While I enjoyed using the Dvorak keyboard layout when I briefly tried installing it on my computer a few years ago (IIRC, I could type ~70wpm after a few hours' practice with a keyboard chart in front of me) I found that many ctrl-key shortcuts really didn't work so well anymore. For example, the "edit quartet" of ctrl-z,x,c, and v which are handily located at the lower-left of the QWERTY keyboard, end up all over the place on Dvorak.

What I'd like would be to have the keyboard layout set up so that: (1) the keyboard would function in a Dvorak layout except for ctrl-key combinations, which would use the QWERTY layout; and (2) the now-useless "CAPS-LOCK" key would toggle between Dvorak and QWERT mode for the non-ctrl-key letters.

Anyone else like those ideas? Anyone know of a Windows-hacking program to achieve them?
-- supercat, Jun 26 2001

layout changer http://www.webone.c...jkmclean/layout.zip
After reading this idea, I baked it. I'd been thinking about the same problem for a while, but your message encouraged me to actually do something about it.
Thanks. [beerhunter, Jan 10 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Keyboard Layout Manager http://www.klm.freeservers.com/
Program mentioned in solution in the notes. [gazpachoking, Oct 04 2004]

It seems like the best solution is to customize the keys for cut/copy/paste/undo. Unfortunately, this can't be done for the interface nightmare that is most Windows software.
-- bookworm, Jun 26 2001


This idea is somewhat baked; MacOS has a keyboard layout which is Dvorak except when using the command key.
-- PurpleBob, Oct 20 2001


I found another way to accomplish this under windows without having a program running. Use the program "Keyboard Layout Manager" and make a new layout based on the QWERTY layout. If you modify it to be the dvorak layout, but don't click Resolve VKs the virtual keycodes will remain in the QWERTY layout, allowing you to use the normal ctrl or windows key shortcuts.
-- gazpachoking, May 09 2004


Would that solution include the [shift] key? (Thus making capital letters an issue?)
-- Detly, May 09 2004


When you set up the layout you also define what shifted keys do. I have been using this solution for a while now and I havn't found any problems.
-- gazpachoking, May 09 2004


Why is Caps Lock useless? I use it every day when entering pages of all-capitalised strings.

Now Scroll Lock, there's a key with little modern use.
-- reap, May 09 2004



random, halfbakery