Poll: Who uses Dvorak keyboard layout? - Poll please!

What layout do you use?

  • Qwerty

    Votes: 496 97.8%

  • Dvorak

    Votes: 6 1.2%

  • Several

    Votes: 4 0.8%

  • Other

    Votes: 1 0.2%
  • Total voters
    507
Vita said:
I touch type with 2 fingers, and I'm quick!
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wiki said:
An average professional typist reaches 50 to 70 wpm, while some positions can require 80 to 95 (usually the minimum required for dispatch positions and other time-sensitive typing jobs), and some advanced typists work at speeds above 120.

Two-finger typists, sometimes also referred to as "hunt and peck" typists, commonly reach sustained speeds of about 37 wpm for memorized text, and 27 wpm when copying text but in bursts may be able to reach up to 60 to 70 wpm.[2]
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As of 2005, Barbara Blackburn is the fastest typist in the world, according to The Guinness Book of World Records.

Using the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard, she has maintained 150 wpm for 50 minutes, 170 wpm for shorter periods of time, and has been clocked at a peak speed of 212 wpm. Blackburn failed her typing class in high school, first encountered the Dvorak keyboard in 1938, quickly learned to achieve very high speeds, and occasionally toured giving speed-typing demonstrations during her secretarial career.
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How can a woman be the fastest typer :confused: Stereotyping f t w lol :D
 
I've heard that dvorak layouts can improve typing speeds, but didn't know it included English as part of it - interesting.

I have 2 keyboard maps, qwerty and azerty (for French) - and boy I get confused when I switch and use either for a bit!
 
I type using two fingers and the thumb on each hand. I don't know my speed but it's pretty bad because of the misteaks I make. ;)

90wpm - I probably only type about 90 words in a day!
 
I think dvorak only really work for a small number of people - most people would get better results from QWERTY imo - I've tried both and find the keys on qwerty are in a nice pattern for natural flowing useage... tho dvorak might encourage posture thats less likely to cause problems like RSI who knows...

I know a couple of linux programmers who insist on using dvorak and it looks so un-natural when they are typing.
 
Qwerty, but ergonomic keyboards.

Mainly Microsoft Natural 4000's but do have a adjustable ergonomic one - primarily as it fits in my laptop bag.
 
Rroff said:
I think dvorak only really work for a small number of people - most people would get better results from QWERTY imo - I've tried both and find the keys on qwerty are in a nice pattern for natural flowing useage... tho dvorak might encourage posture thats less likely to cause problems like RSI who knows...

I know a couple of linux programmers who insist on using dvorak and it looks so un-natural when they are typing.
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:p I think the same thing now whenever anyone uses QWERTY - like they're wasting so much effort - I guess it just depends on what you're used to.
Also fair enough with preferring QWERTY, but I don't know how you can find the keys for qwerty in a more 'flowing' pattern than Dvorak? All I have to move is my fingers, and most of the time I don't even have to move them! (apart from down, obviously) :)
 
Here's someone's take on Dvorak:

As a long time (4 years?) Dvorak typer, I can say with certainty that, for me at least, Dvorak is not about typing faster. People who care about typing fast are usually determined enough to learn how to type fast on any layout. Switching to Dvorak would only slow them down for a few weeks/months, ultimately ending in a catastrophic explosion of frustration, possibly sending a few nice keyboards to their fiery deaths.

Dvorak is about efficiency in typing words in the English language. (I think the layout is tweaked for the letter frequencies in US/UK English.) The vowels are on the home row of the left hand so that most words use alternating hands. The most common consonants are in the home row of the right hand and the most common two-letter patterns are arranged to minimize the number of patterns that one finger has to type. These arrangements result in (anecdotally at least) much less deviation from home row and awkward jumping around.

My prime example is the word 'excruciating.' Type it in QWERTY, then go find a Dvorak chart and switch your keyboard layout and type 'excruciating' again. In QWERTY, you have to be careful not to tie square knots in your fingers, but in Dvorak, it rolls off the hands easier than "a sad lass."

For some people, having a keyboard layout that is much more comfortable to use results in typing faster. But speed-freaks don't care about comfort as much as speed, so you could probably give them any layout, even "ABCDEFG..." and they would eventually find a way to type faster than most other people. (I have nothing against speed freaks - I admire their abilities and truly feel bad for them when they get RSI.)

The way I see it, the benefits are:

- comfortable typing
- improved geek quotient
- added layer of security on your computer (assuming you get rid of QWERTY)


Note: If you want, you don't have to remove QWERTY from your brain; there's room for both. My method was, while I was learning Dvorak, to alternate between QWERTY and Dvorak. One day would be QWERTY Day, the next would be Dvorak Day. Now, it takes me a minute or two to get back into QWERTY, but after that, I can type fairly well in it.
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