Modest musings on muscle memory: moving from a TKL to a battleship.

[depletedvespene]

I've been using IBM Model M keyboards continuously since 1992. Full size since then, and mostly SSKs for the last nine years. A month ago, I switched to a battleship (an M122... which I replaced with an F122 as soon as it arrived).

Replacing a keyboard with another one sporting a new, different physical layout always implies a period of adjustment, as one has to retrain himself; muscle memory can interfere and has to be consciously taken aside, at least for a while. I expected this to be the case when I swapped the TKL out, but the details of the adaptation process were a bit surprising. I've listed those adjustments I had to make here, sorted from easiest to adapt to hardest. Obviously, YMMV.


1) Whoa, the numpad is back! Then again, I functioned with a numpad on my full-size keyboards for many years. Its presence is natural; not even having the mouse further out again has been bothersome at all.

2) I remapped Esc to be on LHS EF2. Instead of moving my annular finger to above the BACKQUOTE key, I now simply move it a bit to the left and Esc is there. I am very happy with my remapping choice here.

3) I expected to have a bit of difficulty with the F1-F12 keys, as they are shifted to the left (above 1..= instead of 2..Backspace) and clumpled together instead of in groups of four. I've gotten used to their positions pretty quickly, actually.

4) PrintScreen and Pause are at F23 and F24. Not much of a problem, as I use them lightly. What helps me remember their positions is F22, which I've mapped to be Alt-PrintScreen, and which I do use a lot. While we're at it, Num Lock is mapped at F21, but I practically never use it (and I'd fully get rid of it, if it were for me).

5) The numpad now sports "two" extra keys: 2u PAD_PLUS becomes 1u PAD_PLUS (above) and 1u PAD_COMMA (below), finally giving me the comma I had wanted for decades to have on the numpad, and which I am already using frequently. Num Lock (Esc on the battleship's primitive layout, actually) is now PAD_EQUALS, something that I conceptually like, but I'm still barely getting the hang of.

6) Cross-shaped cursor keys instead of the inverted T: not easy, but not as difficult as I expected. It does help that I mapped Scroll Lock to the center "Rule" key, and Windows' annoying beep when I press it by mistake helps me correct myself immediately. I find that I'm hearing that beep less and less as days go by.

(and yes, I do have a good reason for putting Scroll Lock there)

On an inverted T, the fingers I use are index on left, middle on down and up, annular on right; the first and third rest on the keycap, while the second moves up and down as needed. On the cross, instead, my thumb rests on the down key, while the other three fingers rest above left, up and right, respectively. The pinky finger, meanwhile, keeps a respectful silence.

7) Left Ctrl ("Reset") has been, surprisingly, the hardest change (or "non-change") to adapt to. Why? Because I kept hitting LHS EF9 instead... my muscle memory mapped "bottommost leftmost key" to be Ctrl, which isn't the case on a battleship. I had initially mapped EF9 and EF10 to be, respectively, the Windows and Menu keys, but it was so bad that I moved them to EF1 and EF3. EF10 is now mapped to be Alt+Ctrl, while EF9 is unassigned and will continue to be so until I stop hitting it all the time.

I still have to learn how to use a bit more the LHS EFn keys — I'm still barely using EF5 (AltGr+Shift) and EF6 (AltGr), which I definitely need to use more frequently, and EF4 (Shift Tab), which I haven't had the chance to use much yet. EF7 and EF8 are reserved, for now, until I figure out what kinds of layers I want to use (besides the "hexpad" that I've already talked about).

[DustGod]

Great thread! Recently transitioned to an M122 a couple of months ago (and transitioning to an F122 in about a month, it's on its way).
I'll answer by points.

1) Never got used even to TKL. I've always used fullsize: I tried out a TKL some time ago, for about two months. Even inputting the date on the number row two times per day gave me cholera. I NEED the numpad.

2) I haven't learned the ten fingers typing technique yet. So, I still find some of the keys using the edges of a keyboard as a reference. Thus, I remapped Esc on the LHS EF1. Together with F13 it's the most "similar" position.

3) I still suffer from this, unfortunately. The fact that they're in a single cluster makes them hard to find, imho. I hope that with a little more training I manage to overcome this.

4) I remapped PrintScreen onto LHS EF5. I don't use it very often, it's good enough there. I did not remap Pause. I still have Num Lock where it's supposed to be on a fullsize, but I agree that it's quite useless, I'll probably bind something more useful there in the future.

5) As for the additional key on the numpad, I mapped a Tab there. Holy Jesus, it's fantastic. I have to fill in some forms only with numbers at the end of each workday, and now I'm way, WAY more comfortable.

6) I got used to the crossnav unreasonably fast. In 2 or 3 hours of use I got completely accustomed to that; I don't know why. I probably hit the center key by mistake one or two times in month. I mapped an additional Alt there; helps navigating web pages and folders (Alt+Left Arrow is Back, Alt+Right Arrow is Forward in Windows). Either the M122 or the F122 (the one of the two I'll use at home) will have a "gaming mode" bound to a key (a unused one between F13 and F24). The gaming mode key will toggle the center of the crossnav between Alt and Down Arrow.

7) Interestingly, the same thing you have here happened to me for the Esc key... But I got used quite quickly (let's say two or three weeks) to the position of the Left Ctrl. I have EF9 and EF10 mapped To Win and Menu, and I'm perfectly good with that.

Other relevant mappings: like you, I have the Backtab function on EF4 (another gamechanger) and I have Ctrl+Shift+Esc on EF7 (damn Windows).
I also never use the Right Ctrl, so I remapped it to Ctrl+Alt+Del. But I do this on regular fullsize boards as well, or at least, the ones I'm forced to use on Windows. So, not super relevant to the topic but worth a mention.

[depletedvespene]

5) As for the additional key on the numpad, I mapped a Tab there. Holy Jesus, it's fantastic. I have to fill in some forms only with numbers at the end of each workday, and now I'm way, WAY more comfortable.

I still haven't fully decided whether to further remap keys on the numpad. So far I haven't needed it, but I have considered replacing * and / with Tab and Shift-Tab; I might just do it and see what happens. Heck, I'd kill for an additional row of four keys above it (as in my proof-of-concept design for a keyboard with a nav cluster on the left side).

7) Interestingly, the same thing you have here happened to me for the Esc key... But I got used quite quickly (let's say two or three weeks) to the position of the Left Ctrl. I have EF9 and EF10 mapped To Win and Menu, and I'm perfectly good with that.

I must be the only one around that is uncomfortable with Win on EF9, and that's exclusively for the reason I mentioned originally. I do agree that from a general user-friendliness perspective, Win and Menu should be at EF9 and EF10. That said, I find that having Win at EF1 is actually pretty nice. YMMV, EEMWSV.