Software

As it turns out, Skyloong was also to blame for persistent use of the GK6XPlus software in Epomaker's previous keyboards. We've seen the latter move towards more user-friendly options as well as open-source compatibility with QMK and VIA in newer keyboards but unfortunately Skyloong continues to rely on GK6XPlus for the GK75. You can find the installer on this page for either Windows or macOS and the latest version at the time of testing was v6.0.0.60 which downloads as a compressed zip file ~72 MB in size. Installation itself is straightforward and you also get to choose the desired language prior to this. The program decides to preemptively add a desktop shortcut and a start menu folder without asking you, however, and neither does it offer you a look at any ToS you've supposedly agreed to. The final install size is ~187 MB and I noticed the program being somewhat erratic in system resource consumption, with CPU utilization spiking randomly from time to time.


GK6XPlus was originally written to be a command-line interface program that has received a GUI over time. Javascript limitations have resulted in 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 evidenced by the poor user experience behind that polished look when they pushed it to support the various recent Skyloong keyboards, including this GK75. Some of this is also due to poor scaling with high DPI displays, with the software drivers stuck at a resolution of 1200x900. I turned my 4K display down to 1080p and pushed scaling up to 250% to even get it somewhere close enough to be usable to make the most use of it, which also made recording the walkthrough seen below easier because it isn't tiny.

Sadly, nothing has changed since the last couple of times I have used it, and it was again a frustrating experience. At this time, there is no detailed software manual specific to the GK75; however, the software user experience is identical to other supported Epomaker/Skyloong keyboards, so you can rely on other manuals available on the Epomaker website. By default, the first layer can't be re-programmed, but the other layers are fair play. The Driver 1 layer is for programmed functions that are too large to be saved on the device; it requires the driver to be running in the background. Key mapping is also not that hard to achieve, with virtual keyboards and options to choose from and blinking action items to save any made changes. Here is where you see the cool thing with the GK75 that allows for customizing the knobs too, and it is well worth deciding first what combination of knobs and switches you'd like first. I still think 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 not the most user-friendly unless you create your own, which constitutes a line-by-line entry that is way more complicated than it has any right to be. Macros are a slight improvement, but the pre-recorded ones are questionable in their implementation and naming, with a recorder that is adequate. Here too it is an issue of older version remnants being the questionable base to which others are added to appear more up-to-date. Needless to say I am not happy with Skyloong continuing to rely on this software experience so much given it takes away from the appeal of the GK75.