Well, when I use other computers after learning Colemak I just keep AutoHotKey with me for typing. When this isn't possible then I just use QWERTY which isn't so bad, because my speed ends up being something 35-40 wpm. It seems that I am getting more used to it. I learned cold turkey, but the gradual approach also works well.

The thing with using your own layout is that it has the disadvantage that you can't just run or install it on any computer like the full version of Colemak. It might also lead to some problems that you might not have realized, but Colemak has a lot of thought and concepts incorporated into it. It is frustrating to learn at first, but I think that it wouldn't be that hard to change layouts either by taking the Tarmac approach or the Day-Qwerty/Night-Colemak approach.

The main thing about short-cut keys is not so much that they're in the exact same positions, but that they're roughly as easy to reach.  The only short-cut key you mention that becomes uncomfortable to reach with Colemak is D.

I believe the following layout to be an excellent compromise for Qwerty typists.  I call it Aserth:

qwdf g   y jkl;
aser t   h uiop
zxcv b   n m,./

In this layout, all characters remain on their Qwerty fingers and characters move only between the top and home rows.  You get the main benefits of post-Qwerty layouts--greater home row usage and reduced row jumps--while not having to learn anything radically new.  I was able to pick it up pretty quickly, unlike Colemak or Dvorak; to date, it's the only alternative layout that I've successfully learned.

Were you willing to swap sides (but not fingers), swapping E and I (Asirth) would also eliminate Qwerty's notorious left-hand dominance.

As for the best Qwerty swaps, according to my algorithm, the best is J <-> N, which eliminates a ton of two-row jumps and puts the common N on the home row.  Next is ; <-> R, which improves everything my program measures.  Next is F <-> T, which you've already discovered.  So:

qwe; f   y uiop
asdt g   h nklr
zxcv b   j m,./

Six keys have been changed.  I don't imagine ; <-> R will be popular, but it really does improve things a lot.  It's noteworthy that my algorithm considers Qwe;fy superior to Aserth, even though it changes less than half as many keys.  Not sure I agree, but whatever.

We get far more complaints to the effect of "why didn't Shai change more?" than your type.  ;)  I think he got the balance about right.

Don't underestimate the effects of swapping. Colemak is optimized not only for letter frequencies but for digraphs which in my opinion is just as important. While transitional or incomplete improvements may be even easier to learn (and I do advocate learning Colemak in transitional steps as explained above for the people who are daunted by doing it all at once!), they don't provide the full benefits. The Tarmac is somewhat special in that it does provide almost all the digraph benefits from the Colemak's right hand, so if you were to learn that you'd maybe get a feel for what's in store.

And I've come to distrust algorithms. Seems to me that unless checked and tempered by a great deal of good sense, they spew out a multitude of layouts that "in theory should be good" but aren't really. YMMV.

I'm just not quite ready to make the effort to switch to a layout that's as different from QWERTY as Colemak, or even Tarmac - it just seems like too much hassle! But I'd like to do some tweaking, and my intuition is that a few small tweaks can make a lot of difference.

I like Phynnboi's analysis above, which seems to suggest similar swaps to those mentioned on the CarpalX page. In particular, I really like the idea of swapping J-N, E-K and F-T. Those seem like prime candidates to me. I might then also switch J and K to avoid the CK combo, since they're moving anyway, to end up with:

QWJR F Y UIOP
ASDT G H NEL;
ZXCV B K M,./

Agreed, it's not as good as Colemak, but it only moves 6 keys from QWERTY, rather than 16!

Sy

The semicolon needs to come off the home row though.

I actually see the little finger as a fairly weak position, so I'm not too worried about a moderately low frequency key there. Plus I do a lot of programming, so ; and : are not all that rare...

Of course if I was going for a full optimization I'd certainly shift it, (and would ultimately end up with something like Colemak) but for the purposes of this thread at least, I'm looking for something that's as close as possible to QWERTY! So, can anyone move just 6 (or thereabouts) keys and come up with a better layout?

Cheers!

Sy

QWERTY is QWERTY. You might as well use it as is, or learn something better. Really, what's the point in trying to be even more QWERTY than Colemak?

It's like looking at your old banger of a car and saying, "hmmm, if I changed the driver's seat that might make it more comfortable. And the steering could be swapped for one of those sporty ones."

You're *still* driving around in an old banger.

Why not get a new car, but keep the old banger alive by taking her out for a spin every so often?

No argument that if performance was the only issue, I'd be switching to Colemak in a jiffy. However, the issue I'm raising here is the difficulty of the transition, and the continued awkwardness with continuing to work in a world where QWERTY is the norm.

To abuse your analogy, switching from QWERTY to Colemak is a bit like exchanging your old banger for a shiny new foreign sports car that has the steering wheel on the wrong side. It's great fun to drive, but it takes ages before you stop trying to change gears by opening the window, and it's a real pain when you have to drive someone else's car for a while...

Tarmac is fine as a stepping stone if you're determined to go all the way to Colemak, but the first mini step doesn't really improve the keyboard over QWERTY significantly, and the second step is kind of a huge jump.

So, all I'm suggesting is that some people might actually be happy with the idea of putting a comfy seat and improved suspension into their old banger - it's still a better car at the end of the day, and in fact with a few more upgrades you can change it all the way into the shiny new foreign sports car, without having to undo anything much. Or you might just want to stick with the upgraded banger forever, for the convenience of having the steering wheel on the same side as everyone else. It makes overtaking a lot easier...

The layout I suggested only changes 6 keys from QWERTY, but improves ergonomics significantly, and as an added bonus, moves 5 of the 6 keys into their Colemak positions (the only one that's not in a Colemak position is the very rare J, which is one space away from its Colemak home). So, if you like, you can see it as a transitional keyboard towards Colemak, but it also stands in its own right as a reasonably ergonomic keyboard with high QWERTY compatibility, that's easy to transition to from QWERTY.

If you wanted to continue the progression towards Colemak though, I could imagine a sequence like:

Stage "0":

QWER T Y UIOP
ASDF G H JKL;
ZXCV B N M,./

Stage 1 (only 6 keys moved, significantly improved ergonomics, still high QWERTY compatibility):

QWFR J Y UIOP
ASDT G H NEL;
ZXCV B K M,./

Stage 2 (a further 3 keys moved on the right hand to their Colemak positions, slightly better ergonomics, slightly worse QWERTY compatibility):

QWFR J Y LUOP     
ASDT G H NEI;        
ZXCV B K M,./

Stage 3 (a further 9 keys moved to reach Colemak - or only 8 to reach Colemak with the common S<->R variation):

QWFP G J LUY;     
ARST D H NEIO        
ZXCV B K M,./

This progression moves steadily towards Colemak in three steps, and, like Tarmac, it requires only one key to be moved more than once (the rare J key). However, each of these keyboards is a reasonable endpoint layout in its own right, if you're looking for an appropriate balance between QWERTYness and pure performance, and I think stage 1 in particular is a compromise that might be attractive in some cases. To be honest, after stage 1, I'd probably jump straight to stage 3 if I was going to change at all.

Of course, this isn't the kind of forum where I'd expect compromises like this to be well-received! :) I'm still interested in anybody else's suggestions on QWERTYish alternatives however...

Thanks for the feedback,

Sy

Actually one could make an argument that the right little finger shouldn't have a high frequency letter, since that finger is also responsible for at least 11 other keys, including some rather common ones: enter, right shift, single and double quote, question mark, forward and back slashes, braces and square brackets. Why overload a weak finger even more?

Cheers!

Sy

Well I was certainly inspired to map out the complete transition by your Tarmac concept so thanks for showing the way there! There are quite a lot of similarities - stage 2 is lifted straight from Tarmac, for example. The main difference is the ordering of the steps and the use of J as the "loop breaking key" rather than semi-colon. The interesting thing is that I didn't set out to create a transitional layout at all. I was just trying to make as few changes as possible while fixing some of QWERTY's worst faults. Undoubtedly I was inspired by Colemak's placement of T, N and E, which are really my favorite changes. Unexpectedly this also turned out to be a reasonable transitional stage to full Colemak. And it focuses on moving some of the most common keys in the first stage. No doubt other transitional possibilities are out there...

As for S<->R well, I was mostly just trying to reduce the number of keys that move. I also note that keyboard samurai's post above has both the R-S switch and U-L as well...

Cheers,

Sy

"...the issue I'm raising here is the difficulty of the transition, and the continued awkwardness with continuing to work in a world where QWERTY is the norm."

I understand what you are proposing syperk, I'm just questioning the usefulness of it. If you only change the positions of six keys from QWERTY, you still have a 'new' layout. This new layout is non standard and not supported by any OS. If you're using a computer that restricts you from installing, or using the new layout portably, then it can't be used. So, you are back to QWERTY. Therefore, you may as well use a fully optimised layout on the computers that give you the option, rather than a QW*RT* that is of no use away from your desk.

I don't buy the 'Colemak is too hard to learn' idea. It really isn't. If you must retain speed in QWERTY then it is quite achievable to learn Colemak and still be fast enough with QWERTY. Many people have done it. I have worked at companies and told them at the start that if they want me to use a computer, I *will* be using Colemak (portable). None have had a problem so far. If they did, then they can get me a secretary.

The shortcut keys aren't a problem. I use 'Find' a lot in Firefox. I know to press Control-E on the keyboard. For other shortcuts, if I wanted to press Control-O, I know to hold the left Control key and my right hand knows which key to press.

Come on. You are inventing a problem that Shai has already solved...

In fact that's not quite the final QWERTYish layout I suggested, which is:

QWFR J Y UIOP
ASDT G H NEL;
ZXCV B K M,./

By my reckoning, that puts about 9.3% of letters on the left middle finger. Still somewhat unbalanced, I'll agree...