• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Microsoft Hardware Debuts Windows 8 Keyboard With Split Backspace-Spacebar Key

Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
4,784 (1.06/day)
Location
Still on the East Side
Building on its previously announced lineup of Windows 8 hardware peripherals, Microsoft Corp. today introduced the Sculpt Comfort Keyboard, an ergonomic keyboard featuring an enlarged split spacebar with optional backspace functionality that enhances typing efficiency and speed. From its thoughtful design and ergonomic shape to the Windows 8-specific keys, the Sculpt Comfort Keyboard is the perfect Windows 8 desktop companion for productivity and comfort.





Research and Design

With the Sculpt Comfort Keyboard, Microsoft is introducing its first keyboard to feature a split backspace-spacebar key. This design choice is the result of internal research that showed 90 percent of typists use only their right thumb to press the spacebar, leaving a lot of unused real estate on the left side of the bar. Research also showed the backspace key is the third most pressed key on the keyboard - behind the spacebar itself and the letter "e" - but constantly striking backspace breaks a person's typing stride because of its location on the top right-hand corner of the keyboard. In response to these findings, Microsoft made two adjustments to help increase typing efficiency and speed:

● Increased the width of the spacebar to make the bar easier to strike.
● Split the spacebar to make use of the neglected left-hand side as an extra backspace key.

Ergonomics

The Sculpt Comfort Keyboard's advanced ergonomics are the result of many unique design features. In addition to increasing typing efficiency, the keyboard's split spacebar also improves ergonomics by virtually eliminating the awkward "pinky reach" to the standard backspace key, keeping wrists in a comfortable position. The keyboard also sports Microsoft's own Contour Curve design, which features a six-degree bend in the keyboard layout with a dome-shaped arc to help promote a comfortable, neutral wrist position while keeping keys within easy reach. Its removable palm rest can be used for added comfort or easily detached with the press of a button for a sleek, compact look.

Designed by Microsoft, Optimized for Windows

The Sculpt Comfort Keyboard also includes several keys that give customers quick access to the most commonly used Windows 8 features, including Search, Share, Device and Settings hot keys and an updated Windows key. With its wireless USB connectivity, the Sculpt Comfort Keyboard also reduces the unnecessary clutter of wires.

"With Microsoft's new lineup of Windows 8 peripherals, we designed every piece of hardware to provide the best Windows experience possible on any device," said Brett Kelleran, general manager of Microsoft Hardware. "The Sculpt Comfort Keyboard brings the best of Microsoft to the desktop - advanced ergonomics, improved productivity, great design and features optimized for Windows."

The Sculpt Comfort Keyboard will be available soon at the online Microsoft Store and other participating retailers. Estimated retail price is US$59.95.

More information about this and other Microsoft Hardware products can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/hardware.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
5,632 (1.11/day)
System Name RemixedBeast-NX
Processor Intel Xeon E5-2690 @ 2.9Ghz (8C/16T)
Motherboard Dell Inc. 08HPGT (CPU 1)
Cooling Dell Standard
Memory 24GB ECC
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Nvidia RTX2060 6GB
Storage 2TB Samsung 860 EVO SSD//2TB WD Black HDD
Display(s) Samsung SyncMaster P2350 23in @ 1920x1080 + Dell E2013H 20 in @1600x900
Case Dell Precision T3600 Chassis
Audio Device(s) Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 // Fiio E7 Amp/DAC
Power Supply 630w Dell T3600 PSU
Mouse Logitech G700s/G502
Keyboard Logitech K740
Software Linux Mint 20
Benchmark Scores Network: APs: Cisco Meraki MR32, Ubiquiti Unifi AP-AC-LR and Lite Router/Sw:Meraki MX64 MS220-8P
I like my Comfort Curve 3000 keyboard.... Types nice and it's really small and sleek. I use it on a KB drawer and I got lots of room left.
 
Joined
Oct 6, 2004
Messages
405 (0.06/day)
Location
New Taipei City, Taiwan
Compaq used to bundle these keyboards with their professional "DeskPro" line in the late 90's.. they quickly dropped the idea after they found out no one, really no one is educated to use the backspace on that position... Especially those that type with ten fingers.

Even with the supplied software, you could disable the function (so you'd have a split spacebar.)

Guess how many people enjoy hitting the chasm between the spacebars all the time.. exactly.
 
Last edited:

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
40,435 (6.61/day)
Location
Republic of Texas (True Patriot)
System Name PCGOD
Processor AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory 16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s) NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s) Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software Windows 7 Pro 64
neat idea but they should be able to swap the key from left and right
 
Joined
Jan 11, 2009
Messages
9,231 (1.66/day)
Location
Montreal, Canada
System Name Homelabs
Processor Ryzen 5900x | Ryzen 1920X
Motherboard Asus ProArt x570 Creator | AsRock X399 fatal1ty gaming
Cooling Silent Loop 2 280mm | Dark Rock Pro TR4
Memory 128GB (4x32gb) DDR4 3600Mhz | 128GB (8x16GB) DDR4 2933Mhz
Video Card(s) EVGA RTX 3080 | ASUS Strix GTX 970
Storage Optane 900p + NVMe | Optane 900p + 8TB SATA SSDs + 48TB HDDs
Display(s) Alienware AW3423dw QD-OLED | HP Omen 32 1440p
Case be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 rev 2 | be quiet! Silent Base 800
Power Supply Corsair RM750x + sleeved cables| EVGA P2 750W
Mouse Razer Viper Ultimate (still has buttons on the right side, crucial as I'm a southpaw)
Keyboard Razer Huntsman Elite, Pro Type | Logitech G915 TKL
Im lefty...

FML
 

STCNE

New Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2010
Messages
236 (0.05/day)
Location
Connecticut USA
System Name Lycanthropy
Processor i5 2500K
Motherboard ECS p67-h2a2
Memory 8GB Muskin Radioactive Series
Video Card(s) MSI R7770
Case Lancool K62
Audio Device(s) Ultra-Fi Dac41, Vintage Sherwood amp, STAX SR-5 Headphones
Power Supply XFX 850W
Software Win 7 64-Bit(Tried Win8 and never going back)
Benchmark Scores Reboots in 35 seconds flat, with a standard HDD. I'm a bit of an OCD tweaker. Using less than 100GB
I use the left side of the spacebar when I type, guess I wouldn't be able to use this board.

Are these wave boards actually more ergonomic than a regular board? To someone who hasn't used them they look like a comfort nightmare. I'd think you'd get a bigger comfort difference switching to mechanical keys, I know that worked for me. There is nothing more uncomfortable than low profile keys IMO. Before I got a mechanical board I was using the keyboard from our 96' Dell.
 
Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
5,632 (1.11/day)
System Name RemixedBeast-NX
Processor Intel Xeon E5-2690 @ 2.9Ghz (8C/16T)
Motherboard Dell Inc. 08HPGT (CPU 1)
Cooling Dell Standard
Memory 24GB ECC
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Nvidia RTX2060 6GB
Storage 2TB Samsung 860 EVO SSD//2TB WD Black HDD
Display(s) Samsung SyncMaster P2350 23in @ 1920x1080 + Dell E2013H 20 in @1600x900
Case Dell Precision T3600 Chassis
Audio Device(s) Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 // Fiio E7 Amp/DAC
Power Supply 630w Dell T3600 PSU
Mouse Logitech G700s/G502
Keyboard Logitech K740
Software Linux Mint 20
Benchmark Scores Network: APs: Cisco Meraki MR32, Ubiquiti Unifi AP-AC-LR and Lite Router/Sw:Meraki MX64 MS220-8P
They are much better.... this one has little indents in each key that makes you hit it just right. this is much easier for typing long epic posts on than my last KB. I hate how old KBs type. They have small keys and a tiny backspace button. those dell keyboards suck. also they are so loud that someone sleeping a couple rooms over might be an angry bird...
 
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
1,870 (0.32/day)
Processor RyZen R9 3950X
Motherboard ASRock X570 Taichi
Cooling Coolermaster Master Liquid ML240L RGB
Memory 64GB DDR4 3200 (4x16GB)
Video Card(s) RTX 3050
Storage Samsung 2TB SSD
Display(s) Asus VE276Q, VE278Q and VK278Q triple 27” 1920x1080
Case Zulman MS800
Audio Device(s) On Board
Power Supply Seasonic 650W
VR HMD Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest V1, Oculus Quest 2
Software Windows 11 64bit
I guess I am one of the 10% of users that only uses the left thumb on the spacebar. I wouldn’t exactly classify myself as left handed but for some reason the left hand has always been dominant with specific tasks that most right-handed people would use their right hand for.

I cant tell from the picture but the split spacebar should be equal distance and one would hope configurable in software.

What I don’t get is why the keyboard has elevation on the front. I’ve only seen elevation of the rear of keyboards.

Basically this keyboard seems more like a gimmick then something that fills a niche but if this is such a good idea then I guess we will start seeing it in onscreen keyboards as well,….such as Windows 8 / Windows RT tablets.
 
Joined
Jun 1, 2010
Messages
14 (0.00/day)
What I don’t get is why the keyboard has elevation on the front. I’ve only seen elevation of the rear of keyboards..

My thought:
It's elevating one's wrist so that the angle that you rest your hands on the keyboard exerts less strain/pressure on/near your median nerve. This could help reduce the likelihood of swelling in the carpal tunnel thus reducing the likelihood of getting carpal tunnel syndrome.

I am still not a fan of these ergonomic keyboards, I've built up too much finger muscle memory.

I guess I am also included in that 10% that generally use the left thumb/side of the spacebar
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jan 11, 2009
Messages
9,231 (1.66/day)
Location
Montreal, Canada
System Name Homelabs
Processor Ryzen 5900x | Ryzen 1920X
Motherboard Asus ProArt x570 Creator | AsRock X399 fatal1ty gaming
Cooling Silent Loop 2 280mm | Dark Rock Pro TR4
Memory 128GB (4x32gb) DDR4 3600Mhz | 128GB (8x16GB) DDR4 2933Mhz
Video Card(s) EVGA RTX 3080 | ASUS Strix GTX 970
Storage Optane 900p + NVMe | Optane 900p + 8TB SATA SSDs + 48TB HDDs
Display(s) Alienware AW3423dw QD-OLED | HP Omen 32 1440p
Case be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 rev 2 | be quiet! Silent Base 800
Power Supply Corsair RM750x + sleeved cables| EVGA P2 750W
Mouse Razer Viper Ultimate (still has buttons on the right side, crucial as I'm a southpaw)
Keyboard Razer Huntsman Elite, Pro Type | Logitech G915 TKL
Most people I know use both sides, they just use whichever side is easier for what they are typing
 
Joined
Mar 26, 2010
Messages
9,762 (1.91/day)
Location
Jakarta, Indonesia
System Name micropage7
Processor Intel Xeon X3470
Motherboard Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. P55A-UD3R (Socket 1156)
Cooling Enermax ETS-T40F
Memory Samsung 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3
Video Card(s) NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800
Storage V-GEN03AS18EU120GB, Seagate 2 x 1TB and Seagate 4TB
Display(s) Samsung 21 inch LCD Wide Screen
Case Icute Super 18
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte
Power Supply Silverstone 600 Watt
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Sades Excalibur + Taihao keycaps
Software Win 7 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Classified

too bad it has small enter button, why dont they make it bigger
 
Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
5,632 (1.11/day)
System Name RemixedBeast-NX
Processor Intel Xeon E5-2690 @ 2.9Ghz (8C/16T)
Motherboard Dell Inc. 08HPGT (CPU 1)
Cooling Dell Standard
Memory 24GB ECC
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Nvidia RTX2060 6GB
Storage 2TB Samsung 860 EVO SSD//2TB WD Black HDD
Display(s) Samsung SyncMaster P2350 23in @ 1920x1080 + Dell E2013H 20 in @1600x900
Case Dell Precision T3600 Chassis
Audio Device(s) Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 // Fiio E7 Amp/DAC
Power Supply 630w Dell T3600 PSU
Mouse Logitech G700s/G502
Keyboard Logitech K740
Software Linux Mint 20
Benchmark Scores Network: APs: Cisco Meraki MR32, Ubiquiti Unifi AP-AC-LR and Lite Router/Sw:Meraki MX64 MS220-8P
My MS keyboard has a layout like that... the small enter button doesn't bother me.... a small backspace does... it's how my desk feels around my hand and having that makes it feel better.
 

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
40,435 (6.61/day)
Location
Republic of Texas (True Patriot)
System Name PCGOD
Processor AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory 16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s) NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s) Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software Windows 7 Pro 64

Captain.Abrecan

New Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2010
Messages
175 (0.04/day)
Location
MA
System Name MHI 0000001
Processor Intel Pentium D 950 Presler
Motherboard Asus P5N-32 SLI
Cooling Stock Air
Memory 4x Corsair ValueRAM DDR2 667 1GB
Video Card(s) EVGA 9800 GTX
Storage 4x Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200RPM
Display(s) HP 17" CRT 1600x1200
Case Thermaltake Armor Black
Audio Device(s) Creative Soundblaster
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower 850
Software Microsoft Windows XP Professional
This keyboard is not for you guys. You are not the target market ;)

This keyboard is for draftsmen & CAD technicians; people who have their right hand on a trackball or space navigator, and their left hand on the keyboard for command line stuff.

I have been waiting a long time for this keyboard.
 
Joined
Mar 2, 2009
Messages
5,061 (0.92/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 7600
Motherboard Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX
Cooling Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
Memory Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-5600 16GBx2
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Gaming OC AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB
Storage TEAMGROUP T-Force Z440 2TB, SPower A60 2TB, SPower A55 2TB, Seagate 4TBx2, Samsung 870 2TB
Display(s) AOC 24G2 + Xitrix WFP-2415
Case Montech Air X
Audio Device(s) Realtek onboard
Power Supply Be Quiet! Pure Power 11 FM 750W 80+ Gold
Mouse Logitech G304
Keyboard Redragon K557 KAIA RGB Mechanical Keyboard
Software Windows 10
This keyboard is not for you guys. You are not the target market ;)

This keyboard is for draftsmen & CAD technicians; people who have their right hand on a trackball or space navigator, and their left hand on the keyboard for command line stuff.

I have been waiting a long time for this keyboard.

How small is your hand? I put my hand on my keyboard (roughly around the WASD area, to make it situated near the leftmost portion of the whole keyboard) and my left thumb is already on the rightmost third of the spacebar. And it's not like my hands are bigger than normal.
 

Captain.Abrecan

New Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2010
Messages
175 (0.04/day)
Location
MA
System Name MHI 0000001
Processor Intel Pentium D 950 Presler
Motherboard Asus P5N-32 SLI
Cooling Stock Air
Memory 4x Corsair ValueRAM DDR2 667 1GB
Video Card(s) EVGA 9800 GTX
Storage 4x Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200RPM
Display(s) HP 17" CRT 1600x1200
Case Thermaltake Armor Black
Audio Device(s) Creative Soundblaster
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower 850
Software Microsoft Windows XP Professional
How small is your hand? I put my hand on my keyboard (roughly around the WASD area, to make it situated near the leftmost portion of the whole keyboard) and my left thumb is already on the rightmost third of the spacebar. And it's not like my hands are bigger than normal.

Pretty small. When I do that my thumb ends up under the c/v keys. It makes playing the piano hard as shit too. It's like, every song the notes spread across a whole octave. My fucking hand doesn't stretch that far :mad:
 
Joined
Jan 23, 2012
Messages
361 (0.08/day)
Location
South Africa
Processor Pentium II 400 @ 516MHz
Motherboard AOpen AX6BC EZ
Cooling Stock
Memory 192MB PC-133
Video Card(s) 2x Voodoo 12MB in SLI, S3 Trio64V+
Storage Maxtor 40GB
Display(s) ViewSonic E90
Audio Device(s) Sound Blaster 16
Software Windows 98 SE
I'm right-handed but use my left thumb for the space bar, I can't say I've ever used my right thumb while at a PC other than gripping a mouse. I do a LOT of typing (in excess of 15,000 words per day) and I quite like the idea of backspace being the RIGHT half of the space bar. I normally use my right ring finger for backspace, I can see that with a bit of practice this could make for more efficient typing.
 
Top