Has anyone gone to using the Dvorak (http://www.mwbrooks.com/dvorak/) keyboard system? I'm curious to what people think, if it's faster, easier, more accurate, etc. Also, how hard is it to switch back and forth between the old qwerty system when you have to?

y one keyboard is slowly dying and I'm contemplating tearing off all the keys and reshuffling them into the Devorak system.

I tried it out about 20 years ago. I had heard it was supposed to be easier on the hands, etc. I just couldn't get used to it.

QWERTYs layout was designed to make people type more slowly in order to prevent them from jamming the old manual typewriters, so Dvorak is supposed to allow you to type faster. But when I've been typing that way all my life, it's just too hard to quit :)

I used one for about a week once, I was beginning to get the hang of it, but it sure did hurt (not literal) when I went to a friend's house/work and used a computer. Not messing up my QWERTY System, but when I went back to DVORAK it sucked mucho :(

I suppose in time you will be able to switch up in time, easily.

Heh, why would I bother trying to learn a new system when QWERTY works fine?

I can type fast enough to keep up with most songs if I'm spamming /gu with lyrics, which is good enough for me =P

And I'm at the point where its pure muscle memory for typing...I think the words and they appear on screen for all I'm aware of what my fingers are doing. Hell if I try to think about it, I tend to mess it all up.

I looked at the layout, and can't really see why it's supposed to be easier. But again, I'm very comfortable with QWERTY, and can type much faster than my friends ;)

I will admit I saw the subject of the thread and got excited--Dvorak is my favorite composer ;)

Well, it'll be a <em>New World</em> if everyone goes over to a different keyboard. Imagine the <em>Requiem</em> for the QWERTY. And the <em>Te Deum</em> of using the same old keyboard would be gone! (Yeah, yeah, I love Dvorak too. The dead composer. Pardon the musician humour.)

Actually, nothing new about the Dvorak keyboard, it's been around for a long, long time. It just never caught on.

Kind of reminds me of when I was a music student and certain musicians had changed over to a type of instrument that had the keys laid out quite differently. Anyway, even people who had been playing for many, many years were able to adjust and even like the new instrument.

The one problem with keyboards though is that unless you can easily take your keyboard with you, you'll have to change back and forth between them, and that might be difficult.

I can type 85 wpm on a QWERTY keyboard, which is fast enough for me. I've already learned to touch-type once, I don't want to do it again.

Heh, why would I bother trying to learn a new system when QWERTY works fine?

I remember in the early 80s when a few people were promoting it, saying it's something like 3% more efficient. You have to remember that QWERTY was designed in the old days to slow people down with the confusing placement. Of course, if you already type fast and well in QWERTY, it's silly to switch.