You can instantly change any computer's keyboard map to dvorak, or yours back to qwerty.

It's all about 1337 factor. If you're trying to find other reasons to do it, you're totally missing the point.

How do you change your keyboard map in windows to dvorak from qwerty?

LOL, when I first read your post I thought to myself: Wow! 90 words per minute! Amazing! I just came across this (http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com/) website and on my first try had 94 words ;-) 581 characters, and english isn't even my native language.

I'm kind of not sure if Dvorak really helps you. It's a bit like polyphasic sleep: in a perfect world, everybody would do it. In this world, the benefits are countered by lots of social disadvantages.

Mmmm, I'd actually suggest doing IM etc...anything to force you to keep inputting content, preferably to people who understand you're learning again, that's how I learned a bunch of mine, transition took under a month.

I prefer to just leave the keyboard standard and touch type, one reason I switched was to make myself learn to touch type again, and on the latest keyboard I bought (Logitech UltraX - great flat keys, totally recommend them) I just left it standard. I also set it up so that Ctrl+Shift+8 goes to Dvorak (default) and Ctrl+Shift+9 switches to standard, that way anyone can use my keyboard if they need. Aside from that, my laptop got switched, I pried the keys, but that was mostly to learn, now I'd leave them as is or go to blank keys. :-D

Just don't try to do any instant messaging or IRC for a couple of weeks -- it feels like you have some horrible brain disease that prevents you from communicating. You have to stick with it though, and resist the temptation to go back to QWERTY. It'll start paying off after a couple of weeks and it only gets better in time.

And as mentioned in the other comments, watching people try to use your computer (or their own computer, after you've reconfigured their keymap) is highly amusing.

Best of luck.
Dani

I switched to DVORAK about 6 months ago and it was one of the best things I have ever done. I love every key position except for L, i always hit / instead by accident because i have huge hands, but overall i love the new layout, stick with it, the first month sucks but it gets a lot easier after that. I will miss reading your long posts until you get your speed back up, I never thought of a blanket as a giant pancake, interesting analogy.

Interesting to hear you're going for the change. I thought about going over to Dvorak a while ago, and spent a while reading up on it and considering whether I should learn it.

At the end of the day though, I felt that the difficulties with learning the format far outweighed the potential benefits, so I didn't pursue it any further and quickly forgot about it. It's definitely a nice concept in theory, but in practical terms, as much as I tried, I found it hard to build a case for Dvorak.

Learning it takes a lot of time and effort, and the fact is that the vast, vast majority of keyboards out there used QWERTY. So, anyone who would want to use my computer simply wouldn't be able to, and I consider that a serious downside rather than an amusing quirk, particularly in any professional setting. Also, my skills would not be transferrable if I was going to use another computer, which - especially in this age of ubiquitous computing - reduces the potential benefits a whole lot.

Not only this, but keyboard shortcuts and commands for various programs, and especially games, would be totally screwed up. I'd have to spend time relearning or reconfiguring every program and game I use, which would make me wonder whether the inconvenience and time lost would outweigh the comfort and time gained in typing more quickly.

That said, an even bigger issue for me was the fact that the benefits of Dvorak aren't even proven to be true, as far as I'm aware. Even if there are benefits, they would need to be pretty significant for me to consider it worthwhile.

I don't mean to sound totally negative! I thought Dvorak was quite interesting back in the day and thought I would share what I found. I'm all for people who want to learn Dvorak, I think it sets apart people who are serious about improving their skills at the computer. It'll definitely be interesting to hear how it goes.

Are you carrying that keyboard around with you wile you travel?

Good luck on the Dvorak. I switched probably 4-6 years ago, and never looked back. I haven't tested the absolute speed difference -- I'm at around 80-100 WPM either way. At that level, a couple more WPM isn't going to really benefit, unless you're transcribing or taking dictation or something. I did it for the comfort -- I find it much more comfortable on the hands, with the less movement required.

Also, for those worried about loosing QWERTY, don't. It is like learning another language. After a couple weeks to a month, you can switch back and forth smoothly between keyboard layouts. It's actually transparent for me now -- when I sit down at my computer, I automatically start typing Dvorak. When I sit down at someone else's box, its automatic QUERTY.

Good luck with the switch, it's not exactly easy but it's definitely worth it.

I have found myself back on the QWERTY layout after switching to Dvorak about 9 years ago. I do a lot of programming and the placement of [] {} are annoyingly far away from home row on Dvorak. I suppose I could remap those into some sort of custom Eli-Dvorak layout but that's too geeky even for me!

@elai, it is relatively easy to go switch your mind between layouts once you have Dvorak down pretty well. Just stay clear of QWERTY as long as possible, 1-2 weeks minimum! Also, nice name!