Ask HN: What was your experience with alternate keyboard layouts such as dvorak?

I use Dvorak simplified with a couple modifications for coding and typing on a regular basis. I have kept []-="/ in the same location as qwerty because I have found keeping these keys in the same locations keeps my mind from getting to confused when I do switch back to qwerty for temporary usage(also they are easier to type in the qwerty location IMO).

If you look at the Dvorak keyboard here[1] leaving []-="/ in the same locations moves the z key off the keyboard. I then put the z key next to the left shift and the ; key next to tab.

If you read my Q&A here http://superuser.com/q/598405 it demonstrates that switching to other keyboard layouts aren't difficult, but can be quit different depending on OS/system. Linux has the most variations of switching between different keyboard layouts.

If you type on your own laptop/desktop mainly then I would recommend it. Dvorak is pre-installed on all modern OSs, so it very easy to enable. I have notice minor speed improvements.

If you use Windows(like me) using an autohotkey script that you can use to enable/disable Dvorak makes it easy enough for you to use other computers and for others to use your own computer.

[1]: https://roostersrail.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/dvorak-simp...

Started using Colemak few months ago.

It was a very slow and frustrating start, but I gave myself one week to do deliberate practice every day for at least 15 minutes and then to see if I'll go back to qwerty.

I forced myself to use Colemak even when replying to instant messages, which raised couple of reactions when there was "X is typing..." for several minutes just to see a short reply :)

I also found a Colemak keyboard for my phone, so I had Colemak on all my devices. I found this to be really helpful.

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That one week has passed, my speed and accuracy got better. I started to appreciate the layout more and more.

Now I have the same speed I had with qwerty, and I like typing with less movement of my hands. Many typical shortcuts stayed in the same place (not Vim's HJKL, unfortunately), which is a plus.

Cons of using Colemak? Now I can't type on other people's qwertys ;)

I'm a happy user of Programmer Dvorak for 8 years.

Initial learning curve was harsh, but I had time on my hands to practice.

What matters to me most is the comfort, I don't care much about typing faster. It feels very natural to type in Dvorak.

Programmer Dvorak moves the commonly used keys in programming other than letters to convenient locations in the spirit of dvorak layout, which makes it even more comfortable to code.

Started learning colemak a while back and reached 5wpm blind. Stopped once I noticed I didn't actually know my passwords in text form but always typed them using muscle memory.

All in all it was cool to learn but made it much harder for other people to use my machine.