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    How does not having Colemak pre-installed in Windows affect YOU?

    • Started by NottNott
    • 3 Replies:
    • Reputation: 30
    • Registered: 03-Feb-2018
    • Posts: 126

    I'm gathering ideas for a petition campaign to get Colemak officially included into Windows. I want to launch it strongly, so I will likely be making a short video explaining what we would like, why it's justifiable and why it would help people out. I want to do this properly, so it could be a month before a campaign such as this even launches, yet I bet it won't get more than 100 signatures in even say six months. This is a long game, so while it might look pathetic with a low number of signatures at first, perhaps it's so easy to implement that all Microsoft needs is a reminder that *enough* people want it included. Their supposed policy of only including ANSI approved layouts would slowly begin to look daft stacked up against public interest and the fact that their competitors are already ahead of the game.

    What we want (KISS):
    1. Colemak keyboard layout support out of the box
    2. A toggleable option to change the Caps Lock key to backspace

    Why it's justifiable:
    Takes relatively little to no time or money to develop the feature yet could help a lot of people out. Apple, Linux distributions and Google (Android) already have implemented it, so MSFT is falling behind.

    Why it would help people out is up for debate. If you've never heard of Colemak before, seeing it as a listed option that is easy to try might make it easier to give it a shot. But that doesn't *help that person out* immediately. What I want to know is why it would help out the already existing userbase of Colemak users and your reasons for why this could be helpful, if any. Why is a download not convenient enough for you? Cheers.

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    • Reputation: 21
    • Registered: 08-Oct-2017
    • Posts: 223

    While  the download has not really brought on big problems for me, it's more a hassle for coworkers when they want to use my pc, I have to explain how to change from pkl, while just clicking up in the language box they do manage without any problems.

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    • Reputation: 14
    • Registered: 01-Apr-2018
    • Posts: 115

    I'm fortunate enough to have a work environment where (despite the obvious risks), the use of one's own hardware is permitted. Wonderful as that is, it's not universal.

    If corporate policy prevented the use of my own equipment AND installing my own software as many businesses do, I would be left with no option but to pick a supported layout, which would cut my performance down to an unacceptable degree. There is also the possibility that it could make my intermittent RSI flare up.

    Let's be real about this. Microsoft cares about making money, and supposedly they care about making other people productive, or at least not getting in the way of the regular operations of industry too much. Businesses are made up of "little guys" who have a few needs. A small change like this would make it clear that they care about the little guy AND the company for which he works. You can never have too much good PR.

    Last edited by azuvix (13-Sep-2018 02:06:29)
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    • Reputation: 1
    • Registered: 24-Sep-2014
    • Posts: 12

    I would use the feedback thing built into Windows (10?) asking for Colemak support. Have a bunch of people used it, so that feedback people notice there's a bunch of duplicate feedback requests, and well, probably your best bet.

    Last edited by Zorg (06-Oct-2018 19:47:12)
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