dvorak keyboard

[sxmaxchine]

just wanted to know if there is any body who has a dvorak keyboard and if they think i should try one.

also links to shops that sell them (preferably Australian currency) would be appreciated

[NovaAesa]

I have been using the Dvorak layout since mid-2008. I have about 4 keyboards that have the Dvorak layout, all of which were originally qwerty keyboards that I converted. I had to pull the keycaps off and put them back on in the new order. It has worked best so far with the aluminium mac keyboard, however the U, J, F, and H keys are all sideways.

I would suggest using a regular qwerty keyboard to learn on. This is because it is better to learn touchtyping with Dvorak rather than hunt and peck. I would suggest getting a paper cutout of a Dvorak keyboard to sit next to your computer for the first few days while you try to learn, for when you forget keys.

Also, if you are going to learn touch typing, make sure you use the right fingers for the right keys, you will thank yourself later! Habits such as using the wrong fingers are almost impossible to break.

[dsavi]

I thought of converting my qwerty keyboard to Dvorak when I was cleaning it, but I decided against it. Also, learn to type properly, there's no way for me to relearn qwerty but I wish I could as I don't use all my fingers.

[cascade9]

Find a crappy keyboard, rip up and rearrange the keys to the dvorak layout, change the keyboard type to dvorak. Easy. Cheaper than trying to find one as well.

[dragos240]

I bought a USB keyboard. I quickly removed the keys. And rearranged them. Another way is just to "Relabel" the keys, because sometimes, one key may be taller than another, and it looks, and feels strange to type on. My old, keyboard which is not USB, I rearranged, feels a tad strange to type with, but I use it regardless. Dvorak is an excellent way of typing. It's faster, makes more sense, and it feels nice to type with. You also can learn it much faster. It took me years to get used to qwerty, and only a few months to get used to dvorak. The only downside to it is things that rely on the asdw keys:

Ex: Vim, many games, etc.

I'm surprised it hasn't been adopted better.

[blur xc]

Also, if you are going to learn touch typing, make sure you use the right fingers for the right keys, you will thank yourself later! Habits such as using the wrong fingers are almost impossible to break.

I'll 2nd that one... I've got many bad habits, and I'm slowly learning the right way to do things. One of my worst persisting habit is to use only my right hand to hit the ?. I'll often use my right pinky to hold shift down and my right index finger to hit the / key. It requires moving my whole hand to the right and I very often hit > on accident. So, when I'm im-ing, my friends are very used to me doing stuff like-

"hey, how's it going>"
"?"

Learn it right the first time.

BM

[sxmaxchine]

i can type well with qwerty so i think i will be able to learn to type with dvorak rather easily. I will try rearranging the keys on my old keyboard, but aren't there keys that simply don't match if you understand what i mean.