Hi guys,

Instead of studying for an exam, I decided to draw up the perfect 60% layout for me and was curious, how many people out here use the right hand shift/ctrl/alt/super/menu keys? Personally, I never use them and would happily replace them with discrete arrow keys.

Check out the layout

This is not about which layout is objectively better, I just want a better understanding, not trying to get people pissed off

When looking at 60% keyboards, one thing has always intrigued me, why do most manufacturers generally go for a 61 key layout, when 63 or 64 key layouts seem more useful?

The way I think about it is what programs specifically use right ctrl key? The only one I can really think of is Virtualbox for its host key, and most people I know don’t use right ctrl for standard shortcuts, while the arrow keys are used for a ton of stuff like moving the cursor, moving the player in a lot of 2D games, cycling through previously used commands in a terminal, and many more.

Or in the case of the menu key, that either needs arrow keys to navigate, or the mouse at which point the right clicking is more convenient

So I guess what my question is, is why is 61 key standard for 60% where what it offers are more oddly specific keys, putting more common keys behind modifiers, when a 63/64 key layout just has those keys there already, and if for some reason a program absolutely needs a right ctrl key, then that can be behind a modifier as it’s not as commonly used.

And yes, I know that you can just reprogram it on lots of keyboards, but then it would intrude on the slash key, which is also very commonly used

Is there something you're missing from time to time? Like arrow keys? Or dedicated delete key? F row? If so, in what situations? Or is everything golden?

I'm looking for a keyboard more compact than my current TKL, and a 65% layout looks best to me, but there are simply so many more 60% keyboards available so I'm starting to consider one, but I'm not yet convinced...