As a keyboard, the MS Internet Keyboard is of very high quality construction. The base is solid plastic that you KNOW is well made. The keyboard lies very flat on a table, and looking at the profile, one can see that the keys range straight across the board, almost parallel with the table surface (the Logitech keyboard, as you will read later, is totally different). This means that some of you will absolutely have to make use of the little plastic feet that snap into place and tilt the rear of the keyboard up for a more comfortable typing position. The detachable palm rest has that wavy flair that MS favors in its Natural Keyboards, and it also connects in such a way that it can swivel slightly to remain flat on the table when the keyboard itself is tilted up or down. Though the layout is standard, the spacing seemed a little wide compared to a standard keyboard. I asked several people to try out the keyboard and all agreed that it seemed the keys were spaced out too much, which means it will take some getting used to, and will probably give you some wrist aches while you adjust. The keys have that slightly spungy feel that some users like. I’m not one of those users, and found the keys to be tiresome and “squishy”. My colleague was totally enraptured by what he describes as a cushy feel… I just think it feels spongy. *shiver*
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| The modified keyboard control panel gives access to customization options.
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The software utility that Microsoft includes is undeniably easy to use, and does indeed allow you to reconfigure the special buttons the way you want. With this utility you can also customize the titles that pop up when you press one of the custom keys. These pop ups take the form of small floating titlebars (just like the titlebars on all your windows) and serve to indicate the function once the key is depressed. All of this is nice, but I just wish that I could get past the stylish icons embossed right on the keys. It’s tough to think “Microsoft Word” when both the printed label and icon scream “Calculator”. Hopefully you can overlook such a simple aesthetic/psychological flaw, because those keys can quickly become useful with some simple customization.
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