I had the same questions before I got a mechanical keyboard without the F row and an ESC key but I got around that pretty quickly. Using the number row with the

I had the same questions before I got a mechanical keyboard without the F row and an ESC key but I got around that pretty quickly. Using the number row with the Fn key for the functions is not bad and I was able to remap the CAPS LOCK key to be my ESC. Works pretty well for me and I was back to pre-mk productivity levels in a short time.