QWERTY vs. Dvorak - Which do you use?

Susan Coffin · Jul 29, 2010

I use all my fingers on my laptop keyboard. At work, I use one of those square flat keyboards.

Can you tell I'm not up on QWERTY or Dvorak or whatever type of keyboard? As long as it works and I can write well both at home and at work, I am happy.

Susan Coffin · Jul 29, 2010

I just googled QWERTY, and that keyboard is all mixed up! What is this thing with the vowels all next to each other, and they are not even in order.

The Dvorak is just as bad.

Do tell- what is so special about these keyboards? Why not just one that has all the keys in the correct place--meaning, how some of us (James Ritchie, you can relate to this, I'm sure) learned to type on those wonderful old typewriters?

Bartholomew · Jul 29, 2010

SusanL, now I really want to see your keyboard.

Polenth · Jul 29, 2010

SusanL said:
I just googled QWERTY, and that keyboard is all mixed up! What is this thing with the vowels all next to each other, and they are not even in order.

The Dvorak is just as bad.

Do tell- what is so special about these keyboards? Why not just one that has all the keys in the correct place--meaning, how some of us (James Ritchie, you can relate to this, I'm sure) learned to type on those wonderful old typewriters?

Qwerty is a common typewriter arrangement and it's the default for most computers. If you didn't go out of your way to buy a special keyboard (or get a special typewriter), it's very likely to be qwerty.

Qwerty also doesn't have the vowels next to each other, which is why I wonder if you found something else.

You'll know if you're using one, because starting from the top left of the letters section, the key order spells out qwerty.

Shadow_Ferret · Jul 29, 2010

I've been touch typing on a QWERTY keyboard for over 40 years. I have no interest whatsoever in having to relearn the entire typing process just to "supposedly" gain some speed or relieve some alleged pain.

Susan Coffin · Jul 29, 2010

Now I feel really silly.

This is the link that I looked at first: http://home.earthlink.net/~dcrehr/whyqwert.html (scroll to the bottom)

But I understand this is what it looks like today: http://www.dayiwasborn.net/templates/System/details.asp?id=40333&PID=496162 (duh, like mine).

As for Dvorak: this is the link I looked at first-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard

Okay, so I guess I sue to QWERTY (in modern form, that is).

Susan Coffin · Jul 29, 2010

Polenth said:
You'll know if you're using one, because starting from the top left of the letters section, the key order spells out qwerty.

Never noticed that.

Susan Coffin · Jul 29, 2010

Bartholomew said:
SusanL, now I really want to see your keyboard.

Yes, I'm sure you do. :roll:

Jamesaritchie · Jul 29, 2010

SusanL said:
I just googled QWERTY, and that keyboard is all mixed up! What is this thing with the vowels all next to each other, and they are not even in order.

The Dvorak is just as bad.

Do tell- what is so special about these keyboards? Why not just one that has all the keys in the correct place--meaning, how some of us (James Ritchie, you can relate to this, I'm sure) learned to type on those wonderful old typewriters?

QWERTY has been standard for many, many years, and it's what old typewrietrs use.

As near as I can tell, the draw of Dvorak is that you can type four times as many common word without leaving home row. I suspect this is true, but in the real world, Dvorak holds little or no superiority over QWERTY. Some studies, in fact, show that QWERTY is actually faster and easier for most typists.

And, of course, you can, using QWERTY, type the word "typewriter" using only the top row of letters. One legend says this was done intentionally for advertising purposes.

From my experience, brand new typists learn faster and easier with a keyboard that has teh letters in alphabetical order. Who knows if it's true, but legend also says keyboards were changed from alphabetical order to QWERTY precisely ebcause QWERTY is slower, and the keys didn't jam when typists got too fast.

Jodie_writes_what? · Jul 29, 2010

I'm QWERTY.. but like the idea of the Dvorak. Only problem is I'd probably type letters all wrong since I touchtype.

Susan Coffin · Jul 29, 2010

Jamesaritchie said:
QWERTY has been standard for many, many years, and it's what old typewrietrs use.

I love the old typewriters. Mom bought me my first one when I was about ten or eleven. It was actually a child's manual typewriter- pink with white keys, but it typed. I used to type my poems on that old typewriter. Great memoreis!

As near as I can tell, the draw of Dvorak is that you can type four times as many common word without leaving home row. I suspect this is true, but in the real world, Dvorak holds little or no superiority over QWERTY. Some studies, in fact, show that QWERTY is actually faster and easier for most typists.

I was looking at a picture of the Dvorak keyboard and it looked like I would have to learn to type all over again. It's was kind of strange looking too with the vowels all together, etc.

And, of course, you can, using QWERTY, type the word "typewriter" using only the top row of letters. One legend says this was done intentionally for advertising purposes.

You're right- typewriter. There, I did it!

From my experience, brand new typists learn faster and easier with a keyboard that has teh letters in alphabetical order. Who knows if it's true, but legend also says keyboards were changed from alphabetical order to QWERTY precisely ebcause QWERTY is slower, and the keys didn't jam when typists got too fast.

I am so used to this QWERTY format, and pretty much set in my ways, that I don't know if I could learn on the Dvorak or the one where the keys are in alphabetical order. I'd probably get frustrated and throw them away or something. Besides, why fix something if it is not broken?

Bartholomew · Jul 29, 2010

If you try to learn Dvorak, you really start to notice the advantages when you start typing words like the, noun, teeth, no, one, etc. Stuff rolls off your fingers way easier.

I'm having fun learning a new typing technique, anyway.

Coill · Aug 19, 2010

Colemak is even better than Dvorak!

http://colemak.com/
http://mkweb.bcgsc.ca/carpalx/?colemak

It's what I'm trying to learn at the moment.

Moonbase · Jan 5, 2011

On Windows machines, I use a QWERTZ (German) physical keyboard (cheapest to get over here) plus a keyboard driver I devised a few years ago. It allows me to have most european and some important typographical characters readily available when typing.

Wanna look? Well, here goes …

(All the red ones are dead keys, blue/purple are combinations w/ right ALT key.)

I also find the NEO keyboard layout quite interesting, though I’d probably never be able to re-train for that (or Dvorak) at my age …

Anne Lyle · Jan 22, 2011

I started using Dvorak in 2007 after I started getting RSI. Wrists are fine now, even though I type all day for my job and then write for much of my spare time. Don't know if that's Dvorak alone, though, or the benefits of finally learning to touch-type!

As for age - FWIW, I was in my mid-forties when I started, and had only four months to master the layout before doing NaNoWriMo (which I won). This old dog loves new tricks

1000th Sun · Jan 24, 2011

I use QWERTY just because it's standard and I type fast enough on it.

Chris1981 · Jan 24, 2011

I don't feel the need to switch from QWERTY. This is the only layout I've ever used, after all, and I don't have any problems with pain or discomfort. That's especially true when I have my mechanical-switch keyboard (an old Dell AT-101 - fantastic 'board for writing).

BradCarsten · Jan 24, 2011

iv never even heard of Dv@%$WTF
but I wouldnt mind trying one out. There will be a lot to unlearn

Margarita Skies · Mar 25, 2011

I use QWERTY. I tried the DVORAK once, like 9 years ago, almost 10, and I had to leave that desktop computer alone because I could not type on the keyboard the way I do on the QWERTY. Had been using QWERTY for several years and I guess I couldn't get used to it.

kuwisdelu · Mar 25, 2011

QWERTY. I type fast enough anyway, so I don't see the reason to relearn everything. Besides, it would make using computers not my own difficult.

Bookmama · Mar 29, 2011

While I realize that not knowing what Dvorak is means I use Qwerty, I wouldn't mind a brief explanation of what Dvorak is, to save me Googling. But what I'm even more curious about is the people who selected "Something else" -- what else is there?

Do some people get their words into the computer with mental telepathy?

Synovia · Mar 29, 2011

Susan Littlefield said:
I just googled QWERTY, and that keyboard is all mixed up! What is this thing with the vowels all next to each other, and they are not even in order.

The Dvorak is just as bad.

Do tell- what is so special about these keyboards? Why not just one that has all the keys in the correct place--meaning, how some of us (James Ritchie, you can relate to this, I'm sure) learned to type on those wonderful old typewriters?

The QWERTY layout common on typewriters and most computers was designed to slow down typists so that the hammers in a typewriter didn't get caught on each other.

DVORAK is designed to be as fast and take as little movement as possible, because modern keyboards don't have any parts where speed can break things.

Synovia · Mar 29, 2011

Coill said:
Colemak is even better than Dvorak!

http://colemak.com/
http://mkweb.bcgsc.ca/carpalx/?colemak

It's what I'm trying to learn at the moment.

Never seen that. Looks like they swapped the U out of the home row, and replaced it with R (which seems like a good idea to me). They also moved "ST" to a more logical layout next to each other.

Chris P · Mar 29, 2011

This zombie thread has to have one of the most gradual reawakenings in the history of AW. It's just been slowly stirring.

I learned to touchtype in high school on Qwerty. Even the minor differences in the special characters on a UK keyboard mess me up. I could learn Dvorak if I needed to, I guess, but until I need to I don't see much of a reason to.

JSSchley · Apr 12, 2011

I would love to switch to Dvorak because between grad school and novel writing, I spend all my time typing. But I also have to go back and forth between home computers and campus computers, and the campus ones don't allow you to switch the keyboard layout. If there was some add-in I could carry on my USB drive to override a public computer's settings, I would switch in a heartbeat...

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