There were even attempts to rearrange Insert/Delete/Home/End layout as well. They introduced the incredibly annoying F-lock feature, designed to really tick off everyone that used function keys (a tradition that is still going strong, see later). They re-arranged the cursor pad from an inverted T to an actual cross, as if moving those keys around wouldn’t matter. They looked disgusting, but still work perfectly and will only be taken from their owners from their cold, dead hands.Īt some point the MS keyboard team seem to lose their collective minds, frankly. I thought my main keyboard was bad (check out the space bar in particular), but then I saw two co-workers NKPs. These keyboards can and do get filthy after years of use, which acts as a handy deterrent to anyone else wanting to use our machines. They stopped being manufactured long ago, so it is important to keep the ones we have working, and to hoard any that we see being careless tossed aside by others. Those of us who worship the NKP, and we are a substantial band, hoard them. Like I said, these keyboards were built very well indeed. (I don't think I have any other piece of electronics I am still using from that long ago). I am still using this keyboard today, the very same item, some fourteen years later. The NKP added media keys and USB support, and although the feel wasn’t quite as good it was a worthy successor. I still have four of these in my possession, and would still be using them if I hadn’t switched to the NKP when it was released in 1999. It had a great feel, it was my introduction to the ergonomic layout and it was built to last. The first, best Microsoft keyboard was the classic Natural Keyboard, released in 1994. Keyboard preference is like religion: if someone disagrees with you then there can be no dissuasion. Some may disagree with me: they are wrong. Microsoft has produced one keyboard that was better before then and no keyboards since then that are remotely as good.
#Microsoft sidewinder x6 instructions pro#
Microsoft has been producing keyboards since the early 90s, but in all those years there is but one keyboard that remains the best: the Natural Keyboard Pro (henceforth referred to as the NKP). A good keyboard will stay with you for years, decades in fact, but PCs will be upgraded and so will your monitors. For those of us whose job requires their use basically all day, every day, they are the piece of hardware that we have to be comfortable with.