What is your personal preference based on experience? I Assume because Mac is Unix and Linux is Unix based, it would be more suited, but I have no personal experience with the layout. I am willing to try something new if i hear enough merits for it, and I also find the windows layout somewhat inadequate(The grass is greener on the other side /s)
I dailydrive Gnome, I am not a programmer, but i am a power user
(On a tangent: Why is gnome so restrictive, it feels like its missing a ton of UI features that are trivial without a boatload of 3rd party extensions that break every update; why doesn’t Win+Shift+number launch a new instance, every other DE does, why doesn’t it?; I don’t use KDE because I just don’t like it, I feel Gnome could be way more if it just natively integrated the extensions ).
aesthetically the windows key annoys me and i hate putting stickers on keyboards; I like how the mac layout looks(My very minimal experience with an in store mac-book has cautioned me away from the fisher-price OS so i don’t know if it is intuitive to use)
No. I have used both with Linux but I prefer my Logitech keyboards to the Mac keyboard, better full travel mechanical switches, lighted keyboard, separate number and arrow pads, macro keys, all around hands down better than the Mac keyboard.
No? Those keyboards aren’t even all that great. Why not just buy a mechanical one and call it a day?
Also, what’s wrong with the super key? Especially considering it’s also used in Linux
I can honestly say my space grey first-gen magic keyboard has served me well. It sits on my desk at work, I use it every day, and it only needs charging once every few months.
The only thing I’ve ever done to damage it is pulling the z key off to clean between the keys, I tried to jam it back on wrong and ruined part of the scissor mechanism
My next keyboard may yet be one of the newer models, but it’s to expensive to pull the trigger yet.
Having tried it in person, I’m also considering the logitech mx keys mac variant. I didn’t even notice the key shaping while actually typing, and it’s the first keyboard I’d say comes close to being a magic keyboard replacement.
I like the option(alt)/command(super) switched layout.
I’ve got a keychron k3 ultra v2 too. I finally gave in on the mechanical keyboard train and splurged a bit - but now:
- I need a wrist rest, even this ultra low profile version is way higher than I’m used to.
- I hate the layout (my own fault for buying the most cramped version)
- On linux at least, bluetooth is not the greatest (sometimes needs a keyboard restart to fix key send delay and repeat keys)
- I picked the optical (cherry mx red equivelant) switches and they’re mushy af.
I’ve had the white slim first-gen mini magic keyboard for years too. The battery swelled up, so I removed it and use it wired now. That was probably 8/9 years old.
I ended up with a 103-key Unicomp New Model M (essentially the same layout as a 101-key, but with one Windows key and one context menu key stuffed into what would have been the small blank spaces in the bottom row between ctrl and alt—I really wanted a full-length spacebar). Linux is most often installed onto ex-Windows PCs, so it’s hardly surprising that it expects the Windows keyboard layout.
(I believe the current generation of Gnome devs is big on minimalism, AKA omitting or removing features. I can understand the appeal from a code maintenance point of view, but it’s never been a DE that I liked.)
You can buy keyboards with replaceable keycaps. You can also buy keycaps with Tux logos on them for at least some of those keyboards. You can decide for yourself whether your aesthetic dislike of the Windows logo is worth the rather higher price of such a keyboard.
No need for an Apple keyboard unless you’re looking for extra function keys, a regular keyboard will work fine, and if’n for some reason you need the Mac layout, it’s available, I’ve always used the English (Macintosh) layout so I can get easy access to keys I like to use or sometimes need.
