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I am cautious to change my keyboard layout because I use a lot of different machines. Has anyone tried this or the Programmer Dvorak layout? Ref: http://www.ka

I am cautious to change my keyboard layout because I use a lot of different machines. Has anyone tried this or the Programmer Dvorak layout? Ref: http://www.kaufmann.no/roland/dvorak/ http://www.kaufmann.no/roland/dvorak/

anting 13y ago
I use programmer dvorak, though I can't tell if it's much better than QWERTY. It hasn't been too difficult to install it on every machine I use.
- fakeer 13y ago
  Yes, I would like to know what's really wrong with "qwerty". Have never used anything other than QWERTY, ever. I really want to know. Seeing this "can't tell if it's much better than QWERTY" in your comment I thought I can get a well balanced answer from you, other than the types of "Ecams is best, Vim is best".
ams6110 13y ago
It's a valid concern. I spend most of my work day in Emacs, and have caps-lock and ctrl swapped on my primary work machines. Even that small difference is a problem when I need to type on someone else's computer.
1123581321 13y ago
I use regular Dvorak and it is not pleasant to switch to a fresh machine.
- jjoonathan 13y ago
  Another Dvorak user here. I would compare my annoyance at switching keyboard layouts to the annoyance of switching between different physical keyboards (deep 90s style key wells to shallow laptop keys, for example). Actually, switching layouts is slightly less annoying.
m_ram 13y ago
I think that if you're really concerned about this, stick with regular Dvorak. It's available pretty much everywhere without installing anything. For Colemak, it's on every Linux distro and the Android stock keyboard from 4.0+. It's easily installable on Windows. I don't know about the current status on Mac and iOS.
- thatswrong0 13y ago
  No support on iOS without jail breaking, and I know OS X 10.8 has it by default.
nknighthb 13y ago
I use the standard Dvorak layout. It hasn't been that big a deal for me. Things have gone something like this: 1) Learn Dvorak at a time when I only used my own machines. Stay that way for ~3 years. During this time, after my typing speed and error rate had reached QWERTY levels, the occasional use of QWERTY on someone else's PC was highly annoying. 2) Spend 2-3 years in jobs involving near-daily use of machines I couldn't switch off QWERTY, but still did most of my work on Dvorak. A few weeks into this, I was able to use QWERTY effectively again, still typing faster than most people ever can (though slower and more error-prone than I was with Dvorak). 3) Go back to exclusively using my own machines for ~2 years. After a while, annoying to use QWERTY, but not nearly as bad as during period #1. 4) Spend ~9 months in similar situation as #2 again. After a while, same as 2, a few weeks in things were pretty OK. 5) Now (for ~2 years), using only my own machines. Occasional QWERTY is annoying, but even better than during #3. I only speak English, but I suspect switching between Dvorak and QWERTY is kind of similar to switching between a language you use a lot and one you use a little. Degree of fluency in the little-used language goes up and down based on how much practice you're getting.
- disc 13y ago
  I switched to Dvorak 11+ years when I was in college and had a lot of time to kill. I think your spoken language fluency analogy is pretty accurate; I imagine I'll always retain a bit of my 'native' qwerty muscle-memory, but the more I practice it, the easier it is to make the mental 'switch' between languages. That said, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't switch to Dvorak. The efficiency gained on my keyboard layout does not offset the efficiency lost on shared computers.
  - nknighthb 13y ago
    I definitely wouldn't suggest anyone switch for performance reasons. I switched because of pain. It helped that a lot. Made virtually no long-term difference in typing speed. (Then again, my typing speed has been 90+ wpm since I was about 9, so I'm an outlier in various ways.)
abraham_s 13y ago
I have been using regular Dvorak. I took 3 months to reach my Qwerty speed, probably because I kept using Qwerty on the side. After a year my speed is 60 wpm, double that of what I had with Qwerty. The main difference I feel is not the speed, but a marked reduction in fatigue is your fingers. But I am back to hunt-and-peck typing in qwerty.

anting 13y ago

I use programmer dvorak, though I can't tell if it's much better than QWERTY. It hasn't been too difficult to install it on every machine I use.

fakeer 13y ago
Yes, I would like to know what's really wrong with "qwerty". Have never used anything other than QWERTY, ever. I really want to know. Seeing this "can't tell if it's much better than QWERTY" in your comment I thought I can get a well balanced answer from you, other than the types of "Ecams is best, Vim is best".

ams6110 13y ago

It's a valid concern. I spend most of my work day in Emacs, and have caps-lock and ctrl swapped on my primary work machines. Even that small difference is a problem when I need to type on someone else's computer.

1123581321 13y ago

I use regular Dvorak and it is not pleasant to switch to a fresh machine.

jjoonathan 13y ago
Another Dvorak user here. I would compare my annoyance at switching keyboard layouts to the annoyance of switching between different physical keyboards (deep 90s style key wells to shallow laptop keys, for example). Actually, switching layouts is slightly less annoying.

m_ram 13y ago

I think that if you're really concerned about this, stick with regular Dvorak. It's available pretty much everywhere without installing anything. For Colemak, it's on every Linux distro and the Android stock keyboard from 4.0+. It's easily installable on Windows. I don't know about the current status on Mac and iOS.

thatswrong0 13y ago
No support on iOS without jail breaking, and I know OS X 10.8 has it by default.

nknighthb 13y ago

I use the standard Dvorak layout. It hasn't been that big a deal for me. Things have gone something like this: 1) Learn Dvorak at a time when I only used my own machines. Stay that way for ~3 years. During this time, after my typing speed and error rate had reached QWERTY levels, the occasional use of QWERTY on someone else's PC was highly annoying. 2) Spend 2-3 years in jobs involving near-daily use of machines I couldn't switch off QWERTY, but still did most of my work on Dvorak. A few weeks into this, I was able to use QWERTY effectively again, still typing faster than most people ever can (though slower and more error-prone than I was with Dvorak). 3) Go back to exclusively using my own machines for ~2 years. After a while, annoying to use QWERTY, but not nearly as bad as during period #1. 4) Spend ~9 months in similar situation as #2 again. After a while, same as 2, a few weeks in things were pretty OK. 5) Now (for ~2 years), using only my own machines. Occasional QWERTY is annoying, but even better than during #3. I only speak English, but I suspect switching between Dvorak and QWERTY is kind of similar to switching between a language you use a lot and one you use a little. Degree of fluency in the little-used language goes up and down based on how much practice you're getting.

disc 13y ago
I switched to Dvorak 11+ years when I was in college and had a lot of time to kill. I think your spoken language fluency analogy is pretty accurate; I imagine I'll always retain a bit of my 'native' qwerty muscle-memory, but the more I practice it, the easier it is to make the mental 'switch' between languages. That said, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't switch to Dvorak. The efficiency gained on my keyboard layout does not offset the efficiency lost on shared computers.
- nknighthb 13y ago
  I definitely wouldn't suggest anyone switch for performance reasons. I switched because of pain. It helped that a lot. Made virtually no long-term difference in typing speed. (Then again, my typing speed has been 90+ wpm since I was about 9, so I'm an outlier in various ways.)

abraham_s 13y ago

I have been using regular Dvorak. I took 3 months to reach my Qwerty speed, probably because I kept using Qwerty on the side. After a year my speed is 60 wpm, double that of what I had with Qwerty. The main difference I feel is not the speed, but a marked reduction in fatigue is your fingers. But I am back to hunt-and-peck typing in qwerty.