Urbz Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 After hearing about the benefits of Dvorak keyboards, I looked at the downsides and realized that the pros outweigh the cons. In fact, I'm currently typing this on my freshly re-arranged Apple keyboard, and in all honesty I don't find it all that hard to get used to. I made the switch last night and already am typing between 8 and 12 words per minute. I also don't make many errors. Granted, this is still roughly 20% of my efficiency typing on a qwerty keyboard, but it is nice to be able to track my own progress... So have any of you ever used the dvorak layout? Anyone use it regularly? Any success/horror stories? Finally, would any of you ever consider learning it? -Urbz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socal swimmer Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 hmm this looks interesting. however, it would be a lot of work to switch over. How do you switch in OS X? Must you buy another keyboard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 you can use your existing keyboard, just load up the config in the international prefpane. It's certainly a superior typing system, there are a lot of reasons why. qwerty is actually really poor. I tried Dvorak, and liked it, the only problem was that I figured whenever I'm going to use another computer, I will be using qwerty, why have two systems? Also the keyboard shortcuts proved a headache. I didn't want to remap all my keys, so I gave up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbz Posted February 2, 2008 Author Share Posted February 2, 2008 Mac OS X makes it very easy to use, and no, you don't need another keyboard, you can simply switch the keys around and set the OS to Dvorak, as I have done. There are 2 options in OS X. One remaps everything, so that command + Q quits an app, and one where holding down command makes it act like a qwerty layout, thus command + ' quits an app (because ' is where a qwerty keyboard has its Q). I seem to be typing faster and faster... I found a great site that is helping me retrain quickly. My goal is to type at 40 words per minute within a week, and I'm certainly on track! (Almost at 20 WPM!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 There are 2 options in OS X. One remaps everything, so that command + Q quits an app, and one where holding down command makes it act like a qwerty layout, thus command + ' quits an app (because ' is where a qwerty keyboard has its Q). Wow that's sweet. The 2nd option may make me switch to Dvorak now, if I don't have to relearn all my keyboard shortcuts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
U.C. Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 DVORAK is hard. I just switched and it is really hard to find the right keys. It is so hard to type.............................................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headrush69 Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 Unfortunately it would take more than just being a better system for me to switch. Unless there was a mass change, switching between using it at home and then to some machine elsewhere using the QWERTY layout would be frustrating and confusing. (I'm just too old to learn new tricks ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavillor Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 I went from 90 to 120+ wpm by switching! Also, cramps and pains in my fingers and wrists have gone away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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