Poll: Dvorak vs QWERTY keyboard layout

[lesch2k]

Is there anyone that uses the Dvorak keyboard layout. i just heard about it and it sounds good but i want to know if it is worth it.

I figure it would take me 1-2 hours a day for 3-4 weeks to get to know the layout well. I am going into my sophmore year in EE and i would appreciate worthwhile responses. please do not crap all over this. i already saw nullthis post but i want to know if anyone actually uses dvorak or if anyone recommends it.

 

[NaughtyusMaximus]

I used DVORAK for about a year or so. I was a much faster typist, and the keys seemed to be in a much more comfortable position. I swtiched back simply because I didn't feel like remapping the keys to be able to play Descent III. It does take a little while to get used to, but I found that after a week of light use, I was much faster than with qwerty.

One of my problems with using Dvorak, was that I have to use other people's computers quite often - and they *never* use anything but qwerty. I found that after a few months I was regressing back to a one finger typist in Qwerty - and that just wouldn't do. If you only are going to be using your own computer, I would definetly suggest DVORAK - and so that you can have the best of both worlds, buy one of these.

 

[Modus]

What NaughtyusMaximus said is exactly the reason I haven't switched to DVORAK -- and probably the reason the world at large hasn't, either. It makes me sick, but as a computer consultant, I'm going to have to suffer with QWERTY all my life unless we get some kind of demented communist government to censor that malignant keyboard layout.

What's even more galling is that we've known since the 1920's that the QWERTY layout is inefficient. Heck, it was developed explicitly to slow down typists so that the old typewriters wouldn't break down so often. And studies show that QWERTY engages the left hand for 56% of keystrokes, even though the right hand is stronger for the majority of people. It also stresses the right pinky finger, the weakest finger, when it forces you to reach for Enter and Shift.

The ultimate keyboard to help my RSI problems would be a split-board DVORAK with Enter, shift, space, backspace, delete, and the arrows all placed in between the right and left pool. That would be pure magic, and I'm sure it would allow me much longer typing sessions before numbness set in, but as long as all my clients use QWERTY, there's not much I can do. I don't think my brain can handle both at the same time.

Modus

 

[LuNoTiCK]

I never heard of dvorak till today, and it looks real confusing.

 

[lesch2k]

thank you for the quality responses. i am considering giving it a try come saturday.