Alternative Screen Keyboards

[Morantex]

Does anyone know if it is possible to adjust or replace the large screen keyboard that is built in to a Surface

I did find a software product 'Comfort Keyboard' that kind of works but their website doesn't even mention Surface.

I am quite surprised that Microsoft have provided no options for tailoring the keyboard (fonts, colors, character sets, resizing etc etc)

I'd love to get an APL keyboard for example, this programming language needs a dedicated unusual set of symbols and would be easy to model in software.

Any info much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Sin]

On the Pro and other full Windows 8 machines, I believe there are some in the works. Not sure on any release. On the RT and any other Windows RT machine, I have not see any alternative keyboards yet. The 'Comfort Keyboard' that you linked to, should work on the Surface Pro, but not on the Surface RT. Hope this helps.

 

[tonyz3]

Their forum section on their websites has some info. Comfort Software: Forums / Features Discussion / Windows 8: Modern UI Comfort Floating Window Feature & DPI Scaling Feature I am just unclear if it is only in DT or if it works with metro apps.

 

[tonyz3]

ok so i downloaded this for the SP and it works nicely. will try it more later. does work in metro apps you can disable the meto keyboard. tons of options and themes. using a see thru option. very nice. will definitely buy this if no bugs pop up. the thumb option in each corner works nicely.

 

[tonyz3]

Update, some cool observations is you can set it to pop up auto on cursor or not. seems to work on all the DT apps on auto pop up- i know a lot of peeps had this issue. Also can set it to pop up only when you tap a small icon that you can place anywhere on the screen, make it any size any opacity . One really cool feature is right now i am typing on my Bluetooth keyboard but the autofill/spell window still pops up for Bluetooth keyboards and it seems to be really good at learning words quickly. Not sure how long this free preview lasts, but will try to keep playing with it later. You can even customize or basically make your own keyboards and save them in the themes. I need to get back to work....

 

[tonyz3]

Well after disconnecting the ex monitors and using in tablet mode for a little while the keyboard is not the same. Infact it does not compare to the stock ms keyboard. Yikes it seemed to work better on my dell 2340t monitors.:yelling: As mich would say epic fail.