Hi, Eva, and welcome to the wonderful world of Colemak! (Can I say 'dobro' in Polish?)

I find QWERTY quite easy to use now, after years of Colemak typing. I no longer blind type it, but it doesn't bother me much either after a little bout of confusion.

Probably, you're extra super confused because you changed so recently. If you really need to use QWERTY, put your Colemak on the shelf completely until you have time to get back to it and just type a lot of QWERTY for a day or two. I bet it'll be back with you very quickly. You'll hate it because you now know there's something much better, hehe.

As a Polish user – have you seen the Colemak[eD]polish layouts in my Big Bag Of Tricks? Using Windows we'd have to specify it for PKL if you'd like to use that – but that's done quickly enough.

After switching, I use hunt and peck on Qwerty keyboard. Luckily I have graduated.

In school and university tests you may be at disadvantage compared to Qwerty typists. You may relearn touch typing in Qwerty in a week just to pass the exam.

In that case, dzień dobry! ^_^

Yes, Extend is completely awesome (and works for all layouts). I also like the Angle mod a lot and it's easy to do – even with the Wide mod. But every change removes you from a virgin QWERTY machine, so it's also a matter of taste.

Lately I'm trying yet another mod which I call the "Curl" mod (or the D-H mod as its creator stevep99 calls it), as it lets you curl your index fingers more naturally for D and H. That's for the advanced... maybe. I think I like it a lot too, but I'm still getting used to it.

The best habit for Shift is obviously(?) to use both. But I hear that Steve Wrona which is one of the fastest in the world uses a lot of sticky Shift instead! I'm not going to be that fast so...

I'm a robotnik! :-D Well, this is a nice hobby I think and I've been at it for nearly a decade if you count my Dvorak days. So I've had time to do stuff. But thanks!

About Shifts: Do what you feel is comfortable, of course. I like using both shifts as it feels balanced and relaxing but if one works for you then fine.

@DreymaR
Robotnik = (physical) worker. Robot = robot.* So... I don't know what you meant, my question still apply. ;P
Nearly a decade... just like my cat. Oh, so maybe you're a cat - some cats love keyboards. ;P

I know, I just need to learn how PKL works and I'll just experiment and find what is the best for me~.
I'm running PKL with your colemak-eD_ISO and just having fun with extend layer. I worked on untouched version for some time, but today I've remapped Polish diacritic characters to be under AltGr. :)

Funny/strange thing: Asus' Fn shortcuts produce what they should and 'h'.
(Fn+ F1-F12/space/c/v... every shortcut I'm aware of and didn't (and still don't know, 'cause I don't see any difference with Fn+g (probably killed the process earlier in this session or the program was uninstalled years ago)... but non-shortcuts produce proper character, e.g. Fn+a = a). Exceptions: Fn+Ins (num lock), Fn+Del (scroll lock).)
Also Shift+6 produce "^ " despite the fact there is no space in layout.ini.

*Unless you're trying to learn Polish, I would recommend not using it (or checking twice when using translators) - it has wicked grammar and word formation. ^^"
Making person out of 'robot' does not work here like with e.g. pracownik (employee) from praca (work; or rather from pracować (to work)). 'Robota' is informal(?) word for work, while 'robot' is just foreign word which is used normally in language nowadays.
...Theoretically I'm in Maths-Physics-IT class, so I shouldn't try to teach Polish... but I kinda like explaining only (not entirely) logical language stuff. You can skip parts like this one in my posts.

@cartman-2000
I think most people use LShift. For same-pinky shift... *looks at keyboard* Oops, I move my hands a bit. I haven't noticed this earlier. But the rest or my typing is more or less touch typing.

You can be a cat! *pets DreymaR* *thinks* Norwegian Forest cat?
I have small interest in learning languages myself, but I kinda like all that trivia and other fun stuff. (One of the reasons why I participate in Linguistics Olympiad~.)

OS layout is Polish programmer's. Shift+6 should give the same output ('^', not '^ '). Only deadkey detected is '~' (used as alternative to AltGr on Polish keyboard).
Polish typist's (Polish (214)) w/ PKL: '~ ' (w/o PKL there is '·' deadkey for ż), ^ is a deadkey (works only for âîô - checked manually; detected*).
Russian layout set w/ PKL: '~ ' as well, no deadkeys found*.
(^3 layouts I have set in one 'language' (Polish) on my Windows to switch between them with ctrl+shift... Actually 214 was there from the start, I just haven't removed it.)
...
And now after that changing layouts, ^ is normal... But PKL as program still has Russian layout set, while browser has Polish programmer's (~ is still a deadkey).
Just Windows and my laptop. - I'll never figure them out. XD
Probably switching to English as default would fix it. (It doesn't have any deadkeys, does it? And I have only one keyboard layout set within English 'language'...) I will try it after the weekend as I won't have my computer with me for two days~.

*I first manually searched for all spaces/deadkeys, and just then changed layouts with PKL selected and run deadkey search for each of them.
Of course no matter what Fn shortcuts still produce 'h'.

Okay, let's put this straightforward, as simply as I can. Because I did what you suggested. ;P

In Windows you can set >1 keyboard layouts for 'language'. In Polish I have 3 - Polish programmer's (qwerty, set as default), Polish typist's ("Polish (214)", qwertz) and Russian. (I have also a few different layouts but they are in different languages.)
New programs always have default layout set. OS layout can be changed individually for each program. (I set different icons for layouts so I can quickly recognize them. Useful when using ctrl+shift for changing them.)

My deadkey/wonky keys search was manual (i.e. PKL with Colemak + different layouts in the OS) - just writing in an editor.
Results from above:
Programmer's: "^ " (<- there's a space), deadkey ~.
Typist's: "~ ", deadkey ^.
Russian: "~ ", no deadkeys.
(PKL's OS layout = Programmer's... At least I think so.*)

PKL's deadkey search = changed default in OS (so newly run programs will have that layout set), changed it for PKL too, and just then run the deadkey search. (PKL's layout is Colemak.)
Results: Programmer's: ~; typist's: ^; Russian: none.

As I finished testing, PKL still had Russian as its OS layout, but default and browser's layout was set back to Programmer's: "^" (w/o space), ~ as deadkey.

(I hope it's understandable now. I use too many mental shortcuts when writing, especially when analyzing/testing something. ^^")

*From experimenting now:
anything -> Typist's... no characters with spaces, nor deadkeys...? (Normally (w/ suspended PKL) it has maaany deadkeys: ·˛ (~` key) ˇ^˘°˛ (altgr+ 2-6) ·´˝¨¸ (altgr+ 8-'=').)
anything -> Russian: "^ " (spaaaace~)
anything -> Programmer's: "^ ", ~ deadkey. (Normally ~ is a deadkey.)
Probably during previous tests I changed PKL's OS layout, oops.

So... OS default layout vs different OS layouts set in different programs vs how PKL handle it.
Just Windows.

As Typist's deadkeys are not inherited by PKL (probably because keys where they should be are redefined...? only ^ was inherited in 1st test - probably OS layout set in PKL was also typist's), I wouldn't assume Programmer's space issue it caused by it (the only deadkey behaves normally...).

USA here, and I've noted that the AltGr combinations (on a non-altgr keyboard) aren't giving me what Wikipedia says they should be.

Under Windows Vista using the "proper" keyboard remapping at the OS level (not ahk etc).  At home, I'll attempt Win7.

I dunno if it's a Vista thing or the remap or what.

Annnnnd welcome Fox! I'm about 10 months into Colemak and can't imagine ever going back to Qwerty :D. Join the club!

@DreymaR
(I would've replied earlier, but I left the post open in a tab and my browser crashed... If you get pid's >10k on Windows, it's probably time to finally restart your computer.)

Tbh I don't need that Russian nor Polish typist's - I just have them because... why not? E.g. I never used typist's, it was just there by default, so I left it. I got used to having them just under ctrl+shift (default shortcut to switch layouts in one 'language').
If I were to leave only one, I would choose Polish programmer's - I haven't messed up with registry, so I need qwerty to log in and do all administrative stuff (admin pass confirmation&processes run as admin). Or at least English qwerty - I don't have any Polish diacritics in my pass atm.

Okay, still too much mind shortcuts. Hope this time I can explain it. If not, nevermind:
- You said that maybe OS layout deadkeys can cause that space thing in some characters (I described them as wonky... 'cause they are wonky), so I wanted to check that.
- In Windows default OS layout is just for new processes - after that you can change layouts for each process respectively.
- In last post (from * onwards) I had PKL with Colemak, PKL process' OS layout as Polish programmer's, and just set different OS layouts in a text editor. Then tried to search for characters with space after them and for deadkeys. Manually.
- I messed up beginning of my post because I copied and rewrote previous one - but it seems I had different OS layout set for PKL at the time of testing or something, oops. That's why after * I had again my mind shortcuts - 'cause I got different results.
- Conclusion: Different PKL's OS layout and editor's OS layout sets may have different space issues and deadkeys.

I should make a 3x3 array, do more tests (being completely aware which layout is set where and all that stuff), and note them down. And just then analyze results...
As I'm testing 3x3 now, I have no idea how I got those results from Jan 23rd. - I can't by any means get typist's to have ^ deadkey and ~ w/ space... Different results again... I quit.
Basically my laptop and OS are messed up.

@unfy
Hey~! :3 For qwerty I hunt keys, but every time I have to use it, I just see how unoptimized it is. - I'm definitely staying with Colemak.
And it also serves as a security feature. - I live in a dorm and once I went to my best friend, who lives literally next to me. In a meantime my other friend went to my room and saw unlocked laptop... I ended up with a strange post on Facebook. (At least I have normal friends and it wasn't anything vulgar etc.)
Now even though I have letters taped to my keys, people have problems writing on my keyboard. :D

I'm afraid not.
Only Polish programmer's deadkey is ~ and it stills works as a deadkey. However, Polish typist's has many deadkeys, one of them being ^.
In my first post about spaces and deadkeys I thought that those two interfered (I got on programmer's: ~ dk, "^ "; typist's ^ dk, "~ "), but now every time I try I can't get typist's to produce character with space nor have shift deadkey...
That's why I have no idea what is the problem.
Maybe it interfered the first time (it was still the session I first run PKL - I tend to hibernate my laptop rather than turn it off) and just stayed like that...? But if so, it would be somewhere (files, registry, tmp?) to be found. And that would not explain Russian layout behavior.
That's why I said my laptop is just one big mess. In about half a year I'm getting a new one for uni, I hope there will be less problems with it.

I will get either Norwegian Forest or Maine Coon (or maybe both...) in the future - they are amazing. <3 As for climbing a tree, my 10-year-old cat can't even go up, lol. Not a matter of intelligence but rather that he didn't have anyone to teach him (cat orphan, raised with another male cat and a female dog till he was about... 2y/o?)... and he's just lazy - if he doesn't have to, he won't jump over a normal-height fence (about 2m high, he usually goes over its lover parts or through holes; though if chased by another cat, he sometimes grow a pair of wings, lol).

Okay, now some new experiences:
1. Started measuring my wpm and generally trying to improve my speed. But I don't know how fast I typed with qwerty, I measured it once or twice and just don't remember my wpm, oops.
Measuring on keyhero.com, my average for now is just below 50wpm. I get sometimes higher, sometimes lower results. - I still confuse some keys and my Z key is a bit broken (sometimes has to be pressed a few times before z appear)... and some quotes have strange words.
I've looked at 10fastfingest and probably will use it to learn how to 'fluently' type the most popular words (both in English and Polish). I've noticed some words with weird key combinations, e.g. zaraz, zawsze...
*checks letter frequency* Z is 5th most popular letter in Polish, that explains a lot.
I aim for 65wpm. - I think that could've been somewhere around my old qwerty speed.
2. I think I just yesterday converted my friend to Colemak. He has too much time right now, so he will give it a try. :3

It's set to auto.
PKL's deadkey detection sees ~ and it behaves like a deadkey, but as far as I understand, it shouldn't.
systemsDeadkeys = ~ Works as it should - no deadkeys, no additional spaces.

I shouldn't do that, I should be studying, but I'm browsing PKL's source code (I just remembered that it is opensource... I should've done it earlier). File "getDeadKeysOfSystemsActiveLayout.ahk" w/o comments:

getDeadKeysOfSystemsActiveLayout()
{
    l1033 = -1 ; USA
    l1038 = ^ ; Hungarian
    l1036 = ~^` ; French AZERTY

    WinGet, WinID,, A
    ThreadID := DllCall("GetWindowThreadProcessId", "Int", WinID, "Int", 0)
    Layout := DllCall("GetKeyboardLayout", "Int", ThreadID) 
    Layout := ( Layout & 0xFFFFFFFF )>>16
    if ( l%Layout% == "-1" )
        return ""
    else if ( l%Layout% == "" )
        return "^"
    else
        return l%Layout%
}

I... don't get it. Basically, if l%layoutnumber% doesn't have a value, it assumes ^ is a deadkey. That explains ^ with space.
Still doesn't explain why typist's and Russian behaved differently for the first time and for all the other times (and why its ^ actually was a deadkey the first time).
So ^ with space was just Máté's laziness, but all other issues are just my computer's...

Btw PKL source code: in your topic you said you don't have script to generate layout images like Máté did - that script is in PKL's source code (in utilities folder)...
It uses perl and Firefox. As I don't have perl installed, I can't test it, but from analyzing the code:
It seems to fetch layout.ini from layouts folder, then does some magic with perl (ini2html.pl, generates images in a html file), opens generated .html in Firefox (which saves dynamically generated .png's as files...? or something like that), then separates images (split_png.pl).

Yup, I gave him a link to your main topic and to your Tarmak topic. :3
I haven't logged in to Skype yesterday, so I don't know how he's doing.

Ah, that explains much. Overlaying characters on the background would be really cool, but surely hard to code. I don't know if that would be possible with only AHK functions... Especially since it should be quite fast and light when it comes to using ram and cpu...
As for the file size, <3MB is not bad, but surely can be when someone has many layouts. To reduce the size, it would be nice to have some system to share them easily, with the previews and option to download one layout at the time...
Though, new computers have such computing power and space that it shouldn't be a huge problem...
(I was more of optimization maniac before, but I left that thinking in favor of simple "if it works and isn't unreasonably heavy, it's good". ^^")

Yup, I had to specify them manually. As my default layout is Polish programmer's, I just specified its only deadkey - ~, so it no longer is a deadkey (but for other OS layouts, it gives ~ with space).
Though it would be nice if that 'systemsDeadkeys=auto' was integrated with "Detect deadkeys" option.