Whomever set this V keyboard up clearly doesn’t use the ctrl key often. On both my Mac keyboards and Surface Pro keyboards the FN key is the left most and CTRL is one to the right. This helps people who don’t have 7 inch pinkie fingers.
Any way in software to remap these keys? Might be a standard Windows thing; but I’m wondering about the specialness of the Bluetooth keyboard.
Out of curiosity, what Surface Pro keyboard are you using? I’m currently using the Surface Pro type cover right now (for both the SP4 and 2017) and the Ctrl key is on the far left just like the V keyboard. I’m pretty sure Lenovo and Sony keyboards are the exact same as well. I’ve never had problems with it, but maybe I just have big hands.
If you need to swap them, maybe try looking at something like AutoHotkey that lets you remap keys on your keyboard. If it ends up being a bit too complex or it just doesn’t work, maybe having that option in the BIOS like Lenovo does would be something to suggest in the software improvements section.
Unfortunately Fn key is invisible to the OS, as the Fn key combination is performed at hardware or firmware-level. It is true on nearly all Windows laptops. Therefore its impossible to use AHK and similar kind of software solution to do this, as far as I know.
This is been discussed several times in the community before, and as per my memory most believe that because Ctrl is by standard the left-most key, it would not be good to change it. Eve can, and possibly will if the community wants it bad enough, allow and option in the UEFI (BIOS) to switch these two.
I can recommend “Sharpkeys”, as it works pretty good with Win 10 and an Apple wired keyboard, using it for about +6 years already, since Vista-Win 8 and now Win 10. It does not require any intallation as it remaps keys on registry level.
Bear in mind, as I still haven’t received my V, I have not been able to test it with it.
Some ideas:
I personally do not use the Win Key on any keyboard and have it remapped as Alt key due to being close to Ctrl key and that combination is my daily professional use CAD, Photoshop etc.
Why not leave the Fn key of the V where it is, as it was mentioned it is mapped on a hardware level and instead, map the Win key as a left CTRL key, this way even better the Ctrl+Alt combination is even more legitimate.
If someone would like to visually make it perfect, perhaps they may swap the hardware key caps too, as I assume the key sizes and snap hinges underneath are the same.
@YoJoeCool : You’re right, my SP4 has the CTRL key to the far left as well. My bad. I guess I’m just too used to Mac keyboards. I find the Windows keyboard placement of CTRL really odd since FN is not really used that much compared to CTRL so it’s seems way out there for smaller hands. I’ll try the swapping software or do more yoga to stretch out my hands.
@iKirin : First of all, if you worked on the keyboard, many thanks. I like the keyboard in general (haven’t tried via bluetooth yet) as it has a great feel. My Macbook Pro keyboard (circa 2015) feels downright mushy by comparison and my Microsoft Surface Pro 4, feels flimsy by comparison, so I like it. I think I just need to get used to the new key placement; but CTRL is definitely a stretch for me there. I’ll be taking the advice of this community for the remapping software.