Comment by noobermin
2 days ago
If they were going for the commodore aesthetic, 1) may be don't call it workbench OS to confuse people and 2) the numpad (if it was called that then) is on the wrong side. It was on the right on the C64 and the amiga alike like it was.
Would this benefit left handed users? I know people call for reversing mouse buttons and mouse hands but I've never seen an ask for flipping the position of the numpad.
As a leftie, I've never really used a keyboard and mouse "left handed". It's too much hassle to have to keep swapping things around when you live in a household of righties, so I just learned to use stuff the "normal" way around. In situations where there is an obvious physical disadvantage to using right handed items (eg scissors), I'll do my best to find a leftie equivalent, but it sounds like more hassle than it's worth to do the same with a mouse and keyboard. I can't draw for the life of me with a mouse, but that doesn't come up much. I don't really see the point of a left side numpad, though TBH I rarely use one anyways
As a lefty who is proficient with the numpad, I’d adapt quickly to it being on the left, but I wouldn’t ultimately be any faster with it, regardless of whether key order was reversed or kept the same.
I also don’t think I’ve ever seen a lefty who prefers (or at least regularly uses) a left mouse. I adjusted to right for the same reason as you, but I also think being able to type one handed with my left while mousing with my right is superior to its opposite for me.
I would generally type with both hands at the same time, but it is useful to be able to mouse with my right hand and do the common shortcuts (ctrl+z,x,c,v) with my left. I don't know how that would work if I was mousing with my left hand. I'd have to control with my index finger and do the shortcut with my little finger? sounds awful lol
They don't have to replicate everything exactly as it was in the original machines to give the right vibe. It's similar, not a retrocomputing reproduction. Also Amiga was made by Commodore - it's in the same family. I don't expect anyone to be confused by the workbench naming though - it's a weird name, but why would anyone stick the actual workbench os on a multi-GB machine?