Allright,
don't get me wrong. It's been two months and I still love my
Dvorak, but in addition to
AU's comment on the
keyboard shortcuts here are a few other things you should know before making the big switch.
- Beware the Catbox and ICQ, IRC or any other place you are used to quickly typing and posting, especially without the use of a spellcheck. You are going to look like a fool, just get used to it.
- Watch those "M"s and "W's The letters "M" and "A" are the only two in the same place on both Dvorak and Querty boards. But "M" and "W" are direct neighbors, and for whatever reason I'm always transposing the two. This is one of the few typos that I continue to make even though I am now quite comfortable on Dvorak.
- Fear DOS unless you have one of those keyboards hardwired for Dvorak. While Windows can easily be configured to use Dvorak, don't plan on that same ease at the C:\> prompt. That being said, I have no problems in the GUI or CLI on my Mandrake 8.0 box.
- If you work on other machines you are going to have a tough time maintaining your superuser suave in front of the newbie you are assisting when you can't even type your password without hitting backspace. Switching between layouts is no big deal, but at first it takes a minute to get reaccquainted with Qwerty. If you switch systems often, you'll have no troubles.
- It's maddening for the first few days. You've probably forgotten how tough learning to type was way back when. Dvorak will remind you. Your hands will ache from the constant strain of searching for the proper keys. Don't expect to be able to jump right in without a loss of productivity. But I found noding to be the perfect, low priority way to learn the new layout.
There you have it...the major hurdles of learning Dvorak. Don't underestimate that "M"/"W" thing!! But if you like logic, you'll like Dvorak. I expect that in another month or two I will be able to safely say that it has increased my speed and decreased my typos fairly significantly. Plus there is a serious coolness/geekiness factor that goes along with Dvorak...enjoy it.