When I got my original Microsoft Natural Keyboard, I was convinced it was the best product Microsoft made. I'm still pretty sure that's the case, though their software business has really made great strides.

Extremely happy with my Microsoft Natural keyboard, I was dismayed to learn that it had been quietly replaced with with the Microsoft Natural Keyboard Version 2. This version clusters the arrow keys in an unusable diamond shape, allegedly in order to reduce the size of the keyboard. I use the arrow keys a lot. And I consider it inhumane to force me to position my fingers like that. Not to mention games...

The old Microsoft Natural Keyboard couldn't be begged borrowed or stolen. So when it came time to purchase a new keyboard at my new job, I thought I'd look at all the other ergonomic keyboards that (I figured must) have flooded the market during the intervening years. After a fair amount of research, I settled on the Kinesis Maxim. I have friends who swear by the Kinesis Contoured Keyboard but I didn't feel up to learning the slightly new typing style at the time. Most importantly, the Maxim had its arrow keys arranged in the familiar "inverted T" pattern, the way God intended them to be.

I'm going to skip the usual review formula and skip to the bottom line now: I am not terribly impressed with the Kinesis Maxim. Here are the problems as I see them:

• The key travel feels too short. Maybe the keys' short height makes the travel feel short. But there's something unsettling about it.
• The "Alt" key is too far underneath my thumb. I have a friend who uses the opposite thumb or a finger to depress the "Alt" key. He loves this keyboard. I am doing Alt-V and Alt-B all the time, however, by putting my left thumb way over to the tiny alt key and crossing my left index finger way over to V or B. I considered remapping the left spacebar to be an alt key. This would actually be preferable, since I never use my left hand to press the spacebar. But alas, the keycodes returned by the keyboard appear to be the same for the left and right spacebar, so I cannot remap just one of them using xmodmap.
• I've found that I type faster on a regular (totally non-ergonomic, $12.95) keyboard.

Update: I received my Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro. It's a winner. All the features of the original MS Natural Keyboard and much quieter action. The only fault I can find with it is that it doesn't have the funky legs in the front of the keyboard that make the wrist rest on the original version sit nice and high. Nevertheless, the wrist rest on the Pro seems just high enough to be comfortable. Worst case, I will shim it with PostIt Notes or something...