[joshkaufman]

I've been a happy Colemak user since 2012. One of the first things I do when I get a new computer is rearrange the physical keys, which is a significant advantage of Apple non-butterfly keyboards. [1]

Aside from less overall movement while typing, Colemak keeps many common keyboard shortcuts the same. The first few hours are very frustrating, but the overall time-to-competence is short. There's a lot of upside and little downside.

I wrote about the process of learning Colemak in my book on skill acquisition, and posted a summary of the process and the tools/techniques I used on the book's website. [2]

[1] https://twitter.com/joshkaufman/status/1334632614368583680

[2] https://first20hours.com/typing/

[Faaak]

You should _not_ rearrange the keys when learning a new layout, because then you won't train your muscular memory and it will be worse in the end

[frosted-flakes]

Having to resort to trial-and-error to find the correct key is painful and completely debilitating. You can still develop muscle memory if the labels are correct.

[arh68]

You're so right about [1], when possible. I should've rearranged them years ago on this mid-2012 MBA 11" .. maybe I should actually do that, today. I'm quite used to 104-key qwerty boards, but if all my keyboards could say aoeui they totally would.

For those chiding the practice, it's not for beginners-still-learning, it's for actual-years-running-users trying to type one-handed once in a while.

As for looking at a qwerty keyboard from a dvorak mindset, I'd say dvorak "wins" in my head like my right eye's image wins over my left. I look down and "see" aoeui .. pyf .. dhtns. But it's still confusing.

The programmer in me wants a numpad for () [] {} +-/*^% &c. (Do any exist, off the shelf, I wonder?)