[0x420]

I work in an open office and my coworkers asked me to take my mechanical home (brown switches). I think it all depends on how tolerant your coworkers are. Edit: if you're careful not to bottom out, then it isn't so bad. O-rings can help dampen the sound otherwise.

[dsuth]

Your coworkers must be really sensitive (or mine are really tolerant). I've used brown switches in a Filco Majestouch for over a year, never had any complaints. I don't bottom out the keys, but there's a noticeable clack when the keys come back up to full extension.

IOW, I don't think brown keys are unreasonable for shared work environments; they're not much louder than a standard Dell rubber-domed KB.

The blue switches in my DasKeyboard at home however... I think I'll have to upgrade just to get something a bit quieter.