Dear Aunt TUAW: Help find a Dvorak Keyboard for the Mac

http://www.keyghost.com/qido/

I actually popped off all my MBP keycaps several months ago and rearranged them into Dvorak for a while. Didn't take me long to learn the new key mapping, although I was definitely having to think about each letter as I typed, instead of thinking in words. I'm sure that would have gotten better with just a little more time.

But what made me give up the effort was that the Dvorak layout only took effect once I was logged in. So if I had to reboot for any reason (battery giving up, or applying system updates needing reboots), it was actually extremely difficult to type in my password in QWERTY to log in. :(

Obviously a hardwired Dvorak keyboard would solve that problem. But that's not a real solution for a notebook, at least one that's not desk bound.

Now, when are they going to add Dvorak to iOS?

I've used the dvorak keyboard layout for about a year and a half. I've done a couple things to help make the change easier.
I did what other suggest is to print out a layout and just have it by the monitor for a quick reference.
KB covers would work but I'm not very fond of the keyboard covers.
What I did was switch the physical keys on my MBP and haven't changed them since.
I do touch type but I like the unique look of having all the keys in the dvorak layout.

Also what I found: I have the wired alu keyboard and I switch all the keys but the F and J keys have a different underneath construction (horizontal instead of vertical) so the U and H keys would be sideways if switched. I also made my own Das keyboard from apple's alu keyboard by painting my keycaps with an auto paint and it's still holding up after months. looks badass though ;)

my 2 cents as well.
learn to touch type would by my suggestion. tough when starting out though

welcome to dvorak!!

The whole point of typing Dvorak is to learn to touch-type fast. So don't get a custom keyboard with Dvorak layout key-caps, and don't get stickers either. Just take any keyboard you have, switch to the Dvorak layout in software (System Preferences: Language and Text: Input Sources. Then learn to touch-type without looking at the keys at all.

I've been typing Dvorak since 1988, and I've never ever owned a custom Dvorak hardware keyboard.

I really wanted to switch to Dvorak and even used online typing tutors & a KBCover to learn the basics. But when I pulled the trigger and tried to switch for a whole week I found that, being an IT guy, I was on other user's QWERTY keyboards every single work day which was constantly undermining my Dvorak progress. If I could type solely on my own computer I would be squarely in the Dvorak camp because LOVE the way it feels, the rhythm and flow (my fingers usually hover over the home row key in QWERTY but actually rested on them with Dvorak) . I'd also likely get the keyboard stickers for my MacBook Air because the KCover, while helpful, didn't feel at natural as typing directly on the keys.

I usually just pop the keys off my keyboard and rearrange them. I used to use a butterknife, but I've found that a rigid guitar pick works much better (I had great success recently with a Dunlop Ultex 1.14mm pick -- fairly thick with a nice round tip).

Whatever you do, DON'T try to pop off the keys with a mini-screwdriver (as advised by some YouTube tutorials). I broke my brand-new MBP that way and they had to replace the entire upper case.

Note that on newer unibody keyboards you should pop off the key cap from the left side (top or bottom corner) rather than from the top.

Recommendations:

1.) Turn on the keyboard viewer for Dvorak by going to Language & Text -> Input Sources under System Preferences. Check the Dvorak keyboard of choice. Go to the Keyboard Preference icon and check the box the Show Keyboard & Character Viewer in the menu bar. Select the Show Keyboard Viewer option. This will pop up a visible keyboard that shows what keys you hit when. It's layout changes when you change from standard to Dvorak layouts as well as any other language layouts, etc. This is useful to see what you are doing if you go with one of the blank Das Keyboards or if you want a visual guide while changing the keys.

2) Swap the keycaps! {WARNING - you may break a key - very fragile} You can actually swap the keycaps on all of the aluminum Apple keyboards from wired to wireless including the MacBook / MacBookPro / MacBookAir models. This was much easier on the old fashioned keyboards but the new Apple low profile chick-let keyboards are quite a bit trickier. Here is a starter guide:

http://skeltoac.com/2007/10/22/apple-keyboard-aluminum-keycap-removal/ - be sure to look at the pictures in depth by clicking them. Note the Flickr highlighted notes on the pictures. Very useful.

(This is actually nice as well, except for the annoying dance music, hit Mute)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gmv-xbxWPc
Checkout further related videos.

(Note newest MacBook Air keyboard may be entirely different design)

Tip: Buy an extra Apple Keyboard in case you break a keycap... Go slow be extremely careful and gentle. Let you index fingernail grow a bit or get a girl to help you! ;-) a plastic membership card or other super thin laminated card may be helpful but a fingernail is more precise.

Tip2: Always start at the top of the key and never the bottom or you will break the plastic clips or the scissor mechanism underneath. Pry and lift at the top but press down at the bottom. Rock the key back once you release it from the top and bottom clips. It hooks into the bottom scissor take special care when rocking it back, the first linked article recommends tipping the keyboard upside down and shaking it to release the loose keycap.

Tip3: If you had a moron in the factory mis-assemble the keys you might break one. i.e. put the scissor in at 90 degrees instead of vertically, it's in horizontally. As you pry with your fingernail, try moving to the top left or right corner and lift there. Don't go fast, be very slow. If the scissor is in the wrong way you could break the keycap or scissor. If you sense it's wrong, try to gently figure out if the right or left side lifts easier than the top. (seems the keyboards are hand assembled by Chinese workers instead of by a machine, so the scissors may very well not all be in the same position).

Tip4: Shift keys and the spacebar are especially tricky, be very careful and slow. Don't remove any keycaps you don't need to. You won't need to remove the space, shift, caps lock, function keys, etc. to switch to Dvorak.

Awesome suggestions.

The Dvorak layout is indeed comfortable, logical, and conducive for speedy typing, but will never see much adoption beyond its astute Martian followers.

But the innovations in modern touch-driven input systems, like Swype for Android, show that maybe the QWERTY's dominance is faltering.

Better than all this is to get a dvorak keyboard cover for either an apple keyboard or a MacBook Air/Pro/etc. from http://www.kbcovers.com/servlet/Categories?category=Dvorak