I'm gutted; I absolutely love the Sculpt Ergonomic keyboard, especially with the optional slightly inverted slope, it's even more comfortable than previous ergonomic keyboard models. And I've been exclusively using Microsoft ergonomic keyboards for over 20 years, started in my late teens. Tempted to buy a second Sculpt Ergonomic keyboard as a backup for when this keyboard eventually dies, hopefully not for a long, long time!
It is kind of ironic that their best, most well received product is hardware. Microsoft Accessories was actually the only Microsoft product / sector I like. Sad to see it go.
Definitely a classic keyboard and fantastic in its own right, but there are so many more options these days, especially from Kinesis (originally said Logitech, but they don't make ergo keyboards anymore). Not surprised to see it go.
As corporations "consolidate" choice disappears. More are more products are bound to be removed and only the most successful ones will remain. Only when there are medium sized companies consumers have choice.
I bought the Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard (the new one, no hole in the middle) and I must say it's the most comfortable keyboard I've ever used. It annoyingly has an Office and an Emoji key which I don't use and the Enter key is a bit small but I've gotten used to those quirks.
I don't even need another mouse, but I'm buying a Pro IntelliMouse simply to have one on the shelf in case my current one dies. I've been using them since the optical version that was released in 2000 and by now my hand isn't comfortable with anything else.
Microsoft has made good peripherals.<p>Microsoft intellimouse was my all time favorite mouse.<p><a href="https://www.newegg.com/microsoft-d58-00015-intellimouse/p/N82E16826105002" rel="nofollow">https://www.newegg.com/microsoft-d58-00015-intellimouse/p/N8...</a>
The Sculpt Ergo keyboard is great, but that big, orange-sized mouse is the best I've ever used. I'll have to see if my employer will buy another before Amazon runs out of them.
There will be a thriving market on eBay (and AliExpress and Amazon) for Microsoft mouse and keyboard products and parts for at least the next 20 years.