General info:
I use Windows 7, Linux (mint), and Mac OS X (occasionally.. i don't know which version).
I used keyhero and fastfingers to average my typing speed. (104wpm for qwerty)
I had been using qwerty for about 5-6 years prior to switching.

So the title is a bit misleading since I was already using an alternate layout before switching to Colemak, but I have pretty much adjusted to colemak now and feel that it was definitely worth the switch.

I've been remapping keys and using what seems to be referred to as an "extend layer" here for a long time (with touch cursor, then with an ahk script, and now with pkl; still using xmodmap on linux), but I only found out that people actually use totally different keyboard layouts a few months ago. It was kind of mind-blowing. I was kind of angered that I never was told about other layouts when I learned QWERTY. I never even considered the design with regards to efficiency, ergonomics, speed, etc. Qwerty should have died in the 19th or 20th century. :D

So after looking into keyboard layout for a while (Dvorak was the first that popped up) and finding carpalx, I quickly became disenchanted with qwerty. I was worried about how it would affect my performance to switch though, so I decided to try to learn a partially optimized layout to see if I actually noticed any big difference. My primary reason for switching was for the reduced movement and better design, but speed was also a factor (my previous speed with qwerty was 104wpm on average).

I used 2-3 key swap/cycles for a few weeks to learn a slightly modified version of a keyboard layout called CarpalxQ. After about 1.5-2 months I was at 84wpm. Immediately after the first couple key swaps, I noticed a difference. This is totally subjective and might have just been placebo, but it definitely felt like my fingers were moving away from the home row a lot less and just felt... better (qwerty feels like a total mess when I type on it now). It also seemed to get easier to adjust as I progressed (time in between swaps started at 6 days and decreased from there significantly). It pretty much took no conscious effort and I devoted no special practice to it (I do type a lot). My hands don't hurt anymore (I type a lot). This makes me happy. Colemak is the key to happiness.

Since the right hand home row for carpalxq is the same as colemak, and I had liked the switch, I decided to just go for colemak (more widely used.. linux has it as an option). I changed all the right hand keys in one day and then changed all the left hand keys the next day. It took me less time than before to adjust (maybe because I was very used to key changes at this time). I'd say this was definitely easier and less bothersome to do than I have seen it made out to be (I had read some blog about it taking half a year for some guy to learn).

I'd highly recommend colemak to anyone interested who is open to change (try tarmak and I've found it's best to think before you type at first when switching; even if you don't, you'll notice the mistake of course and have to think about it after making a mistake). Colemak has only been an improvement on my experience with carpalxq. After 2 weeks I'm back at ~80wpm (not as fast as before, but I hope to be even faster once I get totally used to it). Even if you think that the benefits are meager, I think that the change was so easy (at least for me) that it would be worth it even with less benefit.

I can still type with qwerty, albeit slower (and I have to look at the keyboard). I haven't encountered a situation where I need to use qwerty yet though (even on other people's computers on various operating systems). Even if I ever am prevented from using a software solution, I would invest in a hardware solution (I might end up buying a Poker II anyway).

My conclusions:
•Colemak/carpalxq took much less time to learn than I thought they would
•I had pain with qwerty. I do not have pain with colemak
•I feel like I have potential for much greater speed with colemak than I did for qwerty
•Colemak feels better and is an attack on mindless herd conformity!
•Colemak is available in essentially any situation (and with some practice, qwerty will still be very usable)

Future goals:
•I still need to improve my familiarity with the layout (occasionally hit keys for where the letter used to be)
•Increase typing speed to at least 120wpm
•More extend layers (currently experimenting with multiple ahk scripts) and more functionality; reposition altgr
•maybe switch to an angle and/or wide mod
•maybe try out non-staggered keyboards and ergo keyboards like ergodox; get a decent mechanical keyboard
•get my "extend layer" to work fully with Linux (right now control is buggy :()
Very much into future- learn steno

Special thanks to DreymaR and lalop for drawing me to this forum after I decided to switch to colemak and getting me obsessed with this stuff.

Let me know what you think :)