Ever tried to learn a non QWERTY keyboard layout?

[Roni]

I believe the standard keyboard layout for 95% of computer users on the planet is QWERTY (check the first 5 letters of your keyboard to see if you're part of that demographic hehe). Although I've delved into the world of typing and learned that there are several other layouts that cater to those looking for a more ergonomic experience when bashing out letters.

Other than the more common AZERTY alternative, there's the more far out layouts like Dvorak, which is geared towards putting the most commonly used letters in English on the home row to lessen finger movements and allow a smoother typing experience (y'know, when you get really good at it). Other than that, there's also the layout I tried to learn back in 2021, Colemak, designed with the same concept in mind, but to have a less steep learning curve for those so used to QWERTY. I wanted to get good at this so I could make my fingers hurt less when typing fast, but I gave up halfway because I was too impatient and I figured typing just a tad bit slower and more controlled eased my fingers. I typed mostly recreationally and didn't need to be able to bang out 120 WPM when typing up Reddit comments lmao. 90 is more than ok for my use case~

Anyway, with all that said, my question is have any of you tried exploring beyond the default keyboard layout option? Or have you not found any need to?

(Ooh bonus question too, how fast do y'all type? Just curious is all hehe)

 

[Tsutarja]

i've wanted to try dvorak but never had the courage to, or even tried to find a dvorak layout keyboard

 

[Roni]

i've wanted to try dvorak but never had the courage to, or even tried to find a dvorak layout keyboard

In the world of custom mechanical keyboards, I believe it's as simple as switching out the keycaps heh (I say this as I'm about to buy one, but that's for a different thread I believe :p)

Another couple reasons why I gave up on Colemak, that I forgot to mention in the original post, is that

1) regardless, I'd still have to keep my muscle memory with QWERTY in case I have to use someone else's system or a backup keyboard in case mine breaks while I'm away from home or something. I heard that it can indeed be done, having the muscle memory for 2 different keyboard layouts, but would require maybe a year or so of constant training to hone, and I don't think I have that kind of time or dedication to push through with it. And,

2) keyboard shortcuts are full on fucked up lmao gonna have to relearn those as well. Extra hassle...

 

[Megan]

We use QWERTZ for better or worse. Doing programming stuff kinda sucks when programming languages where designed around QWERTY keyboards, though. So many useful keys that are cumbersome to access on a non-US keyboard. Many applications are kinda the same, as well. They use keyboard shortcuts that are convenient on US keyboards but not much else. The most prominent one: Ctrl+Z

The latter isn't always an issue since a lot of software allows you to change key assignments. But definitely not all of them...

 

[RadEmpoleon]

I didn't even know other kinds of keyboards existed haha. I can barely type on a QWERTY one so I don't think I'll be learning any other kinds of keyboards any time soon.

 

[Palamon]

No, but I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to adapt to it, if I had to? Azerty doesn't seem that difficult imo.

 

[5qwerty]

no, why would I

I actually never bothered to learn any other layout other than the standard QWERTY layout. It just didn't seem worthwhile to learn it. Though I did have a friend in university who used Colemak I believe (could have been something even more strange), and it was frustrating but fun to learn it in order to troll post stuff on his Facebook and hear him say "what the heck" then commend me for figuring it out.

 

[moon]

In Sweden we mostly use ISO-Nordic layout, which is different from the american ANSI but still is a sort of QWERTY layout as the alphas still match those positions aside from the few special letters we have in Swedish (ÅÄÖ) and some special signs. I'm not sure which countries use ISO instead of ANSI, but the main differences are the number of keys and the shape of the left Shift key and the Enter key.

Either way I type with Swedish set in the OS, but ANSI keycaps haha. It's much easier to find cool looking and not too expensive keycaps if you accept the ANSI than if you stick to ISO Nordic ;)

As for the original question of this thread - no I haven't nor do I plan to try to learn Dvorak or Colemak or something else. QWERTY-ANSI might not be optimal, especially not when typing in Swedish ahah, many of the letters in the center of the keyboard are not commonly used hah... But it's what I'm used to and I don't need to be able to type at record speeds.

I have tried ortho though! That can still be QWERTY, but since the keys are shifted to not be staggered anymore, the whole typing experience changes x)

 

[Devalue]

No. Has never seen a non-QWERTY keyboard in person. Lacks a reason to practice it.

Bonus question: Scored 72 words per minute on the last typing test.