by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2012/03/12 06:01 -04:00, original URI: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/michkap/archive/2012/03/12/10281199.aspx
So, in a response to the blog I blogged the other day (And now? There are Language Packs!), Lars Viklund reported:
Too bad that it's utterly impossible to properly install a custom keyboard layout on 8CP anymore, and that there seems to be no Connect section to report bugs in.
In essence, in order to get any custom layout (like altinter from keyboards.jargon-file.org) visible and manipulatable in Input Languages is to swap the "Control\Keyboard Layouts\" key with some existing layout like "00020409", as the "a0000409" ones that MSKLC generates are unusable.
His comment inspired three thoughts from me:
The first thing, there is a bug, first reported (by me, I believe) just before the Windows 8 Developer Preview was released. A regression of MSKLC-generated layouts not installing properly..
A commitment was made to fix this, in a meeting where I was asked to help with some unrelated historical issues.
There was no direct quid pro quo implied there, but it is more polite to be receptive to one team's needs when another team also wants unrelated help. It just makes everyone happier...
Anyway, a decision was made to do some refactoring of the new code to make sure it would be more maintainable, and the work to try to fix this bug was scheduled to be roiled into that refactoring.
This brings us to the second thing, which is that it turned out the bug was not in fact fixed when the refactoring work was done.
This was reported before the Windows 8 Consumer Preview was released, but after the point where the fix to the bug could safely avoid the risk of destabilizing the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.
It was deemed a little too uncommon for a release note.
Oopsie!
It was triaged of being worthy to address after that, though.
And I just checked -- it appears to be fixed now, in the latest build. :-)
There was a third thing, but I can't remember what it was.
What was the third thing?
I hate to pull a Rick Perry on all my readers, but I swear there was a third thing that occurred to me when I read that comment!
In the meantime, I hope Lars Viklund can take some solace in the fact that soon enough no weird hacks should be needed.
I'll try to remember the third thing for an upcoming blog....
Lars Viklund on 12 Mar 2012 12:01 PM:
Many thanks. It helps to know that I can continue typing in the future without delving into the guts of things.
I. Kinal on 12 Nov 2012 6:46 PM:
Unfortunately, this still does not seem to be solved in Windows 8 RTM. I was able to install a custom keyboard layout from MSKLC without any issues, and I see the layout under languages in the Control Panel. However, that layout is not an available option in the language bar.
I. Kinal on 13 Nov 2012 7:05 PM:
Please disregard my previous comment - a reboot solved the problem, and now the keyboard layout works just fine.