Alternative keyboard layouts

Hey everyone,
So I was considering making the move from QWERTY to a keyboard layout that's a little more efficient, so I thought I'd take a poll to see
who is using what kind of keyboard layout and why. I'm curious about Dvorak, programmer's Dvorak, and colemak, and have been researching each of their individual pros and cons. I'm thinking Dvorak sounds like the best out of all of the above, but colemak sounds relatively intregueing as well. so what's your opinion?

Just to let everybody know I am now 28 years old. I first learned how to type in typing class in junior high. I was using the Qwerty layout. The only nice thing I can say about the Qwerty layout is that it's available at any computer you want to use without any configuration.
Then I looked online for a better way to type and more efficient. That's when I learned about Dvorak keyboard layout. This was about four years ago. I stuck with it for about two years. I felt my right hand was doing a lot more typing than my left hand. It felt too lopsided for me. But that's just my opinion. I went on the hunt for something better than Dvorak and I found the glorious Colemak keyboard layout.
I have been typing with it ever since. My hands are a lot more comfortable and I can type faster now. It took me a month to actually get comfortable with the keyboard layout. If you actually go to this Java applet on Colemak's website.
www.colemak.com/Compare
You can just copy and paste a body of text and click on Calculate it will analyze the typing and compare the three different keyboard layouts. I just hope it becomes an ANSI standard like Dvorak has. I hope that happens in the future.
I just want everybody to know there is a third option out there and its great. If ever Colemak goes away I will be going back to Dvorak. I will never learn the Qwerty keyboard layout ever again.
Just wanted to give my two cents worth.

Similar Messages

Alternative keyboard layouts + Speakable Items

Speakable Items is a great idea I'd like to use since I frequently use a tablet to sketch art and am out of reach of the keyboard. For some commands, Speakable Items works great (e.g. "Switch to Safari"), but many commands don't.
This puzzled me, especially since some commands seemed to do something outrageously different than what I command. I cracked open some applescripts to take a look at what was going on, and it appears that Speakable Items makes use of very specific keycodes to emulate keypresses. The problem is the keycodes are only valid when using a standard U.S. "qwerty" layout. I use "dvorak", so pretty much all of the commands that utilize key mappings will fail.
I'm not a lazy man, but I am quite busy. I would love to go through and modify the scripts to use the correct key codes if I had the time, but alas, it seems I am at the mercy of Apple fixing this unexpected bug in their software when ever they feel like it. There doesn't seem to be any place on the Apple web site to submit bug reports ala "Bugzilla", which is a shame. The only workaround I can think of is to temporarily switch back to a "qwerty" layout when ever one wants to issue commands, but this is a kludgey solution at best.
So, if you ever wondered why Speakable Items would not work, and you're using a different keyboard layout, now you know.

You can report the problem by emailing [email protected] with details. If you have an apple developers connection account you can report it at bugs.apple.com if I recall the address correctly. Please email the feedback address even if it seems futile - they probably won't reply but they do pay some attention to the messages. Since it's an accessibility related one, you could also report it to [email protected] where you're more likely to get some answer!
r

Arabic Alternative Keyboard Layouts Not Working/Missing on iOS4

hi,
I have two iPhone 4s, one running 4.0.1 and the other on 4.0.2, both have the same issue when selecting the QWERTY or PC keyboard layouts for Arabic they do not change and remain the same as the default layout. please sort this one out!
thanks

I have two iPhone 4s, one running 4.0.1 and the other on 4.0.2, both have the same issue when selecting the QWERTY or PC keyboard layouts for Arabic they do not change and remain the same as the default layout.
The QWERTY and PC layouts are only available when you are using a hardware keyboard. Is that what you are doing?
please sort this one out!
You are just talking to other users like yourself here. To ask Apple to fix something, use the channel they have set up for that:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

Setting up alternative keyboard layout

I sometimes use a Russian keyboard and I'd like to get that set up. What packages do I need to install, and is there a wiki article that outlines how to go about setting that up?

when in X, you can switch between layouts with 'setxkblayout us' or whatever you want to set it to.
for most window-managers there's a taskbar-applet so you can easily click it.

Missing alternative international keyboard layout

Hi, there is no internationalization discussion group, so this is probably most closely related, sorry if not:
Most of the Central European keyboards in OS X feature besides QWERTZ layout also QWERTY layout, where such a layout is in practice (e.g. Czech). However, there is no QWERTY layout for Slovak language even though this layout is widely used in the country. This odd nonsense makes OS X poorly accessible for a great portion of people - it's a years lasting pain. QWERTY and QWERTZ layouts differ just inone swapped letter ZY.
Question: can this tiny feature make its way into next OS release? How to approach Apple staff with this?
Thank you!
Mac OS X (10.4)

However, there is no QWERTY layout for Slovak
language even though this layout is widely used in
the country. This odd nonsense makes OS X poorly
accessible for a great portion of people - it's a
years lasting pain. QWERTY and QWERTZ layouts differ
just inone swapped letter ZY.
Try downloading the SlovakQWERTY.rsrc file from this page and see if it works right for you:
http://homepage.mac.com/thgewecke/fs/FileSharing9.html
If not, let us know the exact problems, and we can try to fix them. Making custom keyboards for OS X is usually quite simple.
You put this file in Home/Library/Keyboard Layouts, then logout/login, check its box in System Prefs/International/Input Menu, then select in the "flag" menu at the top right of the Finder.
For internationalization questions it is better to use the Using Tiger forum:
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=758
This one is for features designed to help users with vision, hearing and motor skills disabilities.

Multiple Libraries / Keyboard Layout folders?

Howdy All -
Because Mac doesn't ship w/ a proper Arabic keyboard, I made one using ukelele. I added this to my old MacBook. So far so good. I bought an Air in the spring, transferred my account from the MacBook - no problems (ahem, related to the keyboard layouts).
However, I wanted to share this keyboard layout with friends and colleages (the world!), but when I navigate to my user's "Keyboard Layout" folder in Library, there is only a layout I recently designed. Is there another place I might find the other layouts I made previously (& that are still listed in Language preferences)?
I seem to recall both a "local" and "global" Keyboard Layouts folder in 10.6: if I added a keyboard layout to the global folder, then all users had access to it. But if I added it to the local folder, only that particular user could access it. But I can't find any such alternative layout folder.
Thanks in advance for your help!
All the best,
Rax

Your problem is that Home/Library is not visible in Lion without some special effort. See
http://tidbits.com/article/12306
I would be interested in having a copy of your layout, I have made a couple myself to fix various issues, e.g.
http://m10lmac.blogspot.com/2009/11/os-x-106-switching-arabic-pc-keyboard.html

Bulgarian Phonetic Keyboard Layout on iPad

Hello Apple guys.
The iPad is great. I love it - so do more are more people from Bulgaria.
I was very disappointed to see that it lacks Bulgarian Phonetic Keyboard Layout.
When can we expect to have Bulgarian Phonetic Keyboard Layout available for iPad?
A keyboard layout which is already available in iPod Touch 1g, 2g, 3g, iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3Gs and ( I hope) in iPhone 4 as well.
It doesn't seem like something very difficult to include Bulgarian Phonetic Keyboard Layout in iPad as well.
When can we expect to have Bulgarian Phonetic Keyboard Layout available for iPad?
Thank you.

Please can anyone who needs Bulgarian Phonetic Keyboard to use the link bellow to provide feedback and request Bulgarian Keyboard with Phonetic Layout.
The lack of Bulgarian keyboard really limits the use of the iPad for me. I have to use my PC for anything that requires typing in Bulgarian...
So far I have not been able to find alternative solution or even an app to satisfy this lack of functionality...

How can i disable Illustrator from changing my language / keyboard layout.

I have an azerty laptop and a qwerty external keyboard. Switching from any application to illustrator changes the language and therefore also my keyboard layout. No other application does this.

Thanks for the reply Mike
But i have a laptop with azerty layout (Belgian) and an external qwerty keyboard (Brittish).
So i need both languages selected in the System Pref >> Keyboard >> Input source
When "Brittish" is selected and i switch from Apple Mail to Photoshop to Skype to Chrome to ... it all works fine.
Only when i switch to Illustrator it also changes my language/layout from "Brittish" to "Belgian" and stays like that. I need to manually change it back in the menu in Finder.
I like the brittish better (with a qwerty keyboard) because of the shortcuts (eg. sqare brackets -> shortcuts for order in Illustrator are not even on an azerty (Belgian) keyboard).
Any idea?
b.

Exchange a brand new computer because of the keyboard layout ?

Hi !
I'm currently in Finland for work, and I bought a Macbook Air, it's brand new so.
But I didn't thought of the keyboard layout, which is of course Finnish;
Do you think I can exchange this MBA with a one with the correct layout back in my country;
Or is it better to return this MBA here, and buy a new one once I'm home ?
I'd like to be able to return or exchange the MBA in my country, is the refund/exchange policy international ?
Thanks

The European law state you have anyway a 7 day open box return policy for this kind of product, I think I'll go to the store and ask if they can exchange it for one with international/US keyboard or give me a refund if they havn't got one.
I got a callback appointement with Apple Support France tomorrow (my country) to ask them if it's possible to use the warranty to exchange layout. But as you said, I don't think it's possible since the keyboard is working perfectly fine..

Problem with Mail and customized keyboard layout

I have created a customized keyboard layout in XML, it loads and works perfectly with all applications except Apple Mail. I noticed on a googlegroup that somebody has the same problem. How can I submit this Mail bug to Apple?

download and run Find Any File to search for "Antidote".
FAF can search areas that Spotlight can't like invisible folders, system folders and packages. Any file you find will be in the search results window and can be dragged to the Desktop and then to the Trash bin.
OT

Bug report: A keyboard layout is incorrect on the remote with Japanese keyboard

This is a bug report for Microst Remote Desktop
===================================================
## Summary
A keyboard layout is incorrect on the remote with Japanese keyboard
## Version Information, I tested
* Client
   * Case 1
       * MacBook Pro with JIS106 Keyboard
       * Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5
       * Microsoft Remote Desktop 8.0.24308
   * Case 2
       * MacBook Pro with JIS106 Keyboard
       * Mac OS X Mavericks 10.9.1
       * Microsoft Remote Desktop 8.0.24308
* Remote
   * Case 1
       * Windows 7 Professional Japanese
   * Case 2
       * Windows Server 2008R2 Datacenter Japanese
   * Case 3
       * Windows Server 2012R2 Datacenter Japanese
## Detail of bug
When login from Mac OS X with Microsoft Remote Desktop, the keyboard layout is always incorrect on the remote.
The client machine have a built-in keyboard of JIS 106 layout,
and the primary language is set to Japanese.
But on the remote, the keyboard layout is US 101.
So a input of Shift+2 does not result " but @.
I've seen the above behavior on the 3 remote enviornments described the above.
This bug did not occcur with Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac 2.1.1, even if the system language is English and keyboard layout is Japanese.
## Captures
I've took some of screen captures.
I'm sorry for the capture includes Japanese words, so I added description in English.
Capture 1:
Mac OS X Keyboard Setting
Capture 2:
Windows Server 2012R2 Screen Keyboard
Capture 3:
Windows Server 2012R2 Screen Keyboard, with a additional registry key configured.

This bug also affects the Canadian English settings. If the client is set to Canadian English with a US keyboard the remote server is setup using a Canadian French keyboard. Using the language selection in the toolbar you can temporarily correct
the problem but the keyboard resets to french at the most inopportune times. The was a problem in the earlier RDP client and was fixed so it's sad to see it reoccur in the new client.
Lawrence

Bug report: A keyboard layout is incorrect on the remote with Hungarian and other "exotic" keyboard layouts

This is a bug report for Microst Remote Desktop
===================================================
## Summary
A keyboard layout is incorrect on the remote with Hungarian keyboard
## Version Information, I tested
* Client
   * Case 1
       * MacBook Pro with HU101 Keyboard
* Locale: Hungarian
       * Mac OS X Maverics 10.9.2
       * Microsoft Remote Desktop 8.0.6
* Remote
   * Case 1
       * Windows Server 2003 R2 (English)
   * Case 2
       * Windows Server 2008 R2 (English)
   * Case 3
       * Windows 8.1 (Hungarian)
## Detail of bug
When I connect to the listed remotes the client sets the keyboard layout to Latvian which is a completely different layout than Hungarian (not even close...).
- On Windows 8 if I set the language on the login screen it stays on that language after the login.
- On Windows Server 2003R2 and 2008R2 even if I set the language at login it will switch back to LV after the login.
## Attachments
Unfortunately cannot include my shots because I'm not allowed to do this...
## End of report
Please allow the users to set the correct "target" language on connection basis because the automatic method the app use to determine that is unreliable.

Hi,
Thanks for the feedback.
I will forward this to the product team.
Thanks.
Jeremy Wu
TechNet Community Support

DW CS5.5 Keyboard Layout BUG?! Help pls

When I startup DW, and switch keyboard layout in CODE VIEW from eng to rus or from rus to eng all ok, window focus stay on CODE VIEW and I may write code perfectly, but after uses some any Snippet or simply open Snippet panel (SHIFT+F9) and then close .. I have big trouble, now when I switch keyboard layout I lose focus from CODE VIEW every time! and i must click left mouse button on code writing area to continue writing.. it very not comfortable.
U can try make this steps:
1. Run DW
2. press SHIFT + F9
3. Try to write some CODE
4. Now I press CTRL+SHIFT (keyboard switch) and lose MyFocus.. every time
I think u understand my trouble, PLS tell what i can do to resolve this.
sor for bad eng.

Perhaps I'm not following your logic. But why must you work with remote images?
Let's say your products page is uploaded to https://yourDomain.com/
and your local images are in an images folder that uploads to https://yourDomain.com/images/
Given that workflow, everything will be on the secure server so there is no reason to use remotely hosted images during development.
Nancy O.

Keyboard layout switching not working

i use xfce4 and i created /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "Keyboard Defaults"
MatchIsKeyboard "yes"
Option "XkbLayout" "us, ar"
Option "XkbOptions" "grp:alt_shift_toggle"
EndSection
but it's not working.
xfce4 has a program called Keyboard in settings menu, i used it it gives the ability to add another language but it doesnt has a switching capability.

I don't use keyboard layout switch through xorg.conf because it stops to work sometimes(if i use setxkbmap for example).
So i am using setxkbmap in .xinitrc.
setxkbmap -model pc105 \
-layout "de,ru" \
-variant "basic,phonetic" \
-option -option "grp:sclk_toggle, grp_led:scroll, terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp, caps:none"
and "kbdd" for remembering layout for each window.
Change it to your needs or check the arch wiki about xorg.conf.d .

Unable to change keyboard layout for all users on Windows Server 2012 R2

Hi,
I have a requirement where I need to support national keyboard layout for Danish for all users on that machine. When I ran the powershell with script Set-WinUserLanguageList
-LanguageList da-DK it only sets the Danish keyboard layout to the specific logged in user.However the for other users its same English(US) keyboard which is not expected.
Please help me how to set the Danish keyboard for all users on the machine. Its Urgent!Thanks

Hi Mike,
Thanks for reply.
But I need to configure everything using powershell script. Is it possible to use powershell script to setting group policy/ adding logon script ?
These are pretty basic administration tasks and almost always quicker to accomplish with the GUI. Why do you want to use a PowerShell script?
EDIT: Here's some information on the topic however:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc781361%28v=ws.10%29.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2011/01/06/use-powershell-and-group-policy-for-your-logon-script.aspx
Don't retire TechNet! -
(Don't give up yet - 13,225+ strong and growing)

Alternative keyboard layouts

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