Surface Book Incorrect Keyboard Layout

[Cloudscout#WN]

Something was bugging me for the first week or so that I had my Surface Book. I was making frequent typos. Or, more accurately, I was making the same typo frequently. When I would go to hit the "-" key I would hit both "0" and "-" at the same time. I finally realized that the number keys are not aligned the same way that they are on any other laptop or desktop keyboard.

Look at any normal keyboard. The "0" key is positioned halfway between the "O" and "P" keys below it. All of the keys along the top row are centered over the break between the keys in the row below.



Now look at the Surface Book keyboard. The number keys are all shifted significantly to the right of where they belong.



QWERTY keyboards have maintained a relatively standard arrangement that dates back to typewriters and I can't understand why Microsoft decided to screw it up now. It may not seem like a big deal but it really messes with touch-typists.

It looks like they made this same layout change on the new Surface Pro 4 type cover as well.

 

[T Moore]

Surface keyboard is the same as my Dell USB keyboard

 

[Cloudscout#WN]

No, it's not. I guarantee that the keys on your Dell keyboard are aligned like the keys in the top image in my post above.

 

[zerospace-net]

No, it's not. I guarantee that the keys on your Dell keyboard are aligned like the keys in the top image in my post above.

I really hate to burst your bubble, but my logitech USB keyboard that I use daily has these keys positioned exactly like the SB keyboard, and I would believe the other poster who says his/hers is the same. The "O" is skewed and not quite centered underneath the "9" and "0" keys. In fact, my entire top row of keys is like this on the same keyboard. See photo below:



Perhaps it is a more compact keyboard style thing, because those are the types of keyboards I tend to favor, as my hands are small. My logitech keyboard shown above has a typing experience more like a laptop (I prefer shallow key presses and keys that are closer together in general).

 

[lewinr]

keyboards are always slightly different and every few years when I change my notebook I spend the first few weeks cussing while I get used to the new keyboard. After a little while I'm used to it and everything's OK until it is time for a new notebook...

 

[zerospace-net]

keyboards are always slightly different and every few years when I change my notebook I spend the first few weeks cussing while I get used to the new keyboard. After a little while I'm used to it and everything's OK until it is time for a new notebook...

This. About a month before the Surface Book launched, my over-a-year-old Surface Pro 3 pretty much just died on me one day, so I did an out of warranty exchange (SB was announced while my SP3 was being exchanged). In the meantime, I used my hubby's desktop PC, which has a much bigger, more standard keyboard with deep keys. I swore I was never going to be able to type on that thing, but by the end of the couple of weeks it took to get a working replacement SP3 (they sent me a defective one at first), I was completely used to it and could type as fast as I can on any other keyboard. It's definitely a matter of adjustment.

 

[Lethal_NFS]

It is bugging me too!!!!!!! Just look at my other keyboard compared to my SB. It is driving me crazy!!!!!