Response: The Dvorak Keyboard Layout
3 Jun 2006This is in response to Christer Edwards recent post about starting to try out the Dvorak keyboard layout.
I haven’t used Dvorak layout for a few years now. This is not because I don’t want to, but simply because I don’t have any convenient keyboards for it at this time. By that, I mean I have been using my notebooks so heavily and just haven’t taken the time to brush up on the Dvorak layout.
However, I hope to fix the keyboard situation soon. I want to get the Kinesis Contour Keyboard, which I used for several months back in 2002. They are awesome! Pricey? Well, yes, but well worth it.
The Kinesis Contour keyboard is thicker than a standard keyboard, but has a slightly smaller width and only a little more depth than a standard keyboard. Basically, it has the same footprint as a standard keyboard with a reasonable wrist rest and is significantly more comfortable to use.
I started by using it in QWERTY mode, which let me get used to the feel of the keyboard and the layout of the keys. Things like the <BACKSPACE> and <ENTER> keys take a little getting used to. I found that it only took me about one day to get that down. At the end of a week, I was going so much faster with that keyboard that I had easily made up for the “lost” productivity during those first couple of days.
Then I switched the keyboard to Dvorak mode. The best way to learn the Dvorak layout was to print out the keyboard guide, tape it to the bottom of my monitor and never look down.
On a standard QWERTY keyboard, I can get up to around 115wpm typing and in some cases, I’ve even been faster. On the Kinesis Contour keyboard, I was doing a maximum of around 150wpm. Those were maximum numbers which, for me, only occur when I am writing original information, like a letter or blog entry. Still, for coding, I saw an average of 40% improvement in my typing speed.
So, to sum things up, for those of you thinking about trying the Dvorak layout, I can highly recommend the Kinesis keyboards, which make it very easy to switch back and forth, plus are simply exceptional keyboards. For those of you who want to stick with QWERTY, I still recommend the Kinesis keybards.
Do you use the Kinesis keyboard with Linux? I’m looking for this information because I’m a Linux user, and I’m thinking of buying a Kinesis Contour Keyboard.
Greetings
marco
Yes, I have used them with Linux without any issues whatsover. I have even used them with the add on foot pedal accessories and such.
Currently, I do not own one of the Kinesis keyboards. I hope to “fix” that soon.
Thank you for your answer. Let me ask some more questions:
- were you using the USB version of the Kinesis Contour Keyboard under Linux?
- does the switching to Dvorak key layout works under Linux?
- did you use the model with the foot pedal (action foot switch) Advantage (TM) Pro USB ()
- under which distribution of Linux did you use the keyboard? and which kernel?
I apologize for making so many questions, but I would like to have a clear picture before buying the keyboard … since it’s expensive.
Thank you in advance
Greetings
marco
You’re welcome. No problem.
1. Used both USB and PS/2, both worked perfectly.
2. Switching to Dvorak is handled by the keyboard itself, so it will work with any OS that can handle the connector (USB or PS/2). And, yes, it did.
3. I used models with and without the foot pedals. They sound cool (and indeed, they are), but I didn’t find it to be something that I would probably use for normal work. Then again, I didn’t get to try it out very much. It was just that my fingers are way faster than my feet.
4. SUSE & Gentoo, myself, though I know people who are using them with many others as well as MacOS X & Windows.
No need to apologize. I completely understand; it is quite an investment in which I know you will be very happy.
HTH.
I finally bought a Kinesis Contour Keyboard Advantage Pro. I’m using it since last Friday: the first impression is very positive! I’m still learning to use it and getting accustomed to the new layout, but I’m quite happy. It works perfectly under SuSE 10.0. Thank you very much for your support and feedbacks.
marco