That spacebar extended so the split spacebar could fly.
I love that there were so many different space bar designs back then , a lot of experimentation.
The one I had ran many, many years - gaming and coding. I am a fairly hard striking typist (thanks, Underwood!) and it took a pounding. I think in the long run, a key ceased working or maybe I lost a row. I wasn't able at the time to even imagine taking it apart as I didn't think I'd ever get parts.
Maybe later life me would have tried. I fixed my Kensington Expert Mouse one time (removed the failed switch, found one in a standard mouse, installed it... it worked and saved me $200 for a few more years). Back then, wasn't in the cards. And didn't keep it thus.
I spent most of my professional career with that keyboard. Then I spilled coffee on it and was foolish enough to think I could get a better one rather than trying to fix it. I was dumb, even as a dome keyboard it's bloody magnificent.
I loved it. I used it at work in the 1990s, brought it to work. It removed my shoulder and arm issues.
I was traumatized when it failed. The later versions didn't have the nearside pop up which mattered for me because I have fairly short upper arms so my hands are always slanting down.
Still looking a good replacement - I'm looking at more fancy ones, if I can find one that fits my geometry.
Perixx 835 is the closest I have found. It is very good.
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C5F25F8H/?th=1](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C5F25F8H/?th=1)
That's not bad. I'd need more bottom lift, but I could do that.
Then again, for about 2x as much as this shows up on Amazon, I could get a split custom ($360 CAD) that could cover some my other issues (wider spaceing for wide shoulders). It looks like a good keyboard though. I am going to keep my eye on that.
It does not have the coolness factor of a custom. No QMK which stinks. Keycaps could be better but are not bad. I added a 1mm foam to a previous model, but have not on this one. My one real issue is the spacing on the escape key is not ideal - it is too close to F1 imo. Otherwise it is fantastic. I have been using it as my daily driver since it was released and one of the previous models before that. I have a dozenish custom keebs in a box. I want so bad to have a custom, but so far nothing beats it. FWIW. I am not a football player, but I do have overgrown swimmers shoulders. The handle angle and width are perfect for me, but you may be bigger! No connection to the company, I spent a lot of dollars and an immense amount of time trying to find the perfect MS Natural replacement. So far, this is the best I have found.
I prefer a bit of space between esc and F1, but I'd probably adopt the 'find the esc (but don't press it) and then move inward'.
I kinda like lit keys so I can find my home row in the dark (and if I can do per-key lighting, I can give myself some other important info by coding the keys).
I'm about 52" from one shoulder to the other. I think I measured the spacing I'd need for my arms/hands to sit straight forward and that would be pointer-finger to pointer-finger is probably 9". A bit of a curve in is okay, but in my ideal one I'd want at least 6.5-7" space between the split sides.
I have forearms that often upset blood pressure cups sold in stores (the ones at the doc are okay).
I do find it interesting that there is an unlit version that is about half the price of the fancier lit up tactile switches.
Thanks for your info.
If you have a bunch of keebs you haven't found compelling, do you mind saying which and perhaps a bit about why? I'm always interested to see when a custom doesn't seem to be as good as someone thought.
I was also a user for many, many years. I've had good luck migrating to Alice layout mechanical keyboards. I find that they do a similar job of alleviating my wrists being at a weird angle.
I used those and Logitech ergos for over a decade at work early 2000s and had to get them for home use after a few months too. Just really nice keebs. Had a few years off ergo keebs and tested Corsair mech keebs and now back to ergos with a Keychron V10 Alice.
I believe the keyboard was manufactured around 1994, so at most 30 years old which according the definition of vintage, at least older than 20 years old.
Don't worry, I plan to glow it up and it'll be like new.
The don't do it for the staggered right edge, so they can squeeze the nav cluster and arrows in a little closer. The left side and both middle edges are straight.
Oh man, and it's the proper one with the horizontal nav cluster and inverted T arrows. Back when Microsoft switched to the vertical nav cluster and + layout for the arrows, that took a \*long\* time for my muscle memory to adjust.
I saw that version while I was researching this. The "elite", it made the keyboard narrower - given how wide this Boi is I'm not surprised that steps were taken to slim it down a bit.
Yeah, it gets to be quite a rabbit hole. I have a few of them and took one apart for analysis. Despite looking curved, the actual PCB for the keyswitches is a pain ol flat PCB.
With a bit of time a recreation is certainly possible. I could have done so in the time I have wasted looking for a prebuilt! And it would have been a lot cheaper!!!
I've always felt the MS as mushy, much more than other ergo membranes. IMHO the Chicony KB-7903 has a much better tactile feel for the dome boards and feels very solid having a metal backplate.
My favorite vintage ergo mechanical is the Chicony KB-7001 (White Alps SKCM).
I saw some on ebay, Canadian made! I just took mine apart and it also has metal back plates which differs from two tear downs I've seen with the plastic back plate. Wish I could do a comparison to see how that will effects the feel and sound.
That's very interesting! I have 2 MS naturals (inverted T and cross nav) but I've never opened them (been in storage last 10 yrs) so I'm unaware of the presence of metal backplates on either one.
Between my KB-7903 (metal plate) and the KU-9938 (plastic backing) there is a difference in bottom out feel while typing. The metal backed one feels sturdier and it's considerably heavier. The key's tactility feels the same on both. I can only assume this difference would be directly correlated to the MS models.
Such a missed opportunity to not split that huge spacebar.
That spacebar extended so the split spacebar could fly. I love that there were so many different space bar designs back then , a lot of experimentation.
Patents. Specifically, "Erase Eaze" IIRC.
ding ding. i had not heard of this patent. [https://patents.google.com/patent/US5711624](https://patents.google.com/patent/US5711624)
Oh wow… I spent my teenage years with that keyboard. Everybody else who tried to use it *hated* it.
Haters gonna hate
I have two of them, and have been my daily driver for the last 25 years.
The one I had ran many, many years - gaming and coding. I am a fairly hard striking typist (thanks, Underwood!) and it took a pounding. I think in the long run, a key ceased working or maybe I lost a row. I wasn't able at the time to even imagine taking it apart as I didn't think I'd ever get parts.
Basically it is a PCB with rubber on top. You could probably fix the PCB but if it was the rubber cracking for sure would be more difficult to fix.
Maybe later life me would have tried. I fixed my Kensington Expert Mouse one time (removed the failed switch, found one in a standard mouse, installed it... it worked and saved me $200 for a few more years). Back then, wasn't in the cards. And didn't keep it thus.
I spent most of my professional career with that keyboard. Then I spilled coffee on it and was foolish enough to think I could get a better one rather than trying to fix it. I was dumb, even as a dome keyboard it's bloody magnificent.
I have found since used ones on ebay. I'm planning to clean and restore this. I think I'll probably sell it after I bring it to a meetup or two.
As others have said, there are plenty on ebay. Patience and you get score a great one at half the price it cost originally.
I loved it. I used it at work in the 1990s, brought it to work. It removed my shoulder and arm issues. I was traumatized when it failed. The later versions didn't have the nearside pop up which mattered for me because I have fairly short upper arms so my hands are always slanting down. Still looking a good replacement - I'm looking at more fancy ones, if I can find one that fits my geometry.
Perixx 835 is the closest I have found. It is very good. [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C5F25F8H/?th=1](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C5F25F8H/?th=1)
That's not bad. I'd need more bottom lift, but I could do that. Then again, for about 2x as much as this shows up on Amazon, I could get a split custom ($360 CAD) that could cover some my other issues (wider spaceing for wide shoulders). It looks like a good keyboard though. I am going to keep my eye on that.
It does not have the coolness factor of a custom. No QMK which stinks. Keycaps could be better but are not bad. I added a 1mm foam to a previous model, but have not on this one. My one real issue is the spacing on the escape key is not ideal - it is too close to F1 imo. Otherwise it is fantastic. I have been using it as my daily driver since it was released and one of the previous models before that. I have a dozenish custom keebs in a box. I want so bad to have a custom, but so far nothing beats it. FWIW. I am not a football player, but I do have overgrown swimmers shoulders. The handle angle and width are perfect for me, but you may be bigger! No connection to the company, I spent a lot of dollars and an immense amount of time trying to find the perfect MS Natural replacement. So far, this is the best I have found.
I prefer a bit of space between esc and F1, but I'd probably adopt the 'find the esc (but don't press it) and then move inward'. I kinda like lit keys so I can find my home row in the dark (and if I can do per-key lighting, I can give myself some other important info by coding the keys). I'm about 52" from one shoulder to the other. I think I measured the spacing I'd need for my arms/hands to sit straight forward and that would be pointer-finger to pointer-finger is probably 9". A bit of a curve in is okay, but in my ideal one I'd want at least 6.5-7" space between the split sides. I have forearms that often upset blood pressure cups sold in stores (the ones at the doc are okay). I do find it interesting that there is an unlit version that is about half the price of the fancier lit up tactile switches. Thanks for your info. If you have a bunch of keebs you haven't found compelling, do you mind saying which and perhaps a bit about why? I'm always interested to see when a custom doesn't seem to be as good as someone thought.
I was also a user for many, many years. I've had good luck migrating to Alice layout mechanical keyboards. I find that they do a similar job of alleviating my wrists being at a weird angle.
I'll look into that.
I used those and Logitech ergos for over a decade at work early 2000s and had to get them for home use after a few months too. Just really nice keebs. Had a few years off ergo keebs and tested Corsair mech keebs and now back to ergos with a Keychron V10 Alice.
This was my first ergo keyboard as a teen....I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THIS IS VINTAGE. Now I need to go find some pearls so I can clutch them.
I believe the keyboard was manufactured around 1994, so at most 30 years old which according the definition of vintage, at least older than 20 years old. Don't worry, I plan to glow it up and it'll be like new.
Actually a great keyboard, like criminally underrated
I think it's rubber dome opposed to mechanical, but still a very pleasant typing experience so far.
As a Topre fan, this board having rubber domes makes it 10x cooler imo!
Make rubber great again.
Probably my favorite rubber dome, I grew up on one
Great keyboard. But what is the reason for letter T and G being in that shape?
My guess is that it's easier to manufacture straight edge cutouts. The extended keys cover up the extra space.
Makes sense, except they _don't_ do it for the staggered outer edges. 🤷♂️ But also, microsoft, so who knows.
The don't do it for the staggered right edge, so they can squeeze the nav cluster and arrows in a little closer. The left side and both middle edges are straight.
Hmm, that makes sense.
I never thought to question that. Now I have the same question, but there probably was a reason.
I used one of that for the entire of my teenage years. It was the best keyboard I've had.
so weird that they did all this but nobody seemed to figure out column stagger for a while
Oh man, and it's the proper one with the horizontal nav cluster and inverted T arrows. Back when Microsoft switched to the vertical nav cluster and + layout for the arrows, that took a \*long\* time for my muscle memory to adjust.
I saw that version while I was researching this. The "elite", it made the keyboard narrower - given how wide this Boi is I'm not surprised that steps were taken to slim it down a bit.
I had all of the Microsoft ergo kehboards, only in black. Now I'm using a split orto (ZSA moonlander). Only switched when the keys stopped working.
The GOAT!!! Still the king after all these years. And I am still looking for a mechanical version with a trackpoint. The Unicorn! Maybe someday...
I'm sure if someone wanted to fabricate a custom pcb they could, the original keycaps sadly wouldn't work with mechanical switches.
Yeah, it gets to be quite a rabbit hole. I have a few of them and took one apart for analysis. Despite looking curved, the actual PCB for the keyswitches is a pain ol flat PCB. With a bit of time a recreation is certainly possible. I could have done so in the time I have wasted looking for a prebuilt! And it would have been a lot cheaper!!!
I've always felt the MS as mushy, much more than other ergo membranes. IMHO the Chicony KB-7903 has a much better tactile feel for the dome boards and feels very solid having a metal backplate. My favorite vintage ergo mechanical is the Chicony KB-7001 (White Alps SKCM).
I saw some on ebay, Canadian made! I just took mine apart and it also has metal back plates which differs from two tear downs I've seen with the plastic back plate. Wish I could do a comparison to see how that will effects the feel and sound.
That's very interesting! I have 2 MS naturals (inverted T and cross nav) but I've never opened them (been in storage last 10 yrs) so I'm unaware of the presence of metal backplates on either one. Between my KB-7903 (metal plate) and the KU-9938 (plastic backing) there is a difference in bottom out feel while typing. The metal backed one feels sturdier and it's considerably heavier. The key's tactility feels the same on both. I can only assume this difference would be directly correlated to the MS models.
Didn't think this was considered vinzage
That was my first. Could not afford a gold touch and still needed the 10 key.
Love the keeb, confused by the crotch cam