@knightjp, when I decided to finally learn to touch type, I thought I may as well use an alternative layout, I had heard of Dvorak.  I looked about, suddenly found out there were loads of others, and read the hype about Colemak.  Colemak is aimed primarily at Qwerty touch typists.  I wasn't a Qwerty touch typist - so the radical change of Dvorak wasn't an issue for me.  Plus I'd been mousing with the left hand.  So didn't care about the shortcuts.   Plus Dvorak at the time was (and still is) more accessible as it was an option already in many OSs.  I jump between machines - so didn't want issues there.  Since then I haven't had much compulsion to change,  I havn't really seen any compelling evidence for Colemak being a better layout.   There are positive annecdotes here in the forum though, and there are a few Dvorak->Colemak converts.  As I've mentioned, I had some physical issues, and that's what drove me to touch type with Dvorak in the first place.  As I havn't touch typed with Qwerty, I have no idea if Dvorak is better or not!  And I'd be worried about regressing, by switching to another layout, as my typing is still coming along.  My primary concern is that of comfort.  My physical issues are up in my neck/shoulder, and it's only since I've started to touch type that I've had any problems with my wrists/fingers - so I could attribute that to Dvorak.  Or I could attribute that to touch typing, or I could attribute that to typing more than I did in the past.  Or bad technique.  Who knows.  In the future I might have a go at learning a little Qwerty if anything.

If the ctrl + Z X C V could be done by another means on a mac w/o mapping, I'd switch to dvorak and left hand mousing. It looks to me to be the most ergonomic solution while using normal hardware (keyboards + mice).
Something I should look into I guess.
Dvorak being on every machine standard, is one of the reasons I've still got second thoughts. Maybe a Colemak typist should take the record for the fastest typist. Maybe then Microsoft would consider adding it as an option on Windows.
If that was to happen, that would seal the deal for me.

Ok, I'm on it. Just give me a couple of weeks. I'm a bit lazy...

I took the plunge from Dvorak to Colemak, but I don't think there's any provable benefit in comfort or speed from that change. I did it because I was adventurous and liked the advantages of Colemak. I'll readily recommend anyone to do the same but only if they're up for a challenge and think it'll be fun to do (or at least, have done). Even if I enjoyed the benefits of the change I don't really think they were worth it in hard efficiency terms.

If all I wanted to do were to type fast and conveniently (not ergonomically!), I might have been better off training with QWERTY after all. But who wants that, hehe!?!

@knightjp, Perhaps it's all in the approach.  I personally still can't get comfortable when typing, even with an alternative layout.  It might just be that the standard keyboard is the main problem here.

I'll bet that you have a twist in your left wrist.  It's really hard to get out of the habit.  And I feel it under Dvorak - even with the low load on the left hand.  Though perhaps shifting the board off centre, takes some of that twist away?

A few pics of my setup. Probably not as impressive as most guys on here.

Albert 1

Albert screen 1

Albert screen 2

I needed both hands for the camera. LOL

Seen the "Truly Ergonomic" keyboard, is a great one, but its layout makes the entire reason for choosing Colemak over Dvorak redundant. Look at the location of the Cmd / Windows button. I kinda believe its me & not the keyboard at fault. After all, I need to make progress & as the old saying goes, "No pain, No Gain." :)

I'm not one for making too many alterations. After all, the entire point is to use an option and setup that will be almost identical both at work and at home, that will be ergonomic and will use existing hardware as is (as much as possible).

Here is a good question. We know of many users who have turned from dvorak to colemak, but are there any instances of users going the other way around?

:)

Using the Extend layer there is less need for on-the-fly mousing. It also makes a tenkeyless board a more viable solution, but unfortunately I don't have one myself.