Just curious who here uses DVORAK and after getting used to the layout is it "better" than QWERTY?
I mean, yeah ike.... 5 of us.
I like it. It adds a bit of novelty. Problem is in windows 10 it always changes it back to qwerty because of course it does.
Also wierd thing is that it is normally the homerow set of keys instead of flying all over your keyboard. Nice for me with arthritis. :3
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I might get the future kids to use the better keyboard layouts. This is the thing I'm going to old dog on.
Better than old dogging on politics and religion.
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If you want to try it skip buying a rubberdome keyboard online just go grab a corsair mechanical keyboard and readjust the keys. Don't like it? Put it back. Now you have a mechanical keyboard o:
I have wanted to switch for a while, how hard is it to make the switch?
It'll be as much a pain in the ass as you can imagine for about two days or two weeks, depending. Aside from my phone, I keep hitting E to end a sentance on qwerty keyboards but I can still type 150 wpm on either one.
Just takes some toying with. If you like it, you like it. If not, meh. Qwerty has been embedded for 140 years its kinda natural. DV just flows better.
well, in the summer I plan to make the switch, so do you know any ways, like any typing stuff I could do, or is it just trial by fire?
Just jump right into it. Thats what I did.
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I use Dvorak, and find it better than QWERTY in some ways and worse in others. Whether it will be better for you will depend on weighing the pros and cons for yourself.
If the whole world had started on Dvorak, or magically switched to it tomorrow, I believe that we would all be better off. I do find Dvorak to be more comfortable to type with, and ever-so-slightly faster. However, it's the "rest of the world uses QWERTY and will never, ever switch" part that you either can or cannot live with. If you do all of your computing in one or two Indo-European languages, with a few devices that you own yourself, Dvorak may work out well for you. I switch in and out of non-European languages all day, across operating systems, on East Asian keyboard layouts, and constantly have to use other people's devices. These issues can make using Dvorak painful indeed.
@omega_alpha_psi I know people who have gradually switched, but I recommend the trial-by-fire method with @FaunCB. It will ultimately be an easier and quicker transition with a clean break, especially if you can find a few days where you don't have any critical typing-dependent work to complete. I went through all of the exercises on this website and this website, then kept polishing my skills with typeracer.com for an hour or so each day, and by the end of two weeks, I was essentially as quick with Dvorak as I had been with QWERTY.
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I use DVORAK.
My wrists stopped hurting after I switched. Took me about 2 months to convert to a functional state, and about 6-9 months after the switch to get back up to full speed.
At the time I worked some desktop support (small company we did a lot of everything) it both hurt my adjustment period. but it also allowed me to develop both typing layouts. I can pretty much switch between the two. But every now and again I can't type qwerty to save my life... except when I need it to save my life, then it's like I never switch.
I also like to consider DVORAK at this point, an extra layer of security. If nobody knows how to type on your keyboard. They will have a more difficult time trying to break into your computer.
Also, fun fact.. "shithead" is typed entirely on the home row in DVORAK.
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On a similar note, what's it like to game on a DVORAK layout? Do you have to remap WASD to .AOE?
Sometimes it does it automatically. Other times.. yes.. or I just switch my keyboard back to QWERTY while I'm playing the game.
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Not yet but as a huge mechanical entusiast I will be soon. and on blanks too be cause I am crazy...
Really what will be happening is I will be getting a new drop in replacement controller for my keybaord that allows layers so one will be QWERTY and another layer DVORAK, so i can switch between them when ever i want. More doing it because I can than I really want to switch but it will but fun.
I've found that almost all recent Steam games offer at least some kind of remapping option. It adds maybe two minutes to the initial setup, but if you're used to the settings-tweaking ritual that accompanies the installation of a new pc game, it just becomes a part of that. Worst case, with a few older or minor games, you just switch back to QWERTY temporarily, as @DeusQain said. Every IME that I have used on every OS allows you to switch layouts with a simple key combination or a couple of mouseclicks. If you want the slickest solution, you can buy, build, or mod your keyboard to support in-hardware layout switching,
as @Zibob suggested.
The only time I've run into minor annoyances gaming with Dvorak is with the rare game that relies heavily on onscreen key prompts where the key displayed doesn't match your remapping. Here, you might have to replay a sequence, do some quick mental conversions, glance down at your QWERTY-labeled keyboard, switch to QWERTY, or find another workaround. The nice thing about gaming on Steam, at least, is that games that commit such a sin usually take a drubbing in the comments from the few-but-vocal Dvorak users until the issues are fixed, or a kind soul will whip up a mod.
TL;DR gaming with Dvorak is pretty painless.
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In my opinion the most effective feature of alternative layouts are additional layers with (for example) move-keys (jump to the start/end of the current line, arrowkeys, delete, backspace), the numpad, frequently used charactes (for programming) on the homerow / neighborhood.
I use the german neo layout on a custom symmetric keyboard and could potentially have 6 layers (instead of just default and shift+default)
edit:
with your own hardware you could even think about implementing macros on certain keys.
I have Tab and Shift+tab right next to each other, which is just awesome!
After reading this thread earlier today I came to the conclusion that I want to try Dvorak out.
So here I am, some hours later, typing this with Dvorak on! lol.
Typing fast as a snail, but it's quite fun. :)