Software

There are unified drivers for most SKYLOONG keyboards in the form of the notorious GK6XPlus software I've talked about before multiple times. You can find the installer on this page with the latest version at the time of testing being 6.0.0.68. The installer downloads as a compressed file ~82 MB in size, and installation requests just over 200 MB of storage space for the software. As seen above, installation is straightforward, although without some options, including for shortcuts and start menu items, and I have few complaints in terms of system utilization itself.


GK6XPlus was originally written to be a command-line interface program, but has received a GUI over time. Javascript limitations have resulted in there being some limitations in GUI mode, such as the inability to change anything on the base layer of the keyboard, but it does offer a much easier means of customization for the average end user than typing something in CMD, of course. Knowing the source of the drivers explains why GK6XPlus looks and feels much more rooted in English than most from an Asian brand, although the provided resources, or lack thereof, are also quite evident in the poor user experience behind that polished look when they pushed it to various other models beyond just the GK61 series. This means there is a lot of unnecessary bloat all over and SKYLOONG really needs to have a better software experience, or at least provide a good user manual to help newcomers navigate this. There are also basic issues such as poor scaling with high DPI displays, with the software drivers stuck at a resolution of 1200x900.

To no surprise, my time with these drivers has been just as frustrating as before. It's not a great look when you need to watch tutorial videos from random third-party users to actually use the various features. The only consolation is that it does work without bugs once you figure out how to do what. It is also self-evident that, by default, the first layer can't be re-programmed and that the other layers are fair play. The Driver 1 layer is for programmed functions that are too large to be saved onboard the device, which requires the driver to be running in the background. Key mapping is also not fairly simple to achieve with virtual keyboards and options to choose from and blinking action items to save any made changes. I still think that everything else might as well be thrown into the bin and created from scratch. While the many files and configurations over several updates ensure the many keyboards are supported, they definitely do add to the confusion. LE (presumably "Light Effect") files are available, but here too customization is a mirage unless you create your own, which ends up being a line-by-line entry that is way more complicated than it has any right to be. Macros are a slight improvement, albeit the pre-recorded ones are questionable in their implementation and naming, with a recorder that is thankfully adequate enough to just create your own.

The real good news, and frankly a very good reason to go with the wired-only version, is it uses a different microcontroller which features open-source firmware support with VIA. It's not the easiest to pick up and use immediately either but is far better and more meaningful to do anything with.