Whoa. Good to know buddy! That makes total sense now. So Apple’s use of it is a new thing.
Since the 1990s Alt has been printed on the Option key (⌥ Opt) on most Mac keyboards. As of 2017, the newest Apple keyboards do not contain the Alt label. Alt is used in non-Mac software, such as non-macOS Unix and Windows programs, but in macOS it is always referred to as the Option key.
It looks like an A and it splits to a alternative route… Of course it’s Alt 
Now that looks like a ton of fun. The top plate is actual FR with layers of plates made from cork. I’d be the guy who ends up tearing his keyboard.
Reminds me of cigar-box guitars.
Gradient sets rarely interest me (particularly dye sub pbt as the colors don’t pop enough) and it is odd to see SP experimenting with lowercase font on SA.
Not sure how I feel about the font/legends.
Not a set for me, but I always appreciate sets that try to be more fun.
I’m weirdly bothered that the function keys have capital Fs, but the other mods are all lowercase.
Would be so much nicer if the legends weren’t fully lowercase. I hate that trend, but the set’s colorway itself is very nice.
Ha, good eye. That’s counter to the old Commodore 64.
I think the balance of contrast in saturation is quite good. Credits to them not using black as legend color.
Wonder why they didn’t do red-red-orange-orange-yellow-yellow? I understand it’s a tricky balance on a < 87%. In the image above, it just looks unbalanced.
Lower case legends — is that targeting the smartphone generation?
I’ve never heard of G-Square or Moondrop, but apparently they’ve teamed-up to spec-out a pair of Nylon switches:
These strongly resemble Keyfirst Blings, WS Auroras, Skyloong (non-silent) Icebergs, and other switches that are being manufactured by Haimu. The most notable visual features they all share are the angular shaping of the dust shroud and a pair of holes on the bottom between the central and stabilizing pins.
If you haven’t tried any of those, they have a low-to-no-grain smoothness and well above-average travel stability; I’m a big fan. These are the same people responsible for all those single-shot silent switches that use flexible legs instead of soft pads.
I saw those yesterday and was a bit perplexed because I had not heard of either company. Lol. I’m no keyboard expert, but yeah… ok drop.
Very interested now that I know they could resemble the skyloong switches. Those are quite pleasant.
Thanks for the info, sir
All those new switch designs are quite uninteresting to be honest. They’re the exact same thing with different colors and slightly different materials.
I just wish some company would make a newer version of Alps, with MX PCB mounts and stems but with the design of Alps switches. One can only dream…
I’m not buying anything atm, but the keyboards I’m most interested in right now are the Boardsource Technik, MechWild Sugar Glider, the Bauer Lite, Brutal60 v2, Thera r2, and the Splitkb Elora.
You could add the DD-40 by dedecline, but I’m not sure how well I’d cope with a 40% WKL/HHKB.
Novelkeys has their PBT Spellbook available today. I’m going to grab a set for my HBCP atomic purple board.
It’s true; most switches out there are slight variations on an existing theme, and with a great deal of redundancy and overlap.
Every now and then we’ll get some genuine innovation, but it’s much easier to just license an existing mold and throw a new color or maybe blend of plastic in it. I like that we have tons of variety compared to 7 or so years ago, but especially in the last couple years we’ve hit such a high level of saturation that the landscape is quite noisy.
I like when actual improvements are worked-into the MX-compatible space; like how many manufacturers are now using shrouded stems for the benefit they provide to stability - that wasn’t part of the original design, but now it’s almost a standard. JWICK’s extra set of guide rails. Kailh and Gateron’s North-facing-friendly housings. Kailh’s enclosed contact design. For me, these are all welcome options and/or improvements - but indeed exceptions rather than rules when it comes to new switches.
Most “new” switches only bring a re-shuffling of existing combinations to the table, and those Moondrops are no exception. The one thing I like about there being so many examples of a given type of switch is that color-coordination becomes much easier, even with builds that have very narrow specs for switch type. If I buy these, that will be the tipping factor; if the colors they come in match a build I want to do better than the colors of another similar already existing switch I might have otherwise used. (For example, I love Haimu Sea Salt Lemons, but I wouldn’t want to use them on an all-white build - so in that particular case the above switches would fit the bill.)
I do think we’ll see the deluge of new-but-not-really-new MX-compatible switches slow down at some point; kind of like how vape shops appeared on every corner and now only remain here and there as local demand dictates. I’d love to see that accompanied by some more genuine innovation - or at least something novel and interesting.
interesting. i have some Moondrop IEMs and they’re great. thanks for sharing this
I was thinking this too… I have some Moondrop Chus and was wondering if it were the same company.
I was wondering that too and then noticed the enter key legend is “tequila sunrise,” which does have this red, orange, yellow gradient distribution:
Well shit i could use a drink now lol
