Virtual keyboard

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This article is about the type of computer program. For virtual keyboard that can be projected and touched on any surface, see Projection keyboard.

A virtual keyboard is a feature of a computer program or a program in and of itself that acts as a virtual extension of a controller, often with fewer buttons than a keyboard would have. In the world of desktop PCs, the Windows XP program On-Screen Keyboard acts as a virtual keyboard that can be operated with a computer mouse. In stylus-operated personal data assistants it is common for the user to input text by tapping a virtual keyboard built into the operating system of the PDA.

These keyboards are often used as features of emulation software for systems that have fewer buttons than a computer keyboard would have. A GP2X port of Bochs, the computer system emulator utilizes a virtual keyboard, but the GP2X port itself is notorious for being slow.

Virtual keyboards are also used by people who can not use the usual keyboards due to physical limitations.

Virtual keyboard from Windows XP tablet edition

[edit] Virtual keyboards compared to physical keyboards

Because virtual keyboards function differently from physical text input devices, they may provide some degree of protection against keylogging.

People accustomed to physical keyboards often have to dedicate a significant amount of time to learn fast typing with a virtual keyboard, even though the keyboard layout is typically similar to real keyboards. Unlike with physical keyboards, users are unable to feel the keys under their fingers, which results in a lack of familiarity with the keys' positions, forcing the user to slowly hunt and peck type. This has aided the development of external physical keyboards for PDAs.