5 ms·

I switched to Dvorak about 7 years ago. In hindsight I probably should have stayed with Qwerty. Nobody can use my machines. My girlfriend already knows to Ctrl

I switched to Dvorak about 7 years ago. In hindsight I probably should have stayed with Qwerty. Nobody can use my machines. My girlfriend already knows to Ctrl-Shift to change keyboard layouts, but that's on my PC where Windows is in English. On my laptop with Windows in Spanish it's Alt-Shift. Even I get confused sometimes. Most games I play don't recognize layouts, so WASD doesn't work. I have to Ctrl-Shift before launching a game. And that's on Windows 8 that has per-session layout. Windows 7 is per window layout so if Ctrl-Shift doesn't work inside the game I have to manually configure keyboard. Copy Cut Paste become Ctrl I, Ctrl B and Ctrl . I think this is not a problem in Colemak. My first language is Spanish. After learning Dvorak I no longer use accents or ñ (just Alt-164'd that one) so it's a pain when I type something more or less official that can't have spelling errors. After that rant, I'm still relatively happy with Dvorak. At least I have something to say on job interviews.

hkmurakami 12y ago
As a person with RSI in both wrists, I'm glad I changed to Dvorak last year, including a change to the kinesis keyboard. That being said, I can never apply to grad school anymore because I can no longer type in qwerty and won't be able to take the way portion of those electronic tests very well. (And that would affect my performance in other sections)
- stronglikedan 12y ago
  I've been looking at the Kinesis keyboards to try to get some relief from wrist pain. Which do you use? Have you tried the MS Natural, or did you go straight to Kinesis?
  - StephenGL 12y ago
    Kinesis can strain your thumbs. I used one for 14 years. Still got major wrist pain and really bad thumb pain. Microsoft Sculpt Mobile and that style of keyboard ended up being my best option.
    - stronglikedan 12y ago
      I use the Natural. I bought a Sculpt, but took it back because of the top row of keys being so small, and a couple of other gripes. I bought another Natural, but I always ponder the Kinesis line. Besides the unknown experience, the price is also a factor.
      - tomsthumb 12y ago
        My cube-mate has a natural and I use a kinesis. We both thing the keys on the kinesis have noticily better action, but he just can't (doesn't want to) wrap his head around the grid layout. Unless you have very small hands, or you just absolutely hammer on your keyboard, it would be unlikely for the kinesis to make your thumbs sore. The space button on the ms naturl is junk compared to cherry mx brown switches.
    - cjh_ 12y ago
      I initially had rsi pains in my wrists and pinkies, after I recovered I switched to a Kinesis and was convinced it helped keep the rsi away for 2 years or so. Recently the pain came back worse than ever, this time accompanied with quite serious thumb pains, I certainly do not blame the Kinesis as it is most surely a combination of many factors (poor habits, stress, workload, etc.), but the layout does increase the load on the thumbs so I think that contributed. For now I have switched back to a cheap Microsoft dome keyboard as it is easier to type with using only my forefinger and middle finger (and easily allows me to avoid using thumbs and pinkies). Of course this is all just my personal experience, for years the Kinesis was lovely and I may still go back to it, as always YMMV.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
- read 12y ago
  Why must you type in qwerty to take the tests? Can't you bring in your own keyboard that supports Dvorak in hardware?
  - trigoman 12y ago
    I took the GRE and pretty much skipped the written portion of it. Before taking the test, they emailed me and asked me if I needed accommodations, to which I brought up the keyboard layout issue. They, however, wouldn't let me bring my own keyboard or change they keyboard layout. Typing in Dvorak does have it's disadvantages...
- uaygsfdbzf 12y ago
  If it's just remembering Qwerty that is holding you back, it shouldn't be a problem. I switched to Dvorak many years ago. Typing Qwerty was very frustrating for the first ~two weeks while learning Dvorak, but not a problem after that. I rarely type Qwerty now (maybe a few words every fortnight), but I can still touch type it without any trouble or significant speed loss. A friend of mine learned Dvorak before Qwerty. He can still type Qwerty just fine, though it's a lot more annoying to him since he never bothered to become proficient at it. I don't think learning Dvorak will lower your Qwerty proficiency except for first few weeks (or less) of learning. Muscle memory lasts a long time and returns quickly.
green7ea 12y ago
Internalization is a big plus for colemak. I used to use a US keyboard as a french speaker which caused me lots of problems. With colemak, I can easily type all language specific characters: ¿øéàößåñ This could easily been added to dvorak in much the same way. The hard part is getting the different drivers to support it.
daniel-cussen 12y ago
I also use Dvorak in Spanish, but I modded it with Ukelele to make tilde (`) a dead key. ` followed by an n or vowel will return an ñ or accentuated vowel. I also swapped tag keys ( <> ) with the parentheses so I could write Lisp more easily. As for nobody using my machines, I see that as a plus :)

hkmurakami 12y ago

As a person with RSI in both wrists, I'm glad I changed to Dvorak last year, including a change to the kinesis keyboard. That being said, I can never apply to grad school anymore because I can no longer type in qwerty and won't be able to take the way portion of those electronic tests very well. (And that would affect my performance in other sections)

stronglikedan 12y ago
I've been looking at the Kinesis keyboards to try to get some relief from wrist pain. Which do you use? Have you tried the MS Natural, or did you go straight to Kinesis?
- StephenGL 12y ago
  Kinesis can strain your thumbs. I used one for 14 years. Still got major wrist pain and really bad thumb pain. Microsoft Sculpt Mobile and that style of keyboard ended up being my best option.
  - stronglikedan 12y ago
    I use the Natural. I bought a Sculpt, but took it back because of the top row of keys being so small, and a couple of other gripes. I bought another Natural, but I always ponder the Kinesis line. Besides the unknown experience, the price is also a factor.
    - tomsthumb 12y ago
      My cube-mate has a natural and I use a kinesis. We both thing the keys on the kinesis have noticily better action, but he just can't (doesn't want to) wrap his head around the grid layout. Unless you have very small hands, or you just absolutely hammer on your keyboard, it would be unlikely for the kinesis to make your thumbs sore. The space button on the ms naturl is junk compared to cherry mx brown switches.
  - cjh_ 12y ago
    I initially had rsi pains in my wrists and pinkies, after I recovered I switched to a Kinesis and was convinced it helped keep the rsi away for 2 years or so. Recently the pain came back worse than ever, this time accompanied with quite serious thumb pains, I certainly do not blame the Kinesis as it is most surely a combination of many factors (poor habits, stress, workload, etc.), but the layout does increase the load on the thumbs so I think that contributed. For now I have switched back to a cheap Microsoft dome keyboard as it is easier to type with using only my forefinger and middle finger (and easily allows me to avoid using thumbs and pinkies). Of course this is all just my personal experience, for years the Kinesis was lovely and I may still go back to it, as always YMMV.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
read 12y ago
Why must you type in qwerty to take the tests? Can't you bring in your own keyboard that supports Dvorak in hardware?
- trigoman 12y ago
  I took the GRE and pretty much skipped the written portion of it. Before taking the test, they emailed me and asked me if I needed accommodations, to which I brought up the keyboard layout issue. They, however, wouldn't let me bring my own keyboard or change they keyboard layout. Typing in Dvorak does have it's disadvantages...
uaygsfdbzf 12y ago
If it's just remembering Qwerty that is holding you back, it shouldn't be a problem. I switched to Dvorak many years ago. Typing Qwerty was very frustrating for the first ~two weeks while learning Dvorak, but not a problem after that. I rarely type Qwerty now (maybe a few words every fortnight), but I can still touch type it without any trouble or significant speed loss. A friend of mine learned Dvorak before Qwerty. He can still type Qwerty just fine, though it's a lot more annoying to him since he never bothered to become proficient at it. I don't think learning Dvorak will lower your Qwerty proficiency except for first few weeks (or less) of learning. Muscle memory lasts a long time and returns quickly.

green7ea 12y ago

Internalization is a big plus for colemak. I used to use a US keyboard as a french speaker which caused me lots of problems. With colemak, I can easily type all language specific characters: ¿øéàößåñ This could easily been added to dvorak in much the same way. The hard part is getting the different drivers to support it.

daniel-cussen 12y ago

I also use Dvorak in Spanish, but I modded it with Ukelele to make tilde (`) a dead key. ` followed by an n or vowel will return an ñ or accentuated vowel. I also swapped tag keys ( <> ) with the parentheses so I could write Lisp more easily. As for nobody using my machines, I see that as a plus :)