Windows doesn't switch at random. You have to disable the hotkey that switches with Alt+Shift or Ctrl+Shift, because you'll mishit that one causing seemingly random switches. Those tend to get activated each time you install a new layout so be aware. Instead, use the Ctrl+Shift+# hotkey option to switch to a specified layout and another one to switch back.
You'll have to teach your colleague that as long as your layout is the default he'll have to activate the other layout for each app he uses.
Switching layout by registry key is something I haven't tried out so I don't know whether it'll work on the fly or not. I'm suspecting not, since some dynamic links are made to allow the keyboard API to address the right layout DLL, but what do I know.
I'd love to be able to switch focus to a different DLL without modifying the registry! Then I could provide an alternative DLL with my own layout and switch to that one portably. Yeah, I don't think I'll succeed with that. It'd also be potentially insecure I fear.
If on-the-fly layout switching by hotkey strikes you as suboptimal (I get annoyed at the per-application focus, myself), I recommend using PKL instead. I've set my PKL to use a Ctrl+Shift+# type hotkey to switch between my extended Colemak and a 'virtualkey' QWERTY layout which is transparent (but allows Extend key goodness - yay!); another option is to just use a Suspend hotkey (like my wife does at home whenever she starts typing and experiences the well-known 'colemak/QWERTY aphasia' disorientation). I use Crtl+Shift+` which is very easy to hit yet complex enough to not get in the way of other apps' hotkeys. Either way, there's an icon in the system tray telling me which layout is active (or whether PKL is suspended) at the moment.
Last edited by DreymaR (25-Mar-2010 11:24:52)
