by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2012/05/08 07:01 -04:00, original URI: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/michkap/archive/2012/05/08/10302072.aspx
So there is a blog I planned on writing in a week or two.
It was based on stuff people had been asking me after I blogged Can't Touch This! (Though I can TYPE this because I have the hardware, and the keyboard…).
About the touch optimized soft keyboard layouts...
Feedback was basically in three different categories:
Category #1: When is that guest blog coming?
I have several interested folks on the team that did the actual work to create the various touch-optimized layouts who have promised to do something here.
No firm date yet, but sooner or later it will happen, if for no other reason than to correct small mistakes of mine as I play with things.
I'll keep everyone posted. And I'll nag them enough to make sure they don't forget. :-)
Category #2: Can you really change the default for the Cherokee layout?
Well, I can't.
But others can!
And feedback is always a good thing.
Remember that any keyboard you create with MSKLC (once they fix the bug that made them not work, which has happened and you'll all see it in the next update, whenever that is) has to be exposed via that same Soft Input Panel. This will work the same way as any keyboard where the optimized layout is turned off....
Category #3: How can I create my own touch-optimized layouts?
This was the most frequently asked question, and it is the reason I moved this blog up to now instead of a few weeks from now.
Anyway, the popularity of the question is unfortunate since it is the one question I don't have a good answer for....
There are no current plans I know of to expose this "touch optimized layout creation" to third parties.
Even suggestions along the lines of an MSKLCesque update to do such things failed to generate the kind of interest I would have hoped for.
I'll keep suggesting, though.
If you've spent time trying out any of the optimized layouts, you too might have an opinion on this.
Feel free to leave it here, I'll make sure it gets to the right place... :-)
referenced by