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Dvorak or Qwerty?

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SorrowLupe
50089 words so far Winner!

Which keyboard layout will you be using? :)
I have a Qwerty netbook; but have stickerd my laptop and can change it to Dvorak for Wri Mo.
So which will you use??

Anfaenger
50002 words so far Winner!

I will use QWERTY for the first time after having used QWERTZ (German keyboard layout) for most of my life.

Cosmic_lightning
18022 words so far

DVORAK

all the time. It's so much faster than QWERTY. I switched last year and I'm really glad I did.

Wrazn
5223 words so far

Dvorak all the way. And it confuses people who sit down at my computer.

teh603
50158 words so far Winner!

I use a standard keyboard. I'd have considered Dvorak, but the only keyboard I've ever seen that directly supported it was built into an Apple //c and it didn't have any labels for the caps if you wanted to use it in that mode. But that was literally the last one; I've never seen a Dvorak keyboard for sale which makes me think that its a dead standard.

Plus I'm around 90 WPM on Qwerty when I get going.

radioactivealchemist
52605 words so far Winner!

You don't need a special keyboard for Dvorak. Mac and Windows both support the Dvorak layout, and it's really easy to change between them.

Besides, I find that not changing the keycaps from QWERTY is better, because it forces you to learn to touch-type.

teh603
50158 words so far Winner!

Guess I'm the only one who learned how to touch-type by just getting out there and typing instead of using the whole "blank caps" method? Then again, I was hunting-and-pecking around 60 WPM, so by the time I started looking away from the keyboard I'd already developed a ton of muscle memory.

stillalive
50001 words so far Winner!

I did something similar learning QWERTY. You can get stickers to make your keyboard Dvorak.

opheliac
50171 words so far Winner!

Same here. I've never learned to "properly type"--I type with two fingers (mostly--I have actually seen "how to type"). This year, my cat sat on my lap/arms for a lot of NaNo (I like having my netbook on my lap), and I could see the screen of my netbook, but not my keyboard ... and I found myself typing anyway, and mostly getting it right.
I tried learning Dvorak a while back, but gave it up when I changed computers, because I just haven't worked out how to make my computer do it ... I will, though ...

Tigers Eyes
55675 words so far Winner!

Qwerty- For some reason, Dvorak kind of scares me. I do want to try it out though.

kookicat
62239 words so far Winner!

Qwerty for me at the moment. I'm thinking of switching, but we only use qwerty at work and I'm not sure I want to switch back and forth. Plus, I type at ~100wpm on qwerty. :)

xoxwhoaxox
6432 words so far

I use QWERTY. My dad's a computer guy, and so because of that I learned to type 'properly' on QWERTY at a really young age. I've typed at around 100 wpm since I was nine, and so not having that speed on DVORAK really frustrates me; I always end up switching back out of frustration when I do try using it. Though it's not a bad system, and I really should learn to use it since I have carpel tunnel, but, you know. Old habits die hard.

radioactivealchemist
52605 words so far Winner!

Dvorak all the way, at least on computers & Alphasmarts. I have yet to acquire a Dvorak-layout typewriter.

I switched to Dvorak in the last week of October 2006. Yes, that's right, a mere week before my second time doing NaNo! But I made it anyway, and in the years between I've more than doubled my top QWERTY speed.

Plus, I can touch-type in Dvorak.

stillalive
50001 words so far Winner!

I'm learning it right now. FML.

ElizaWyatt
50018 words so far Winner!

I switched from qwerty to dvorak three years ago... unfortunately, now I hunt and peck at the qwerty keyboard. But it's a huge incentive to keep my family off my machines. :D

Generalist
74089 words so far Winner!

QWERTY, since I already know it. When my speed gets to a certain point, I start having problems with the tendons. Typing faster would not help things.

Besides, when I'm typing, I'm also editing. That slows things down further, even if I'm typing from hand written notes.

cosmam
241142 words so far Winner!

One of the big benefits to Dvorak, and why I switched, is actually for wrist/finger pain, not speed. Your fingers move around a lot less on Dvorak than they do in Qwerty.

For an example, using this analysis tool, I found that, for my 2009 NaNo, my fingers moved 7.85 miles typing in Qwerty, but would have moved only 4.39 miles typing in Dvorak.

Generalist
74089 words so far Winner!

That might be worth considering. It would take a while to get up to speed though. I'd also have to see how much of the wear and tear is due to keyboard movement and how much is due to how the arms are held.

Aeiouna
50113 words so far Winner!

Using that tool with both my 2009 and 2010 NaNo novels, it said I should be using Colemak. Interesting.

stillalive
50001 words so far Winner!

same here... I just finished learning Dvorak though. :(

opheliac
50171 words so far Winner!

It suggested Aransito for me (besides, of course, my own personal layout). Are these alternate layouts as available as Dvorak?

stillalive
50001 words so far Winner!

I don't know about Aransito (I use Colemak) but I know that Colemak has programs where you can just download a program and run it without installing anything! That would let you use Colemak wherever you are. :) I imagine there might be something like that with Aransito. I'm not really sure what you mean by "available" though.

Rickn99
52683 words so far Winner!

QWERTY.

I switched to Dvorak three years back for writing and it worked pretty well once I got the hang of it. Every other program, though, was a problem.

I have lots of games and other software, so I was either continually switching keyboard layouts in Windows or remapping keys in individual programs. And remembering when I needed to do which.

The speed I picked up writing wasn't worth slowing everything else down.

busy91
10714 words so far

Qwerty
I've been typing on Qwerty for 32 years, I'm not about to switch.

Lydia_Ember
50504 words so far Winner!

qwerty.

I've already tolerated having my OS changed on me (I'm kinda territorial about it). If someone forced me to use Dvorak, Imma hurt someone. idc if it's faster, why should I care if I only do my editing on the computer, anyway?

ChampWinters
51276 words so far Winner!

QWERTY, all the way. It's what I learned to type with and I just could not write without using it.

As a side note, there is a street by my house called Dvorak.

salambander
20071 words so far

I am considering Dvorak, although at some point I seem to have deleted the language bar, and I can't get it back. So... This will be interesting. :D Maybe I should do some practise sprints to get used to this layout...

salambander
20071 words so far

An hour later... I can see how it might help, but since I can already touch-type quite quickly on a Qwerty keyboard and don't want to suffer through any more endless typing drills than I need to, I think I'll pass on the Dvorak, thanks.

LizStaley
50955 words so far Winner!

I went to Dvorak after my first year of NaNo and will never go back. If I could use it at work, I would. I used to have arm pain from my fingertips to my elbows typing in QWERTY. Once I switched, the pain went away and has never come back. Plus I'm faster, and I can actually touch-type with Dvorak!

rainstorm.
54000 words so far Winner!

Whoa, I'd never be able to use Dvorak because I've been typing with Qwerty since I've been three or four, and I'm so used to it. Plus I type at a moderate speed despite the fact that I don't touch type... well, I don't look at the keys when I type but I don't put my hands in the same places as you're supposed to when you touch type. But I have Qwerty keyboard burned into my memory. O__o

cosmam
241142 words so far Winner!

I don't put my hands in the right place for Qwerty, either. Strangely, it made it easier to switch to Dvorak. I set myself up typing correctly (as in, fingers on the home row and in the right spots) on Dvorak. If I put my fingers in the right spots, my mind goes "Dvorak!", and if I don't, I can still type fairly well in Qwerty.

pearannoyed

For anyone interested, here are links to a couple of blog posts by Holly Lisle. She's a professional, multi-published author who had to switch to Dvorak to save her career.

First Post - http://hollylisle.com/with-fingers-struck-dumb/
Second Post - http://hollylisle.com/dvorak-a-me-three-months-later/

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