Dvorak keyboards

Factual Questions
1

Are there any companies that use Dvorak computer keyboards exclusivly? Can you purchase a Dvorak keyboard from all the major computer companies with a computer purchase? What would be a ball park percentage of Dvorak vs QWERTY keyboards in use today?

2

I type with a Dvorak keyboard layout, but I’ve never seen a keyboard that actually has the keys arranged that way for sale (you can set the Dvorak keyboard layout in the Keyboard control panel on either Windows or Mac computers). I touch-type anyway (otherwise, there would be little point in using Dvorak), and having the QWERTY keys means I can fall back to hunt-and-peck for stupid DOS applications that don’t recognize the keyboard properly.

3

If you look on the internet you can find the answer to getting a program that will map you current keyboard.

http://www.cse.ogi.edu/~dylan/dvorak/

http://www.cse.ogi.edu/~dylan/dvorak/DvorakIntl.html#Coversion

4

I’ve never ever seen an actual Dvorak keyboard, but I’ve been typing Dvorak for years.
The only company I’ve heard of that manufactures a dvorak layout keyboard is Maltron. It in itself has a funky layout with the keys a bit more spread out, and it has a column rising from the centre for your thumbs to use efficiently.

5

I started teaching myself the Dvorak layout a few years ago, but then I read Cecil’s column on the subject. There is no evidence that the Dvorak layout is more efficient than QWERTY. http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_248.html

6

For those of you who use Dvorak keyboards in a Qwerty world: Are you able to be bi-keyboardal? When faced with a Qwerty keyboard, which must be almost all the time when away from your home machine, do you revert to hunt-and-peck or can you mentally switch gears?

I would think that anyone constantly faced with Qwerty keyboards would pretty much have to make that their standard otherwise - is this true?

7

I revert to hunt-and-peck, because I never learned to touch-type Qwerty. But it’s fairly fast for hunt-and-peck, about 30 WPM. My husband has no problem mentally switching gears, although his speed is a little slower on Qwerty than Dvorak.

But if I’m going to be using a machine more than casually for a few minutes, I switch it to Dvorak and then switch it back when I’m done.

8

I agree. I generaly switch the computer over to Dvorak for that use, and enable a shortcut (Alt-Shift) for the next time I visit that computer. Of course, this doesn’t work in public libraries or DOS. In that case I half hunt and peck, half touch type. My touch-typing is generally accurate, but I lack the confidence I once had, and I keep looking down at the keyboard to be sure of myself.

However, if I did it all the time, instead of once a month or so, I think I could become quite good. I’ve also read at one of the Dvorak websites that the author has no problem with this task.

Regarding Cecil’s column, I think it basically said the jury is still out as to whether Dvorak is any faster. I think so, but that may be just faith, not fact. For me, the important thing is it’s less stressful on my wrists after long hours of typing.