Captions too. Try this: Remove the extra spaces after each main menu entry. When you click "Apply Now", the menu will shorten, the items will move closer together as intended. However, on your next startup, the default captions with empty spaces will be back.
What finally threw me off, was the wrong hotkey issue.
Perhaps I gave up too soon. Your mileage may vary, what bothered me, may not concern you at all. I encourage you to give it a try.
Btw, just like you, I am very much keyboard oriented. No time to reach for the mouse when I am hacking away at the speed of thought.
Which is exactly why I use the context menu. Hitting the right Win-key pops it up, then I press the underlined &-accelerators keys I have assigned. In rapid succession. It works for me, this mix of hotkeys and context menu fly-outs with accelerators.
Guess, we all develop our routines. Forever chasing the optimal workflow.
