2013/1/11 Stephan Stiller <[email protected]> > Correction: > >> Canadian French keyb[oa]rd layout (this is the one that lets you directly >> type the most letters among those used for the French language) > > I need to take this back. I first didn't find the dead key for ˊ, but it's > not needed anyways there. The Canadian Multilingual Standard is better > (even for French only). >
Yes the Canadian Multilingual keyboard is very well designed, except that it exists only in a QWERTY layout, with digits now shifted, and as such, not easy to use on a typical French keyboard with AZERTY layout shifted digits (the Shift-loack vs. Capslock difference is not a dramatic issue, as both keyboards can be tuned to adopt one or the other design: in a typical French keyboard, CAPSLOCK is unlocked automatically when you press SHIFT). Most leyouts are usable on a 102/105 key keyboard, except the Japanese layout which requires another key. Today, most keyboards also include other keys like the Menu key, which should be configurable to something else (like Fn key+PrintScreen, as found on Logitech keyboards that don't have a standalone Menu key between AltGr and Fn). Most PC keyboards also have a Windows key shuld should be configurable to something else. If we could remap the Windows key or Menu key to emulate the extra key to emulate the missing Japanese key it would be marvelous, but MSKLC (for Windows) still does not support this, so you end up with creating your own keyboard driver. On Linux, you have better control on how special keys are mapped. This means that to be able to type Japanese with its native layout, you'll need an extra keyboard. Anyway, keyboards are now very cheap and easy to add to your environment (most PCs have a plethora of USB connectors to allow this, and you can perfectly connect multiple keyboards on your PC, even with a single wireless receptor). The main difficulty remains to find a hardware keyboard with a native Japanese layout outside Japan. I don't understand why most international keyboards (any layouts: QWERTY, QWERTZ or AZERTY) don't provide this extra key, even if it's not used with conventional layouts (Manufacturers could still allow customizing their keyboard drivers to map some function on this extra key when we are not using a Japanse layout). Still some manufacturers (like Acer) include some other extra keys on their notebooks that are alsmost not needed (for example a "$" and "€" key, which also have their standard assignment on the conventional layouts, eg. on the French keyboard between P and the Enter key for the $/£ key, or AltGr+E for the Euro key). Why cannot manufacturers implement blank keys that are remappable as we want on keyboards according to our preferences ? They still prefer mapping static functions on them (and here I don't speak about the many keys that are generally added for Media controls or PC functions, such as Media Player keys : Play, Previous track, Next track or to launch specific applications like Calc, or the Internet browser, or the Media Player, or the Media Center, or Word, Excel, or the Calendar application ; or keys to play with windows such as Full screen, Cascade, Tile; or keys to play with audio/display settings or energy : many manufacturers implemet these keys as standalone of with a combination based on the Fn key plus another key ; some are choosing arbitrarily to map the Menu key on Fn+PrintScreen, just to remove a key on the lower row and to enlarge the space bar, this is generally not needed, and the Menu key still has enough space to fit without reducing the space bar). But at least if we are given a large choice between various keyboards, most of them are too conservative, and not enough programmable (notably for keys on the lower row around the space bar). OK having keys with a LCD display on top of all keys would have a cost, and stickers are ugly very fast. But having at least one row of programmable keys just below a LCD display showing their programming, would be very convenient and a more function keys should be programmable independantly of the basic layout : users may not want two Ctrl keys, or would want to assign the second Alt key as AltGr, or map the Second Shift key to a menu key (this may cause problems in some games that require two shift keys, but most games have a keyboard remapping preference screen, and we are not really speaking about internationalization for supporting languages in such applications where keys are preferably mapped according to their physical placement on the keyboard rather than what characters they are mapped to). Another common issue with keyboards on notebooks is that they frequently have a numeric keypad, but still their BIOS do not allow setting this keypad in Numlock mode by default. So when you reboot your OS and need to type digits on your logon screen yoy always need to type first the Numlock key. This is stupid : Numlock should be enabled by default, notably if the BIOS does not contain any option to set this preference (and Windows itself does not include any easy option to Numlock On by default on the Logon screen... Microsoft insists, stupidly, that this should be enabled by the BIOS, but most BIOSes do not have this option!) Most manufacturers in fact do not care much about real internationalization needs and what users do expect : they design things that are working well and are tested only in their own locale. And they don't learn what users are saying to them, producing new PCs or notebooks with ugly keyboard layouts, or with keys that will almost never be used. Why don't they make now a 106/109 key layout for every one (even if the extra key initially has no assignment outside Japan) is a mystery for me. And why don't they map very common functions like Copy/Cut/Paste on a single key instead of using CTRL+C/X/V on PC keyboards or Option+C/X/V on MacOS ?
