@jeshikat Thanks for the idea. I use alt+left arrow to go back and ctrl+left arrow to go to the start of a word when I’m typing. But maybe I can figure out another key mapping that would work and not interfere with any other shortcuts. Thanks for the idea.
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US vs. UK Keyboards
I found this very interesting and didn’t see this small detail discussed elsewhere, so I thought I’d share. I wondered why there wasn’t any framing in between the \ key and the Enter key on the US keyboard, then I understood why when I happened to spot a UK keyboard and compared the two.
US: 
vs. UK: 
I’m assuming that the framing in this spot has been intentionally left out to make swapping keyboards with different layouts easier and so that only one keyboard frame has to be manufactured. I thought this was very thoughtful & efficient on the part of the Framework team. Awesome!
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Will there ever be a keyboard option that’s more of a linear switch experience? (not even sure if that’s possible on a laptop keyboard) I’m not a big fan of tactile switches.
Mechanical switches are probably too thick to fit on this model. You’d end up with a deck too tall and probably hit the screen.
You’d have to wait till a new chassis or model comes out most likely 
If you don’t use CapsLock, it’s a prime candidate for a custom modifier key which can be implemented using AutoHotkey/xbindkeys/xmodmap. Personally I remap Home and End to CapsLock+r and CapsLock+f, respectively, for easy left-hand access. I’ve remapped other navigation keys, arrow keys, function keys, etc. in a similar way.
If you’re on Windows here’s a quick snippet of AutoHotkey to get you started:
*Capslock::return
~Capslock & Tab::return
~Capslock & r::SendInput {blind}{home}
~Capslock & f::SendInput {blind}{end}
Also looking forward to the possibility of implementing this at the firmware level once the EC firmware is open-sourced by the Framework team.
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This is one of the best pieces of software Microsoft has put out - FancyZones is an excellent replacement/alternative to Snap, and I use the color picker tool built in more than I’d like to admit.
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I rather like kmonad which works on windows, macos and linux and gives you mort of the features that you would expect from a programable keyboard
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Hey everyone! Sorry if this has been asked already but is there any way to change the fn key bindings on the keyboard? (I would like to change the f12 key to launch anything other than groove)
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That’d be a Windows thing. Simplest thing is to open the “Default apps” section of the settings app (you can type “default apps” when the start menu is open to help get to it), and you can select something else under the “Music Player” heading.
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Something that I haven’t seen folks talking about on here: trackpads keep getting bigger. The trackpad on the framework seems to follow the MacBook in filling half of the input panel height. I personally use an external mouse a lot of the time and even when I use the trackpad, I don’t need it to be so big.
I would love to have an IO panel with a slightly smaller trackpad, which gives you plenty of room for full size arrow keys and a few other extra keys for fun. It seems like this would give enough room for many of the suggestions I see here while still keeping a trackpad bigger than most laptops of ~3 years ago.
Finally, a question: is the keyboard on the framework fully disassemble-able? It seems like it’s held together a lot more with screws than other machines. If I wanted to just change the layout of the letter keys, could I move them around and reassemble?
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The keyboard as a single unit is easily replaceable/swappable. The numerous screws are there in lieu of permanently welding it to the chassis. However the keycaps themselves are not designed to be removed. You would most likely break them trying.
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This is getting close to a ThinkPad X301 (2008) with no track point! Twin ddr soDimm slots, one ssd slot and wlan/wwan card changeable, plus a super tight motherboard with 90° short heat pipe. Even the way it disassembles from the top rather than the bottom is identical to how those old ThinkPads do. Old Thinkpad are just representative of modular design… Just PLEASE at least give it a try to track point? To avoid copy right issues maybe you can use Dell/HP’s solution (as they are not using track points anymore) and I’m sure many people (including me) would just cancel the order for X1 carbon / extreme / titanium / nano
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Okay, so firstly, I think FrameWork is awesome.
I am a Thinkpad X1 and Macbook Pro user. I agree the Thinkpad keyboards aren’t bad, but I think people think of them as being so fantastic mainly because of the poor quality of most laptop keyboards.
I am surprised how many people are into the trackpoint, as I vastly prefer the huge touchpad on my Macbook Pro, since it can be used to zoom, rotate, etc. (My Thinkpad has a touch pad too, but … yeah the trackpoint is better than that, actually).
Anyway, I hope:
- There will be a Japanese keyboard layout available soon.
- There will be an option for a mac style layout vs. pc style. (The Japanese keyboard layout on the typical windows PC is very crowded with a very small space bar, and apple has found a good solution to that which seems not to be patented or anything since multiple keyboard manufacturers use it). Also… I don’t need “windows” keys for running Linux, and control vs. caps, etc.
- For my mac, I use silicon keyboard “skins” most of the time. It would make sense to have such available for the framework as well. In fact, a really super idea would be to have the keyboard skins + the letterless keys, so you could (for some languages at least) swap the skin only.
Still, making the keyboard easily swappable means that it should be possible to have multiple versions, and if the specs were opened, then presumable 3rd parties could manufacture them as well?
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Trackpoint is great for users who do a lot of text editing, since you don’t need to move your fingers from the keyboard, and with the buttons below the keyboard it’s easier to select text precisely than with a touchpad. You can easily scroll with Trackpoint, it’s easier to navigate web pages with a touchpad for sure.
Totally agree about the Japanese layout. The general key layout is fine and I got used to it, but as you say, it’s too crowded with redundant keys, when only one language key is really needed. I switched to US keyboards for that reason. It’s a shame more laptops sold in Japan don’t offer US keyboard options or replaceable keyboards, although I’d have been happy with a reduced Japanese layout that removed most of the language keys.
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It makes sense how there would be no space for the full-size arrow keys. However, I do hope ‘the inverted T’ arrangement is reconsidered for a future iteration of the laptop.
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An inverted T makes sense with full size keys, but in that particular case of the image you posted - there is absolutely no benefit to that layout. The only difference is that the layout on the right with the inverted T makes it much 50% harder to hit the side arrows.
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Those empty spaces could be filled with the page up and page down keys. I believe that’s the standard on the thinkpad keyboards.
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Hello, do you plan to open some kind of models of the keyboard to provide a basis to the community for creating custom keyboards ?
PS : Big-up, amazing project !
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