I switched to Dvorak originally because I wanted to learn how to touchtype and using Dvorak meant that I couldn't cheat by looking at the keyboard. We're now almost 15 years later and I don't regret my choice, I don't know if typing in Dvorak is really faster than QWERTY but it definitely feels very comfortable. That's a very significant functional difference, most of the typing in Dvorak occurs around the home row. When you type for hours every day it's well worth the switch IMO. Get a good ergonomic keyboard while you're at it.

That being said if I anybody reading this is tempted to switch away from QWERTY towards a more ergonomic layout I'd suggest looking into Colemak, it's supposed to be at least as ergonomic as Dvorak while being closer to the standard QWERTY layout.

I also endorse the switch to Dvorak -- I find it more comfortable (less finger movement feels calmer). I can also switch between keyboard layouts within a few conscious keystrokes, after that the 'muscle memory' takes over.

I suspect Colemak is better, but it's a much smaller gain going from Dvorak to Colemak than from Qwerty to Dvorak, so I'll stick to what I have. Otherwise I suspect Colemak is better than Dvorak when switching from QWERTY.

>I suspect Colemak is better, but it's a much smaller gain going from Dvorak to Colemak than from Qwerty to Dvorak, so I'll stick to what I have.

Yeah I'm in the same boat, that's why I was mainly aiming my comment at people using QWERTY and looking to switch to a better layout. Even the Colemak people acknowledge that:

https://colemak.com/FAQ#Is_it_worth_switching_from_Dvorak_to...

> The Colemak keyboard layout fixes all the issues mentioned above, and wins in virtually every criterion, but the difference will be less noticeable than the difference between QWERTY and Dvorak. The switch won't be as easy for veteran Dvorak users. If you're generally happy with Dvorak, you should probably stick with it.

The FAQ also has an interesting list of "what's wrong with the Dvorak layout" which might be of interest for people looking to learn it: https://colemak.com/FAQ#What.27s_wrong_with_the_Dvorak_layou...

As someone that can type QWERTY and Colemak pretty equally well, I’m not convinced in my experience that alternative keyboard layouts are significantly more comfortable than QWERTY (speed aside). Comfort greatly is noticeable if you’re transcripting at high speeds frequently (typing tests) but is otherwise questionable.

Layout switchers have some bias here because they don’t type as well in QWERTY anymore or they didn’t touch type QWERTY.

> Comfort greatly is noticeable if you’re transcripting at high speeds frequently (typing tests) but is otherwise questionable.

When I'm writing something that doesn't require a lot of cognitive overhead (typically chatting online, when I may have a lot to say but it's not particularly intellectually demanding and doesn't require a lot of precision or proofreading) I can reach pretty high WPMs.

I'm not convinced that typing speed is always brain-bound outside of typing tests. If I'm telling you about my day at work I'm pretty sure I can just "stream-of-consciousness" directly through the keyboard with very little overhead, especially if I do it in my native French.

I agree with you (though perhaps speed increases become less important after a certain threshold).

I was trying to talk about comfort difference between keyboard layouts anyhow, not the speed difference.

Given the same proficiency level of QWERTY and Dvorak/Colemak, comfort difference would be more noticeable for high intensity / little breaks / long duration activity like typing tests.

Are alternative keyboard layouts significantly more comfortable for practical tasks? I’m skeptical. (Most enthusiasts already agree they aren’t really faster).

I broke my wrist a few years ago, and had to spend a while typing with one hand on a half-qwerty keyboard setup. I took a huge hit to my typing speed, but the rate at which I was getting work done didn't really change.

Noticed the same when I switched to an Alphagrip and could only maintain 50-60wpm.