IBM PC keyboard

The keyboards for IBM PC compatible computers are standardized. However, during the more than 30 years of PC architecture being constantly updated, multiple types of keyboard layout variations have been developed.

A well-known class of IBM PC keyboards is the Model M. Introduced in 1986 and manufactured by IBM, Lexmark, Maxi-Switch and Unicomp, the vast majority of Model M keyboards feature a buckling spring key design and many have fully swappable keycaps.

Keyboard layouts

The PC keyboard changed over the years, often at the launch of new IBM PC versions.

Common additions to the standard layouts include additional power management keys, volume controls, media player controls, and miscellaneous user-configurable shortcuts for email client, World Wide Web browser, etc.

The IBM PC layout, particularly the Model M, has been extremely influential, and today most keyboards use some variant of it. This has caused problems for applications developed with alternative layouts, which require keys that are in awkward positions on the Model M layout – often requiring the pinkie to operate – and thus require remapping for comfortable use. One notable example is the Escape key, used by the vi editor: on the ADM-3A terminal this was located where the Tab key is on the IBM PC, but on the IBM PC the Escape key is in the corner; this is typically solved by remapping Caps Lock to Escape. Another example is the Emacs editor, which makes extensive use of modifier keys, and uses the Control key more than the Meta key (IBM PC instead has the Alt key) – these date to the Knight keyboard, which had the Control key on the inside of the Meta key, opposite to the Model M, where it is on the outside of the Alt key; and to the space-cadet keyboard, where the four bucky bit keys (Control, Meta, Super, Hyper) are in a row, allowing easy chording to press several, unlike on the Model M layout. This results in the "Emacs pinky" problem.