I've gotten so used to the Spanish ISO layout that I don't really need it on the actual physical keyboard, I think it is a very practical layout for programming.

Specially considering all the braces:

[] is done by Alt Gr and the two (consecutive) keys that come after the "p"

{} is done by Alt Gr and the two (consecutive) keys that come after the "l"

() is done by shift 8, 9

\|@#~ Are all done with Alt Gr and the º key, 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Maybe it's just being used to it, but I find it extremely practical.

Considering that how awkward AltGr is to reach, I find it difficult to understand why that layout would be very practical (for programming), considering that all of those punctuation characters are available either directly or with shift on US layout.

You reach it with your right thumb, the same way you reach for space only a little bit more to the right.

You're then in a conformable position for reaching out to this keys I mention.

Funny. Despite being in Sweden I always try to get US keyboards just to avoid the whole AltGr thing for braces.

If you get a UK layout, you at least retain the extra key left of Z and a correctly shaped Enter.

(Since English doesn't need any accented letters, and the only extra symbol needed is £, the brackets are accessed without modifier for [] and with shift for (), {}. The only symbol requiring AltGr is €.)

How do you write åäö? :)

Either alt+134 etc on the numpad (windows), holding down the a or o key (OS X) or by temporarily changing to Swedish keyboard layout, depending on the situation.

That is the standard (European) ISO layout for keyboards, it is common across different locales and brands. Arguably the US is the outlier here (again). The obvious advantage is the extra key it provides. While the enter key placement/shape might be debatable, I'd argue that the the left shift key reduction is purely advantageous. The shift key is still well sized (bigger than normal key) and easy to hit (the pinky movement is nicely symmetrical with right shift), and the keyboard gains space for one extra key (always useful).

The Return key is usually the bigger problem.

That's this keyboard design, not the keyboard layout. On full-size keyboards and many laptops it looks like this: http://cdn1.expertreviews.co.uk/sites/expertreviews/files/im... I actually go put of my way to get keyboards with non-US key layout.

I've lived in Europe after having grown up on US-101 and had to get used to the German layout for a not insignificant part of my life .. it was such a relief to finally get a new rMBP with US keyboard and have a normal Enter key again. I can't explain how much pain I was in having to use the German/Euro Enter key layout, it has been a burden.

The advantage of the ISO layout is the "~" on the bottom row, instead of waaaay up to the left of the "1".

I don't need ~ that often, and I never feel that it's far away. I need the shift key all the time though - so I prefer not to travel for it :)