Dvorak Simplified Keyboard
From Doomtech
Contents |
First things first
Dvorak Simplified Keyboard is a keyboard layout developed with comfort in mind. There are many claims on wether the Dvorak layout is more efficient or not, but most would agree that it is more ergonomic, as your hands need to move less around compared to a QWERTY or AZERTY layout. American Dvorak is available on most operating systems, like Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, out of the box, but language specific Dvorak, like Norwegian Dvorak (with æ, ø and å), are available as easy downloads.
Instead of rewriting a lot of information about Dvorak, simply have a look at these links:
My experience
I have used Dvorak since Christmas 2004, and I would like to share my experience. I did actually take the time to learn QWERTY properly, just to be qualified to compare the two. Now, I have noticed some huge advantages, and the most noticeable thing is that the most common letters are on the home row. You simply move your fingers less, and that is a Good Thing™. There is a keyboard compare applet (Java needed), which will show you how far you actually move your poor fingers around, on both the QWERTY and the Dvorak layout. I tried this on some Lorem Ipsum (industry standard dummy text), and this is the distance I got:
- Lorem Ipsum
- Dvorak: 11.18m, QWERTY: 18.03m.
I found the difference to be slightly less on texts written in Norwegian, which is because you use characters like "K" and "J" much more (at least as far as I have noticed), but Dvorak still beats QWERTY hands down.
When it comes to speed, I was able to type 70 words per minute, on this test. I do type faster when chatting or writing stuff like this, when I do not have to read, and type and the same time. I think this is a good speed achievement after such short time, considering that some people who have used QWERTY for decades, type at similar speeds. I think I will be able to go beyond 80 words per minute, but speed was never my main goal with learning Dvorak in the first place.
As we all know, QWERTY is the standard, and I do not expect that my friends shall have a hotkey for switching to Dvorak. Since I started using Dvorak, both at home, at work, and at school, I never had any trouble switching those machines temporarily or permanently (depending on wether it was "mine" or shared. When having to use a QWERTY setup for some other task, using QWERTY the same way as before the switch, was still no problem. It is not like you forget QWERTY, especially if you remember refresh it once in a while.
Switching back and forth between the layouts can be a bit confusing for your fingers in the beginning, but it should not take too long to get used to. At first, I had a lot of trouble switching back and forth between QWERTY and Dvorak, but after some weeks of constantly changing the layout, my fingers adapt very fast.
Switching to Dvorak
I never bothered to learn touch typing with QWERTY (until recently), I admit that. By learning Dvorak I had two main goals, one was to learn to touch type, since I have always wanted to stop typing with two fingers, the other was to cope with some aching in my hands and wrists that I had noticed lately.
The common mistake
In my opinion, the method described on the above sites is a bad idea. The method I am referring to is the one where you rearrange all your keys physically on your keyboard. There are several reasons why this is a bad idea:
- Not all keyboards have keys that are shaped the same regardless of position.
- Friends, family or whatever, who are not familiar to Dvorak, and are used to QWERTY, will simply be confused even though they can see the keys. Switch back to QWERTY while they are using your keyboard, that will be simple with most modern operating systems (in Mac OS X it is just Option + Control + Space for instance).
- You learn by looking at the keyboard. This is a bad thing! Read below for my solution.
The correct method
Now, how shall we do it? The first thing I did, was to find an application that can have a picture floating on top of other windows. For Mac OS X, I used "Stickies" (located in the Applications folder), and placed a picture of the Norwegian Dvorak layout inside it. Take a look at the image to the right.
The sticky note was set to floating, which means it will stay on top of other windows. The advantage of this, is that you will learn not to look down. There is a small gotcha, you will not associate with your sight in any way, that will take some time. I still have to think twice to tell which key is what if I actually look at the keyboard. You will only need the sticky for a day, or less. I myself, only needed it for two hours. Remember to place your fingers at appropriately. Index fingers at the keys with index marks (applies to regular keyboards where F and J have them), and use the appropriate finger for the right key (any touch typing program will give you that schematic, but it is not hard to figure it out yourself. Remember to use both shift keys as well.
How long will it take?
The first days you will be typing very slowly, so do your switch in the holidays, or some other time where you will not need fast and accurate typing. Even though I switched during the Christmas holiday, I ended up with a few hours of QWERTY in the process, but since I kept it to the minimum, I could still learn Dvorak without any major interruptions. I spent a long time per sentence, but that quickly decreased. After a while, common words will be a reflex, after that, passwords (if you are logging in to machines often with ssh for instance, like I do), and after that, more and more words will be typed without even thinking. After approximately two weeks, you will type at a decent speed. Beyond that, your skill will increase. After a month, you will most likely refuse to go back.
Switching your operating system to Dvorak
Changing the keyboard layout in your operating system is a trivial task.
Linux
- X11
Change the value of Option "XkbLayout" , in /etc/X11/xorg.conf or /etc/X11/XF86Config (depending on wether you use X.org or Xfree86) so it looks like this:
Option "XkbLayout" "dvorak"
To use Dvorak without restarting X, open a terminal and enter the command setxkbmap dvorak.
- Console
For the console, settings are very distro specific. For instance, on Gentoo, you will find the keymap setting in either /etc/rc.conf, or /etc/conf.d/keymaps. Change the keymap to dvorak. To load your new keyboard map without rebooting, enter the command loadkeys dvorak.
Mac OS X
Go to System Preferences -> International, and press the Input Menu tab. Check Dvorak in the menu. You can also choose the Dvorak option below (the one that says Qwerty too), if you would prefer to use your old keyboard shortcuts, as this layout uses QWERTY when command is pressed. You should get a new icon near the clock, for keyboard layouts. You can choose Dvorak from there. A quick switch between layouts (neat when other people want to use your Mac) can be done with Command + Option + Space.
Keyboard Viewer
In the "Input Menu" tab mentioned above, check the "Keyboard Viewer" option. This will give you a floating window you can use to practice the layout. It will change according to the keyboard layout you use, the modifier keys you are holding and will indicate what key you are pressing. This can be a great help in the beginning, especially as you don't have to watch what you're typing to know if you hit the wrong keys.
Windows 2000/XP
Go to Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options. Then press the Language tab, and click Customize. Add United States-Dvorak as your layout.
Practicing
There are essentially two ways to go about practicing your new keyboard layout. You can either learn the key layout by heart first, and then start typing long texts, or start straight at using applications meant for typing practicing. Or you can keep a keyboard viewer active and just type what you would usually type until you learn the layout automatically, you can then start using typing apps later to get you from acceptable speeds to fast typing. The first option will teach you the layout faster, but the second might be more practical for some. Either way you should try to write dvorak exclusively for the first couple of weeks. Patiance is important.
Typing Applications
Here are a few apps that will help you improve your typing:
- Typer Shark - Practice typing and have fun at the same time! A nice game that works well for any layout. English words only.
Norsk Dvorak (Norwegian Dvorak)
Nå på norsk! (Oversatt fort og gæli fra de engelske instruksene.) Norsk Dvorak ligger sjelden inne som standard i operativsystemet ditt. Under finner du instruksjoner og nedlastinger for Linux, Mac OS X og Windows. Denne wikien er ment for å supplere Geir sin side om Norsk Dvorak på dvorak.tg90nor.net, rett og slett fordi instruksjonene og driverne har trengt en del omgjøring nå i det siste. Blant annet er seksjonen her om Mac OS X mer oppdatert. Se også den engelske delen om læreteknikk over, den mener jeg er overlegen det å måtte flytte alle tastene fysisk.
Linux
- X11
Bytt verdien Option "XkbLayout" , i /etc/X11/xorg.conf (assuming you use X.org), og legg til Option "XkbVariant" "dvorak" under den. Til slutt skal det se slik ut:
Option "XkbLayout" "no" Option "XkbVariant" "dvorak"
For å bruke Norsk Dvorak uten å restarte X11, kan du åpne en terminal og skrive setxkbmap no dvorak.
- Konsoll
Denne seksjonen kommer snart. Nyeste versjon av kbd-pakken inneholder Norsk Dvorak, forhåpentligvis kan denne fila isoleres og gjøres tilgjengelig som nedlasting.
Mac OS X
Norsk Dvorak fungerer med alle versjoner av Mac OS X, inkludert Snow Leopard og Lion. Last ned layouten herfra. Pakk den ut, og flytt filen Norsk Dvorak.keylayout, til /Library/Keyboard Layouts. Gå til System Preferences -> International, og trykk på fanen for Input Menu (i Snow Leopard er det Input Sources under Language & Text istedenfor). Kryss av Norsk Dvorak i menyen. Du skal nå få et nytt ikon nær klokka for å velge tastaturoppsett, hvor du kan bytte til Norsk Dvorak. I Input Sources kan du også trykke på Keyboard Shortcuts for å definere en tastatursnarvei som bytter mellom Norsk Dvorak og vanlig norsk tastaturoppsett. Dette er hendig hvis andre skal bruke Macen din og du vil bytte til norsk tastatur raskt.
Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7
Last ned den nye installeren her. Denne fungerer på 32-bit, 64-bit og Itanium. Pakk ut alle filene til en mappe og start installasjonen ved å dobbeltklikke på setup.exe.
- Windows XP: Gå til Regional and Language Options i kontrollpanelet. Velg fanen Language, og trykk Details (eller Customize avhengig av versjon). Sørg for at Norsk Dvorak står som Default input language og trykk OK.
- Windows 7: Fra kontrollpanelet, velg Change keyboards and other input methods. Trykk så på Change keyboards. Sett Norsk Dvorak som Default Input Language og trykk OK.
(Tilsvarende gjelder Windows 2000 og Vista.)
