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Switching keyboard layout from Qwerty to Dvorak, is it worth it?

For the last two months I have been using Dvorak, or actually Svdvorak (Dvorak with a Swedish twist). The first two weeks or so were pure frustration. I literally had to force my fingers to press keys that felt completely wrong. Everyday I practiced using the site http://learn.dvorak.nl/ and slowly I became faster.

Today, after using Svdvorak everyday for over two months I feel that my typing speed is pretty okay again. However, my accuracy is still quite bad. I would estimate that I type about 90 - 95% of the characters correctly. Which means that I have to erase and re-type almost every tenth character. Quite frustrating when you have been completely fluent with Qwerty for over 20 years.

In summary, I will continue using the Dvorak keyboard layout, sooner or later I am sure that I will be totally comfortable with it, and already today most of the frustration is gone. However, if you feel totally comfortable with Qwerty today I would recommend that you stick with it. The big advantages with Dvorak is yet to show themselves to me. I suppose it takes a while to re-wire the brain after 20+ years.


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