Hi guys,
I'm a veteran Dvorak user, and recently I decided to take the plunge and switch to Colemak.
However, I now discovered the following combination of technical problems:
1. In remote desktop the layout gets switched to qwerty.
2. Installing Colemak on the remote servers is not an option.
3. Remapping the keys using the registry or AutoHotKey works for the remote servers, but also messes up Hebrew (or any other language).
Please help!
When I'm using virtual machines I often put a PortableKeyboardLayout copy on the machine to run at logon (putting a link into the Startup folder). Problem solved for me - hope that can work for you?
If you can't do anything on the remotes, you could always use an "anti-colemak" remapping locally for the server sessions? Again, PKL is what I'd use, switching with the fully configurable hotkeys.
*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
*** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***
Yeah, can't do anything on the remote servers.
What do you mean by "anti-colemak" remapping? And will that not interfere when using other languages?
You're saying that AutoHotkey works. PKL uses AHK so that should work too. Never mind what I said about 'anti-Colemak', I may have confused myself there. ;)
Yes, a PKL remapping will interfere with the other language(s) but since I can switch layouts using for example Ctrl+Shift+2 (or anything you like really) that's not a biggie - unless you're switching languages every minute?
*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
*** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***
So you're basically saying to use PKL's remapping, and use its hotkey to disable it when needing to switch layout to another language?
I suppose that can work, though it's annoying to have to use two keyboard shortcuts to make each switch.
Maybe I can combine them into one? Hmm...
EDIT: On second thought, I could use the regular Colemak install for local work, and have PKL running in the background, turning it on only for remote work.
Not very elegant, but possible.
Yes, if you have two layouts in PKL you can use the "switch layout" key both back and forth. You can use different tray icons to tell you which one is active.
Or you can use the suspend hotkey with one layout.
*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
*** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***
The problem with that is Hebrew's right-to-left vs English's left-to-right.
I don't have Hebrew in my PKL install so I can't check, but I think it uses the current Windows direction.
This means I have to use built-in Windows layouts for proper direction, and then use PKL on top of it.
So, currently:
Windows layouts: Colemak, Hebrew
PKL layout: Colemak (active only for remote work)
