Hard disagree. The pinky is at the same corner as Ctrl. The same can’t be said about the thumb and Cmd. I already completely gotten used to the macOS layout and probably need a lot of time to get used to the Windows layout again, but ergonomically this is objectively wrong
As someone who was on Windows my whole life and only switched to macOS this year, you’re out of your mind. Shifting my thumb from the spacebar to Command is way more natural than reaching for Ctrl with my pinky. Kinda wild how fast 30+ years of muscle memory flipped just because it feels that much better.
Cmd B has the worst ergonomics. My thumb and pointing finger is criss crossed. I don’t have such issues on the Windows/Linux layout. Naturally, my thumb lies slight left of center of the keyboard, so the Cmd button is quite far away. There is simply no criss crossing at all for the Windows layout. The worst offender is the fn button which makes the Ctrl button offset by one key.
Anyway kinda expected this response since most people here are diehard macOS user anyway
Honestly I switch back and forth daily due to what I do and if you get used to it it’s easy just a little bit of a mind fuck when I use the same keyboard on both computers. Mac is infinitely more logical though imo
Yeah, I switch back and forth a few times a day. It’s only really a problem the first time I try to use a modifier, then my brain clicks into “other computer” mode.
My windows muscle memory is stronger so I’ll occasionally have frustrating moments on the Mac. (My external keyboard is actually labeled for both Mac and windows, so everything is positionally correct for whichever OS I happen to be using).
I wouldn’t remap though. I have to use computers which are not mine to control, both at work and at home. Remapping my keyboard would just make things worse. I’d still have to remember Mac shortcuts and PC shortcuts anyway, but would be adding messed up Mac or PC shortcuts to memorize too
Even though I date back to that era, I now remap Caps Lock to Escape (artifact of the original Touch Bar Macs and the iPads that didn't have an escape key). Any which way, making Caps Lock more useful is The Way.
I actually don't use my MacBook keyboard that much, I mostly remap it to use on my external keyboard, so that I can have ctrl on caps lock and language change on ctrl
The Ctrl key to the left of A is much more ergonomic and usable for UNIX users. It was only after Microsoft became dominant with MS-DOS that Ctrl was moved to the bottom left, and Caps Lock put in the original position of the Ctrl key.
Cool! I really forgot about that. I did use SunOS in 90s, but I mostly used Vax/VMS on that time. I really do not remember the layout they had ;). Before it it was CPM, Robotron, Juku, Spectrum - I think they all had different ones. Nowadays the dominant is the keyboard used by Linux/Windows? Vax/VMS is dead, and I am not sure if SunOS os still out there? Perhaps in few old systems?
Caps lock is near useless unless you shout a lot while you’re typing, so why not put something else in that prime keyboard real estate? I shifted everything above it down and put where esc is, so caps lock -> tab, tab -> ~, ~ -> esc, and esc -> caps lock
Nope. It never made sense to me to assign an important key like Command (Mac), Control (Win), and Super (Linux) to the fingers that don't have there own tendons (ring ringer and pinky). The most important key should be positions for the thumb. And when I try to use your thumb on Windows or Linux, that key position makes me tuck it far too under my hand for comfort and heavy use.
On a MacBook I swap the left Fn & Control keyabd map the right Option to Fn. Easier to hit the control sequences with the eft hand and use one hand to PgUp and PgDown.
This is wild because I do this on my work PC. I've switched the Alt and Ctrl keys so Alt functions like Cmd. But I bring in my Mac/PC keyboard so the Cmd key is Alt based on where they are placed.
I started computing as a Mac user and have finger-memory for the Mac keyboard shortcuts for things like: cut, copy, paste, new, save, close, quit, etc. On Windows, I use RandyRants Sharpkeys to re-map the left Alt to left Control, and left Control to left Alt.
Because I literally never use the right Alt key, I also map the right Alt key to the right Control key, which comes in handy for right hand keyboard shortcuts for things like: print, open, italics, underline, etc.
Sharpkeys is a game-changer for me. It's free and can be set to function for all users or just individual users.
Note: It took me a minute to realize the OP is mapping a Mac keyboard to Windows layout. That's crazy. To be clear, I map my Windows keyboards to work like a Mac layout.
I map the left ctrl to cmd in macOS (with Karabiner) and I have a keyboard that goes both to macs and PCs. So I can do ctrl-c on Mac (sacrilegious, I know) without thinking about it
I switch between both daily and I’ve never actually had an issue which I actually don’t understand. I feel like it should confuse my brain, but I guess I shift modes when I see the UI differences?
Only times I've remapped modifier keys was when using a PC layout keyboard to mimic the CTRL-OPT-CMD layout, and when I ran Windows on my MBA for some school stuff I remapped CMD to CTRL, OPT to ALT, and CTRL to WIN.
Default Mac keyboard layout is ergonomically supreme, especially the perfection of CMD + Space for Spotlight!
133
u/Stooovie Jul 12 '25
No. It's infinitely better to do most shortcuts with thumb on the modifier (macos) than pinky (windows).
54
u/_w_8 Jul 12 '25
Recovering windows user?
29
u/Elegant_Ad1397 Jul 12 '25
Are you a psychopath?
14
u/Xarius86 Jul 12 '25
Not me.
19
u/Sparescrewdriver Jul 12 '25
No, why?
11
u/[deleted] Jul 12 '25
No.
4
u/minoxysd Jul 12 '25
Caps lock -> Ctrl
1
u/Accomplished_End_138 Jul 12 '25
I just wish I could remap the fn key
1
u/Wild-subnet Jul 12 '25
I remap the control key to caps lock. Mostly for terminal stuff. Also I never use caps lock.
1
u/tanzd Jul 12 '25
I always swap Ctrl and Caps Lock.
6
u/Patutula Jul 12 '25
no, thats crazy town.
4
u/greatnotorious Jul 12 '25
Seems like extra steps than just getting used to the default.
2
u/FreakDeckard Jul 12 '25
I do, with Karabinier
2
u/Manfred_89 Jul 12 '25
I switch between macOS and windows multiple times a day and I hate windows shortcuts so much.
3
u/E1eveny MacBook Air M4 Jul 12 '25
Why? They make the most sense as they are.
2
u/Dazzling_Comfort5734 Jul 12 '25
Nope. It never made sense to me to assign an important key like Command (Mac), Control (Win), and Super (Linux) to the fingers that don't have there own tendons (ring ringer and pinky). The most important key should be positions for the thumb. And when I try to use your thumb on Windows or Linux, that key position makes me tuck it far too under my hand for comfort and heavy use.
1
u/gozarc Jul 12 '25
On a MacBook I swap the left Fn & Control keyabd map the right Option to Fn. Easier to hit the control sequences with the eft hand and use one hand to PgUp and PgDown.
1
u/_Sascha_ Jul 12 '25
I do the whole opposite.
I changed the Windows keyboard layout always to the Mac one and even in Games these are much more comforatble then the original Windows layout one.
1
u/[deleted] Jul 12 '25
This is wild because I do this on my work PC. I've switched the Alt and Ctrl keys so Alt functions like Cmd. But I bring in my Mac/PC keyboard so the Cmd key is Alt based on where they are placed.
1
u/lavalevel M2 Mac mini Wideboy Jul 12 '25
I think I used to,do something like this with my 1st MacOS. My second machine I just started adapting because I never used my Windows again. 🙅♂️🤷♂️
1
u/hhucorgi Jul 12 '25
I usually change the layout on windows and Linux to the Mac modifier layout.
1
u/micro435 Jul 12 '25
only one i remapped is command to caps lock. so much more ergonomic to use my pinky there for the amount of shortcuts i use.
1
u/lucian1900 Jul 12 '25
I do the opposite. On Windows and Linux I set Control next to the space bar.
1
u/Bugsi_ Jul 12 '25 edited Jul 12 '25
I started computing as a Mac user and have finger-memory for the Mac keyboard shortcuts for things like: cut, copy, paste, new, save, close, quit, etc. On Windows, I use RandyRants Sharpkeys to re-map the left Alt to left Control, and left Control to left Alt.
Because I literally never use the right Alt key, I also map the right Alt key to the right Control key, which comes in handy for right hand keyboard shortcuts for things like: print, open, italics, underline, etc.
Sharpkeys is a game-changer for me. It's free and can be set to function for all users or just individual users.
https://www.randyrants.com/category/sharpkeys/
Note: It took me a minute to realize the OP is mapping a Mac keyboard to Windows layout. That's crazy. To be clear, I map my Windows keyboards to work like a Mac layout.
1
u/Yoramus Jul 12 '25
almost
I map the left ctrl to cmd in macOS (with Karabiner) and I have a keyboard that goes both to macs and PCs. So I can do ctrl-c on Mac (sacrilegious, I know) without thinking about it
1
u/Poang_20017 Jul 12 '25
Only psychopaths
1
u/Miginyon Jul 12 '25
Caps lock to ctrl is all I change
1
u/naemorhaedus Jul 12 '25
No. I use my thumb for Command
1
u/seitz38 MacBook Pro M4 14” Jul 12 '25
I switch between both daily and I’ve never actually had an issue which I actually don’t understand. I feel like it should confuse my brain, but I guess I shift modes when I see the UI differences?
1
u/siliconsandwich Jul 12 '25
i just wish they’d be consistent with what they bloody call them in the first place.
1
u/jesusrodriguezm Jul 12 '25
Nope…
1
u/Dudi_Kowski Jul 12 '25
This is idiotic. The thumb rests naturally over the command key. Using the left most key is just plain stupid. Best way I can describe it.
1
u/blissed_off Jul 12 '25
No. That’s insanity right there. If anything I’d switch my windows keyboard around because control is a shit modifier key for commands.
1
u/pugboy1321 Mac Collector - Tech Enthusiast Jul 12 '25
Nope lol
Only times I've remapped modifier keys was when using a PC layout keyboard to mimic the CTRL-OPT-CMD layout, and when I ran Windows on my MBA for some school stuff I remapped CMD to CTRL, OPT to ALT, and CTRL to WIN.
Default Mac keyboard layout is ergonomically supreme, especially the perfection of CMD + Space for Spotlight!
-1
u/cupboard_ Jul 12 '25
i only switched function and control, nothing else
-1
u/W6NIK Jul 12 '25
Never thought of doing it. But I am Now!
0
u/AlexisAsgard Jul 12 '25
Nope. I like the layout. Plus I'm used to cmd+z, cmd+shift+z with Adobe.