What makes a good *non linear* switch?

[Slom]

Also, imagine you wanted to populate a new office or computer lab with decent keyboards, and you need to order a batch of a single model: what keyboard would you choose?

Topre. They are closest to the rubberdomes people are used to

With regard to good switches, I'm strange I guess ... I like MX blues, I especially like worn MX blues. And black space invaders, which are also said to have low tactility. And I like old (black) MY switches, these are also progressive, are they?

Simplified Black Alps I can not operate without bottoming out heavily. And 45g topre also punish your finger quite hard if you bottom out, which is not easy to avoid.

[czarek]

Just for this reason that Topre feels so familiar for someone who only used rubber domes in their life, I would go with something different, explicitly feeling mechanical, like Cherry or Matias.

Of course not proper Alps as it would be archeological challenge to find 100+ decently feeling keyboards

I have also observed something interesting.
When I show my collection to outsiders, keyboards they find the least interesting are Topre. Maybe HHKB catches some attention, but only until they find out GH60 with Zealios The most exciting switches by those people are actually Cherry MX Blues which scream mechanical. Are light, tactile and clicky. They even shadow IBMs for some reason. Maybe because IBMs look boring in all beige? But usually when people go for the first mechanical keyboard, after trying every bloody switch in my collection (which means pretty much everything available today, and some vintage ones), they mostly go for Cherry MX Browns as they feel a bit similar to "super exciting" Blues, but won't annoy the hell out of other people around them

[g3rain1]

Poppieness.

One where the mechanical action matches the electronic action. A keyboard switch is not a pressure sensitive gamepad button, it's 100% digital: on or off. Therefore the best switch is either up or down and nothing inbetween. One where it doesn't move at all until you apply the necessary activation force then it flies to the bottom nearly instantly. Poppieness. Mouse button switches exemplify this property. I wish I could find a keyboard with a similar feel.

I really really dislike linear switches because they feel like the should be analogue.

[czarek]

Poppieness.

One where the mechanical action matches the electronic action. A keyboard switch is not a pressure sensitive gamepad button, it's 100% digital: on or off. Therefore the best switch is either up or down and nothing inbetween. One where it doesn't move at all until you apply the necessary activation force then it flies to the bottom nearly instantly. Poppieness. Mouse button switches exemplify this property. I wish I could find a keyboard with a similar feel.

I really really dislike linear switches because they feel like the should be analogue.

This sounds very unergonomic by forcing user to bottom out, crashing into hard base leading to RSI, or some mushy base (like Mitsumi hybrid) which maybe is ergonomic but subjectively reduces tactility.

Going this route, ideal switch would be a butterfly mechanism in new MacBooks (and MBPs) which is basically that. Super low travel and with moderate to light force it basically snaps to the bottom, just like mouse clicker.