Colemak keyboard layout

For Colemak, it's on every Linux distro and the Android stock keyboard from 4.0+. It's easily installable on Windows. I don't know about the current status on Mac and iOS.

In January I moved from Qwerty to Colemak, and also from a staggered to a columnar keyboard layout (on a Kinesis keyboard[1]). My Qwerty speed was only 75 wpm and my accuracy was terrible. Also I couldn't touch type - I never learnt to type properly with Qwerty; I just started typing when I was young and developed lots of bad habits. By the time someone tried to teach me how to type properly my habits were too ingrained to change. (Or maybe I was too stubborn -- I also have a strange way of holding a pen.)

Anyway, I decided to change to Colemak, and to learn to touch type properly. I also liked the idea of a columnar layout so I changed to a Kinesis. What's interesting is that because of the physically different keyboards, I actually cannot type in Qwerty on my Kinesis, and I also cannot type in Colemak on my laptop keyboard. This means I have maintained my Qwerty skills.

My current maximum speed is roughly 70 wpm in Colemak, so I am almost at my Qwerty speed after 6 months, although now I can touch type so it's more useful. When I type with Qwerty now, it feels like my hands are flying all over the place. I also feel like I have a lot of room to get faster than I currently am with Colemak.

So even though I have maintained my Qwerty skills, the only reason I need them is because I can't get a laptop with a columnar keyboard. I may end up just biting the bullet and switching to Colemak on that laptop keyboard anyway, though missing the thumb cluster is killer.

One other interesting thing I learnt is that using Colemak on a smartphone completely sucks. Having commonly used keys on the home row on a small touchscreen means that it's much more error prone, as you're hitting the same area on the screen consecutively.

[1]: http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/advantage.htm

Things have gone something like this:

1) Learn Dvorak at a time when I only used my own machines. Stay that way for ~3 years.

During this time, after my typing speed and error rate had reached QWERTY levels, the occasional use of QWERTY on someone else's PC was highly annoying.

2) Spend 2-3 years in jobs involving near-daily use of machines I couldn't switch off QWERTY, but still did most of my work on Dvorak.

A few weeks into this, I was able to use QWERTY effectively again, still typing faster than most people ever can (though slower and more error-prone than I was with Dvorak).

3) Go back to exclusively using my own machines for ~2 years.

After a while, annoying to use QWERTY, but not nearly as bad as during period #1.

4) Spend ~9 months in similar situation as #2 again.

After a while, same as 2, a few weeks in things were pretty OK.

5) Now (for ~2 years), using only my own machines.

Occasional QWERTY is annoying, but even better than during #3.

I only speak English, but I suspect switching between Dvorak and QWERTY is kind of similar to switching between a language you use a lot and one you use a little. Degree of fluency in the little-used language goes up and down based on how much practice you're getting.

That said, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't switch to Dvorak. The efficiency gained on my keyboard layout does not offset the efficiency lost on shared computers.