Introduced in the spring of 1991,[3] the keyboard was manufactured in at least five known versions and incarnations by Tucson, Arizona–based Maxi Switch, Inc., a subsidiary of the Lite-On Technology Corporation.

[5][6] The AnyKey proved popular, especially among power users and computer programmers, and soon gained a cult following.

The AnyKey keyboard is easily distinguished from other generic keyboards by its wide footprint—20 inches (51 cm)—necessitated by an extra double column of function keys on the left side, a unique eight directional arrow keys as opposed to the traditional inverted T, and a quartet of extra keys directly above the numeric pad that control the programmable aspects of the keyboard.

The keyboard contains an internal controller as well as an EEPROM[14] chip that can store user-defined macros.

No driver software is required to use the AnyKey's programming functionality, as the keyboard's own controller dictates which key-press codes are sent to the attached computer.

The AnyKey is built out of a plastic chassis that, at 20 inches (51 cm) wide, is quite large compared to most modern keyboards, primarily owing to the extra columns of keys on the left side.

There is also a long central plastic foot, on some versions, that can be flipped down to tilt the keyboard to a less severe angle than the two outside feet.

The AnyKey uses rubber dome key switches, imparting a smooth, "mushy" key feel versus that of mechanical offerings, such as IBM's popular Model M keyboard.

[24]: 310  The Program light on the keyboard will flash as long as it is awaiting remapping commands.

[23]: 3-19  Macros are multiple presses of various keys in sequence of arbitrary length.

It pauses momentarily when the key to be assigned the macro is pressed to indicate that the keypress was picked up.

[23]: 3-20 A DOS utility, ANYKEY.EXE, was offered by Gateway for saving and uploading AnyKey key mappings and macros.

[27] The programmability of the AnyKey results in complex rules being forged pertaining to its behavior.

[28] Gateway bundled or offered the AnyKey keyboards with most of their desktop systems from 1991 to around 1998.

[29][30] Manufacturing of the AnyKey ceased circa 1998, and Gateway stopped offering them shortly thereafter.

[19] Neither Maxi Switch, Gateway, nor Lite-On currently offer any product labeled as or comparable to the AnyKey.