Dvorak Keyboard Layout

[Motherland]

Eww
Punctuation keys at the top? The most unused letter in our alphabet... front and center?

I don't see how this is any better than QWERTY. Surely, even if it were, it would be more of a pain to relearn it than the payoff would be.

[Babalonian]

(Image removed from quote.)
Eww
Punctuation keys at the top? The most unused letter in our alphabet... front and center?

I don't see how this is any better than QWERTY. Surely, even if it were, it would be more of a pain to relearn it than the payoff would be.

It's not apealing to me because I'm a south-paw (I still shoot and do a lot of things righty with my dominant eye, but most things I'm a lefty at).  That style seems heavily right-hand dependent, and I assume off the bat I will like QWERTY over it because QWERTY seems more friendly to my south-paw.

[BoilerDown]

Heard of it, the intern I used to work with had his desktop computer set to use Dvorak as the default, using a standard keyboard.  No need to chop anything up.  He didn't even move his keys around, because he was smart enough to know which key corresponded with which from qwerty to dvorak.  

But if I for whatever reason need to log in on his computer, or log him off his account (I forget actually if it was tied to his account or his computer), it was a major major hassle to figure out how to type the administrator password.

My opinion is that it wasn't worth the hassle.  My job has never required me to eek out a few more words per minute such that learning dvorak would be worth the effort.

[grizz441]

Don't do it Penguin.  You'll look like a tard when you get a job and can't function using a normal keyboard.  They'll think you are a kook if you have to bring in your own keyboard to work.  Not to mention the fact that all laptops which you will be using someday have qwerty setup.  Any marginal gains in typing efficiency will be lost in not feeling comfortable using a standard keyboard.  Besides, I think 100 words a minute is fast enough with this inefficient thing.

[Vulcan]

LOL @ dvorak weirdo's, I thought they'd become extinct and all died out. What's next ... you gonna start using CPM?

[MarineUS]

I remember sitting in Comp. Engineering class one time and this kid liked to look away and type to show off so I made a program that "remapped" his keys so when he pushed D and L would pop up etc. etc.

He said he was going to write a 1500 word essay without looking...sooooo when he went to go grab a snack before he started - BAM - here we go - that was a great day  

[Penguin]

Don't do it Penguin.  You'll look like a tard when you get a job and can't function using a normal keyboard.  They'll think you are a kook if you have to bring in your own keyboard to work.  Not to mention the fact that all laptops which you will be using someday have qwerty setup.  Any marginal gains in typing efficiency will be lost in not feeling comfortable using a standard keyboard.  Besides, I think 100 words a minute is fast enough with this inefficient thing.

They aren't marginal gains, first of all.  Nextly, learning to touch type is no problem for me.

-Penguin

[bcadoo]

LOL @ dvorak weirdo's, I thought they'd become extinct and all died out. What's next ... you gonna start using CPM?

No...more likely EBCDIC.

[eagl]

You cannot move the keys around on a keyboard and expect the operating system to know about it.  It takes a new keyboard, or hacking up the operating system to assign new characters to the original scan codes.

Really?  Several versions of windows offered "US 101 key Dvorak" or some equivalent key mapping when choosing the language during installation.  Didn't look for it in win7, but it sure used to be there.  Dvorak layout has been an option in every linux distribution I've ever installed (about 10 various distros in maybe 30 versions since 1992).

It isn't really an OS hack to change language...

[Delirium]

I just found another great way to screw with someone at work.   

Thank you, very much! 

[sluggish]

The only reason the qwerty layout was developed was to try to prevent mechanical typewriters from jamming up.  However, most of us have no desire to learn a new layout...

[Skuzzy]

Really?  Several versions of windows offered "US 101 key Dvorak" or some equivalent key mapping when choosing the language during installation.  Didn't look for it in win7, but it sure used to be there.  Dvorak layout has been an option in every linux distribution I've ever installed (about 10 various distros in maybe 30 versions since 1992).

It isn't really an OS hack to change language...

Moving the keys around does not change the scan codes sent by the key.  Yes, the DVorak layout has been supported for a very long time, but the scan codes for the keyboard are the same as the QWERTY.  This allows games to work as they depend on the scan codes for most key type operations.

I had forgotten about the ability to remap, but I am not certain if that remaps the scan codes, or just the characters.

Changing the language is not the same as changing the keyboard key representation within the same language.

[Reschke]

Oh for the love of pete and jane! I have been typing this way for well over 25 years and have no need or desire to change the way I do it. I have very few mistakes when I type unless I don't take my ADD meds in the morning.....Bombay Sapphire and Tonic....which allows me to keep up with the 60-70 words a minute way to type.

[Babalonian]

The only reason the qwerty layout was developed was to try to prevent mechanical typewriters from jamming up.  However, most of us have no desire to learn a new layout...

 

This is debatable, as by going off your statement it is assumed the first mechanical typewriters had a seperate key or symbol for, ie: the letter "I" and the number "1".  The first and original QWERTY typwriter layout was kinda the grandfather to or first-generation on the QWERTY board we all know and use.

My grandmother was born before telephones were in use, she worked a majority of the first half of her working life as a typist and desk clerk from department stores to factories that built refrigertors (and tanks in time of war).  When I first introduced her to the digital computer age, AOL, email and all that jazz she actualy had slight learning curve to tackle with becoming familiar and compforitable with the QWERTY keyboard as we know it.  Keep in mind this is a woman that made a living behind a typewriter professionaly from the 40s to late 70s and had no problem keeping up with her peers at the same job, and who still has a typewriter on a desk somewhere as it's what she used while managing her own buisness and personal affairs from then on.  I'd have to ask her, but back at the time she got her first computer there were maybe a half-dozen new or different keys she was having to adjust to getting used to using.  She was compforitable with the num pad though as not much has changed between the num pad on a QWERTY and a calculator.  Took her only a month or two though before she was back to typing without looking at her keyboard.

[grizz441]

They aren't marginal gains, first of all.

Lol. 

I could see how it could be useful if you had hands like a three toed sloth and had to stick to the middle of the keyboard.  Or if you have absolutely zero dexterity in your ring and pinkie fingers.  Otherwise yes, negligible gains, if any, and a lot of embarrassment and headache with those silly QWERTY keyboards that are used in 99.999999999% of offices and laptops.