Earlier quoted context omitted.
Definitely! I couldn't live without the "Quick Accent" PowerToys to quickly add accents that don't exist on my keyboard, I use it hundreds of times a day.
Me too, but it is so unreliable laggy, I sometimes have to wait 2 secs or more for the menu to appear, ruining the flow. And typing ALT 0151 to get an em dash, I mean seriously? For someone typing accents and em + en dashes on purpose — well before it becomes an AI’s trait — it’s so infuriating, I can’t believe people type books on Windows. All this while macOS solved this, built in the OS, since ages now…
https://ilyabirman.net/typography-layout/
It has been available for 20 years. To use combining characters (and client-side font layout and rendering), type the letter, then one of available dead keys two times (e. g. `a, AltGr+Shift+6, AltGr+Shift+6` gives â). To get the single code point (if it's available), type modifier once, then the letter (e. g. `AltGr+Shift+6, a` gives â). I've been touch typing em dashes for years, and can't imagine it any other way.
It seems that corresponding Russian installers are more up to date. You can gently nag the author to update the English version, or just take the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator, and do it your way. Be aware that certain silly applications use hard-coded keyboard shortcut handlers that bypass the system, and therefore misbehave if system layout is anything else but default US English. Windows also sometimes likes to resurrect the deleted default layout until the last process that used it exits, or something like that.
It has been said multiple times that the absence of proper typography on personal computer keyboards is just laziness, ignorance, and lack of leadership. There are no technical reasons for that — just look at keyboards for European languages.