ness of 'superior' layouts.

I'll agree with you on the issues with key-rebinding for gaming and copy/paste becoming more difficult. Going back to typing Azerty/Qwerty becomes a real hurdle and this might be a problem depending on your situation.

But the pain (tendinitis or carpal, I did not check with a doctor) that I experienced after only 2 hours of typing disappeared completely. That being the goal of my change I consider the change a successful one.

I managed to learn Dvorak in 2 months, with the keyboard feeling more natural and logical during the learning period. While it took me years to become proficient with Azerty (the Belgian keyboard-standard). I accelerated my learning process with a simple CLI based typing-trainer.

TL;DR: Dvorak is more difficult in regular life but it can solve pain issues. So I recommend changing to the layout for that purpose.

*edit: spelling

I didn't have a negative experience with Dvorak, it's just virtually pointless when compared to the benefit of consistent, light key pressure, mechanical keys, and a physical design that suits your body.

Dvorak is more difficult in regular life but it can solve pain issues.

I don't believe this claim at all.

One common misconception is the idea that RSI is a single thing. It's really just a loose grouping of symptoms with a similar cause. So it's very common for a remedy to be very helpful for one person's RSI and do absolutely nothing for another person's instance of it.

For instance, switching layouts is more likely to bring relief for certain kinds of pain in the fingers, while changing keyboards is more likely to bring relief when the pain is in the wrists and forearms.

I do agree about the time it takes to get all of your old speed back. When I learned Dvorak, it took me two years to get back to full speed. But once I was there, I was there, and with surprisingly little effort. I have a couple of victories on typing tests that I was actually trying to lose to prove it.

Nope. I still type Dvorak. One switch is enough.

I can type QWERTY, too. If I use a different machine, I'm able to switch over with surprisingly few errors. Also, strangely, I can't tell you where the keys are on a Dvorak layout without mentally typing the letter. I used to know the QWERTY layout by heart, but never reached the same level of mental mastery with Dvorak.

The only reason I suggest Colemak is that I've heard it's optimal for programming. I still don't think it's worth learning, though, if you already touch-type QWERTY.

But honestly once you get away from Qwerty there's a law of diminishing returns. The differences between non-Qwerty layouts are pretty miniscule compared to the difference between Qwerty and good layouts.

The problem with tendinitis, carpal tunnel, bulged neck discs, and health issues that afflict programmers is that you don't know you're susceptible until you already have the problem. Then you're looking at months or years to fix it and learn techniques and equipment to avoid its return.

I just noticed I still use my left index finger to type "y" on a non-Kinesis keyboard. Strange.

Further, I did NOT use my Kinesis for eight years (it sat in its box after a move) and then I plugged it into a laptop the other day and... was astounded to find that I didn't even have to look at it to start typing immediately, even the thumb keys!

Muscle memory is a weird thing.

These horrible rubber keys are being removed in a new version which is supposed to begin "beta testing" in 1-3 months. Source: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=36195.msg1424727#msg142...

As it stands, I keep a $5 105-key cheapo membrane keyboard behind my Kinesis. Works okay for function keys, and Windows happily accepts input from multiple keyboards simultaneously (e.g. key chording).

Will still need an adapter for that large legacy port.

There are lots of keyboards that don't have the sticky modifier bug though.

There are dished wells too. Have you looked at the Maltron 3D keyboards? They also come with a numpad in the middle so you can play roguelikes.

There are multiple models, but this gives you the idea: http://www.micwil.com/images/gallery/maltron_keyboards_dual_...

In my opinion, yes. The keys conform to your hands, rather than the other way around.

Also, the idea of a split keyboard was popular some time ago. Is it still considered important?

Again, in my opinion, yes. Absolutely. I'm sure this varies to some degree by body size, but I find it profoundly irritating to have to shove my hands together.

Mechanical keys are great (which the Kinesis uses -- Cherry brown or red -- aside from the previously mentioned, horrid F-key row), and a few keyboards royally screwed up by purporting to be ergonomic by shape, but using really awful keys. Specifically, the Microsoft 'Natural' was an ergonomic nightmare. Every key was a simple friction post-mount, including wide keys like shift keys. This meant that you'd type along and occasionally hit a really high resistance key. This flared my tendinitis up like you wouldn't believe.

So, yes, consistent, reasonably light key pressure is absolutely critical, but in my opinion the separation of hands AND the additional employment of the strong thumbs for more than space is a great idea.

Oh, and by the way, note that on the Kinesis the arrow keys are just below the primary keys (up/down are right hand, left/right are left hand). You don't have to move your hands from their home row position to use directional keys. In my opinion, this is the correct solution to the problem that vi/vim solved by using h/j/k/l for navigation, at least for non-gaming applications.

It'd make more sense to me if the keyboard was actually split in half, so that I can have the two wells be as far or as close from each other as I see fit, but as it is, the Kinesis is actually worse for my wrists than even a laptop keyboard.

I just looked at my wrists and hands on my Kinesis. While, yes, the keys are aligned along a single axis[1], my wrists don't bend at all. It's not like you have to align your wrists with the keys, your fingers do the aligning.

[1] for the inner keys on each side. The outer columns are dropped down to accommodate the shorty pinky finger.

I have an Ergodox at home and a Kinesis at work, and I almost universally prefer the Kinesis. I type faster and make less mistakes, and my hands seem to be less fatigued over long periods when working on the Kinesis.

Like others, I also wish the Kinesis seperated into two halves, because I think it'd be even better if you could tilt each hand out a bit. This is complicated due to the controller placement in the Kinesis, but that could be fixed through some creative restructuring. Well, that and the fact that if you screw it up, you just broke a $300 keyboard...

At my first job out of school, I'd drive my stickshift car home and nearly cry from the pain. It was really awful. I got into physical therapy, and started looking into better keyboard options. I tried the Kinesis Maxim first, since it wasn't too "weird". It was a big step up. I later tried the Classic (same style as the current Advantage) and never looked back.

Cons: horrible rubbery function keys.

Pros: literally everything else. The layout is, in my opinion, dramatically superior to the classic 104-key layout. It makes more use of your thumbs. It places the arrow keys where you can reach them without moving your hands from the home-row position.

I always keep a spare on hand and generally loan it out to friends and coworkers to try. I'd say there's been about a 50% adoption rate. Some people just can't get over the initial hump of learning how to use the thumb keys. The ones that buy a Kinesis are extremely happy with it.

By the way, the keyboards last for years. I've had a few keyswitches go bad (most likely due to my improper 'cleaning' attempts), but they can be replaced if you know how to use a soldering iron. Kinesis has even sent me several replacement keyswitches free of charge. They've got great customer service.

Good keyboards, chairs, and monitors are expensive, but in my opinion the interface between you and your computer deserves high priority on the expenditure list.

Why? What are some specific examples you see?

Personally, I think they got slapped so hard by Windows 8 that I expect Windows 10 to be pretty great. They had me at "console window" (though likely I'll still be using ConEmu).

Boats traveling through fluid, controlled by a relatively tiny prop, are in no way comparable to road-going vehicles that enjoy the static friction of rubber on asphalt.

Additionally, all vehicles on the road are held to (virtually) the same legal standards, regardless of size. If anything, laws are more restrictive the larger the vehicle.

Also, this is false:

The vehicles have no priority at all, the people in them do.

There are many parts of the country where it would be illegal to cross a road on foot (jaywalking), but entirely legal to do so within a vehicle.

My friends in Vancouver have told me that many of the modern buildings only have something like a 35% year-round occupancy rate, and that they're largely owned by foreigners as summer homes.

There is when that's a highly contested claim! And when condom use or strict monogamy overshadow it in effectiveness. The best thing you could do is invent a less annoying condom (go go Bill Gates), not slice bits off men's sex organs.

Sounds like you have a pretty good life!

If we spent more time appreciating the things we do have, and less time lamenting the things we don't (promotions, specific career trajectories), then we'd all find more satisfaction in life.

This, incidentally, is almost certainly the purchasing behavior of the vast majority of computer owners. RAM and disk upgrades (particularly on laptops) are performed by a fairly tiny minority of consumers. Yet it seems disproportionately cited when shopping, likely due to an illusion of control or the laughable (in computing terms) myth of "future-proofing".

Also, I do upgrade every N devices. I'm not someone that buys the new model everytime they release one. I guess I should have phrased it "because not everyone can afford to upgrade to a new device".

That selects for adequately privileged (generally) white males with the spare time to create projects on github and a particular interest in brain-teasers.

To my knowledge, hiring in all fields is an utter joke, with essentially zero research ever having been performed. It's entirely based on bias and guided by HR-fueled fears of lawsuits.

All "colours" of people have free time to create projects.

I'd like to see how you analyzed the race of github contributors. I'd also like to know what "plenty" means. Personally, I strongly suspect that you'll see fairly small set of race/location/income combinations.

All "colours" of people have free time to create projects.

Given that we're not really talking about color, per se, I seriously hope that you don't honestly believe that statement.

Why, me and my friends and colleagues, Chinese and South African and Ghanian and Kenyan are on github. I'm very offended you suggested only white people can afford to be on github.

Given that we're not really talking about color, per se, I seriously hope that you don't honestly believe that statement.

You specifically mentioned "white males".

It takes half a day to write something you can put on github. If anyone can't do that it's because they're not as experienced as those who can. It's not much more effort than writing a resume. The point of github is so people who aren't interested in brain teasers can demonstrate their ability to write good code.

You can argue people who aren't good at programming enough to be able to write something in half a day should be hired anyway, and I'll tell you the communism experiment is over.

You, sir, are racially biased.

That's not what I said. Go back and reread my comment.

You specifically mentioned "white males".

Go back and reread my comment.

You, sir, are racially biased.

You're a goddamned idiot who can't read.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/link-between-autis...

That was way back in 2009, and I never heard anything more about it. Searching for information in later years yields an echo chamber of stupidity, so I wonder if anyone else has heard of actual research into the topic?