Comments on: Michael Sampson on the Dvorak Keyboard

By: RSI Stuff Discusses QWERTY vs DVORAK key layouts | RSI Stuff

RSI Stuff Discusses QWERTY vs DVORAK key layouts | RSI Stuff — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:41:51 +0000

[...] something to DVORAK. I’ve read dozens of stories from people with RSI who made the switch such as this one and the consensus is that the learning curve is frustrating, but that long term the benefits are [...]

By: Denver

Denver — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 06:16:02 +0000

If you use , , and , you don’t have to worry about where the letters are.

However, most laptops have lousy layout for Insert, Delete, Home, and End, while conveniently positioning CapsLk, Fn, Windows, Menu, and other keys I rarely use.
I never use CapsLk. In fact, I’ve disabled it.
I never used SysReq, even back in the days of MS-DOS.

It would be nice to have a comprehensive look at keyboard arrangements beyond just the letters and punctuation and re-engineer it in light of modern usage.

By: John Wall

John Wall — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:11:40 +0000

There are Dvorak alternate layouts that leave cut, copy and paste in the same place.

By: Dale King

Dale King — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:42:15 +0000

I’ve tried switching a couple of times and keep resorting back to qwerty.

One of the problems I always have is cut, copy and paste or ctrl-X, ctrl-C and ctrl-V. For most people finding these control key combinations is automatic and has little to do with what the actual letters are, but with Dvorak they get moved somewhere else.

I’d be interested to know how you worked around that.

By: John Wall

John Wall — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:09:25 +0000

I hadn’t heard that stat about it being 1/16th of the distance. I can believe that. I’ve been on dvorak for about 5 years, and just posted some of the things I’ve learned:

http://www.themshow.com/wordpress/2008/03/15/do-you-need-the-dvorak-keyboard-layout/

I have not gone so far as to buy a full dvorak keyboard though:
http://www.maltron.com/maltron-kbd-ltype-dvorak.html

By: Mark Shead

Mark Shead — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:25:34 +0000

@Alexey – So how did you get started with the new layout if you had no way to tell where any of the keys are located? Were you using some type of typing program or did you spend a bunch of time trying to memorize the keyboard before using the new layout?

By: Alexey

Alexey — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 09:00:45 +0000

When I started the transition, I purchased a Dvorak keyboard overlay for my Apple keyboard.

That was a major mistake, I think. You should not look at the keyboard AT ALL when you’re learning. I did switch myself to Dvorak around 6 years ago, and it took a week to be able to type easily and no more than a month to reach the same speed as I had before. (I do not know what’s my speed in wpm terms, but what I can do with my typing is very much like what is described.)

I’m not sure, though, if I got any speed benefits, but tiredness and pain in my hands went away completely after my first week with Dvorak and never come back.