The Dvorak keyboard

[bender644]

Have any of you guys tried this on Mac os x? Is it a good idea? Just about every other keyboard is a QWERTY style keyboard...so would it not be inefficient to learn and be quick at home, on the laptop but then when you go to work, or school you have to use the other? I read that once you go one route, you tend to be slower on the other.

Thanks to your comments.

 

[r.j.s]

If you are going to be using more than the one keyboard, I wouldn't recommend it, the hassle of trying to type on two different layouts is really going to hamper you.

 

[applefan69]

to be honest, unless like you said you can bring your own keyboard to work and school its not worth it.

IT is true Dvorak is a much more efficient keyboard then qwerty. BUT, in the end (expeciall if your already a fast qwerty typer) its not worth the time it'll take to learn. By mastering Dvorak you might improve your overall WPM by 5-10 when using Dvorak, but liek i said in the end that isnt worth all the time and effort it'll require.

Plus again like you said it'll slow you down when you use qwerty.

 

[Sean.Perrin]

Typing with it right now... it only took a couple of hours to relearn the location of keys. From there it takes about 1 hour of practice for each word per minute you'd like to accuire.

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[Sean.Perrin]

If you are going to be using more than the one keyboard, I wouldn't recommend it, the hassle of trying to type on two different layouts is really going to hamper you.

Not true, even on most public computers it is VERY easy to switch the keyboard layout to DV. It doesn't matter what letter is on the key, if you are actually touch-typing properly it is of no consequence.

Furthermore, on systems that would not allow such a preference to be changed by the user (such as secure work computers) simply put in a request for the ability to be enabled on your workstation(s). Most technicians are happy to oblige.

Better yet, preserve your QWERTY ability by practicing it as well (something I have not bothered to do as my technique on QWERTY was bad to begin with). But it is possible, just like it is possible to be bilingual.

Hope this helps!

 

[Sean.Perrin]

all the time and effort it'll require.

It will only take about 14 days of dedicated practice time (2 to 3 hours per day) to be able to type at a modest speed (for me it was about 40 WPM). From there you just get more and more comfortable with it until you surpass your qwerty speed entirely.

Like I said, if you want to maintain qwerty speed, continue to practice. I was not a proper QWERTY touch typist (like many people) even though I could type at about 80wpm, so learning Dvorak was an entirely new skill. However, learning to properly touch type on QWERTY would have taken FAR more practice than starting from scratch because "unlearning" a habit is more difficult than learning a new one. Now that it has been about a year away from anything QWERTY I may actually try to learn it properly as I have forgotten the general location of the letters, and my old "fake-typing" habits have gone away.

 

[dws90]

I was a touch-typist using Qwerty before I switched to Dvorak. I now use Dvorak exclusively - it just has a more comfortable feel to it. I'm still able to switch back to Qwerty pretty easily, though - it takes a couple of minutes to readjust my brain, and then I'm back to my old speed.

Dvorak has one major, major advantage over Qwerty - nothing beats the satisfaction of having watching someone else try to type something on your computer and fail miserably.

 

[bobertoq]

At home, I type Dvorak. I do not type often at school. But when I do, I cannot use Dvorak. I am forced to use Qwerty. It is a pain. I do not have access to System Preferences, because it's blocked I used to be able to type in Dvorak at school and on school laptops, but now I can't

Dvorak has one major, major advantage over Qwerty - nothing beats the satisfaction of having watching someone else try to type something on your computer and fail miserably.

Haha yes that is always funny. I know people that don't look at the screen at all when they type. They will type (exaggeration) a whole paragraph or something and then realized they typed it wrong.

I used to type approx. 75 WPM, but that has faded recently. I'm not sure what happened. I guess it's because I don't get to use the computer as often. I make many mistakes and type slower. It's quite stressful at times because I was very happy with how I was typing before.

Edit: I made about 10 mistakes and am at about 65 WPM now.... }:[