Fastest Keyboard Layout - Switch now - Why? See Detail below | Sites to learn DVORAK given

http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/Dvorak/

The Dvorak Keyboard

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The Dvorak keyboard, named for its inventor, Dr. August Dvorak, was designed with the goal of maximizing typing efficiency. For over a century, typists have been using the qwerty keyboard arrangement, a hack that was implemented to work around the mechanical limitations of early typewriters.

Contrary to popular opinion, the qwerty design was not actually invented to slow typists down. Rather, the layout was intended to place common two-letter combinations on opposite sides of the keyboard. On manual typewriters, each key is mechanically connected to a lever that has the reversed image of a letter on it. If a typist were to hit two keys on the same side of the keyboard in rapid succession, the second lever on its way up would hit the first on its way down, the keys would become stuck together, and the typist would have to stop typing and unstick the keys. The qwerty layout was a clever design that minimized this problem. However, now that most of us use computers (or electric typewriters that don't use levers), the problem of keys jamming is no longer a consideration. Also, computers now enable us to switch layouts while continuing to use the same equipment.

Most people learn to type on a qwerty keyboard. New typists learn the qwerty arrangement because that's most likely what they'll encounter on the existing equipment they'll be using; new equipment is standardized to the qwerty arrangement because that's what the vast majority of us know. Most people are reluctant to switch because they're afraid of how long it will take them to learn the new arrangement, and of the additional effort of having to switch layouts on all of the equipment they might encounter.

http://www.gigliwood.com/abcd/

The Dvorak Keyboard is a major improvement over the QWERTY layout, which was designed to slow people's typing speed! Learning it may increase your typing speed, and even reduce the risk of repetitive strain injuries.

With the aid of some interesting parsing techniques, I have devised a typing course which, much like the tutors of the QWERTY keyboard, starts you out on the home rows and gradually has you learning the entire keyboard. With a Dvorak keyboard, you can type fairly interesting words fairly quickly. (Anybody remember lessons like "a sad lass; a dad falls" ?)

I have been interested in the Dvorak keyboard layout for some time, but never was able to find a typing tutor that properly taught this layout. I even bought a piece of commercial software that claimed to teach the Dvorak layout. But all they did was remap the keys and teach the same old QWERTY lessons. Yuck.

For the curious, or for reference, here is a picture of the keyboard layout. Notice how the commonly used keys are in the "home" rows and the more obscure letters are harder to reach.

Some more sites for info : the list given on http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/Dvorak/

http://www.thisistrue.com/dvorak.html
http://www-acs.ucsd.edu/~jstrout/dvorak/dvorak.html
http://www.cse.ogi.edu/~dylan/dvorak/dvorak.html
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/park/9283/dvorak.html
http://www.arlido.com/zijianhuang/kpe.html
ftp://gulag.gu.uwa.edu.au/pub/alt-keyboards/

I have combined info from couple of sites. Provided you with video also. Though, not mine but the references are strong enough to switch to DVORAK layout sooner than later. Safe yourself from RSI ( Repitative strain injury )

Take care. Life is not a matter of choice. It's a sticky clip.

http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/Dvorak/history.html

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