Some counter-arguments. ;-)

I rearranged the keys on my laptop but not on other computers, and exactly that is confusing me.  When I do look down occasionally (usually for passwords), I'm used to mapping Qwerty to Colemak in my head, and looking down to a Colemak-arranged keyboard to type Colemak is ... more difficult for me.

"The perfect is the enemy of the good."  So because you're not sure which keyboard layout is best, you stick to the worst?

Keyboard layouts are not like languages in that you don't need anyone else to know it to be able to use it.  Too bad you can't run Colemak in the library (if they ran Linux, it would be a standard option though ;-)), but typing Qwerty from time to time is not too bad.  I never practice Qwerty, but found out that I can still type it reasonably well (not touch typing though, but still faster than most people).

A good touch typing technique will help nevertheless, if you decide to learn Colemak later.

My biggest benefits from Colemak are not about RSI or speed as often cited, just comfort/efficiency, and the fact that people stay away from my computer. ;-)

Now now DreymaR, lets not make this too easy for the undecided. After all, if layouts were a popularity contest, qwerty would win! (Hint: In case y'all didn't catch it, this is ironic. Why: Winning doesn't have anything to do with it. Layouts are about finding what is best for you.)

So, in light of fairness we can't forget all of the other alternate layouts. Which I could list here, but I won't, since most of the interesting ones are already listed in the FAQ on the main page under "What are the other alternative layouts besides Colemak". You did read the FAQ didn't you? And there is a whole branch of this forum dedicated to experiences you might find enlightening.

To add my own bit of advice, check the carpalx website. Good data on various layouts, and a couple interesting layouts of his own with their own Portable Keyboard Layout program. I don't think they compare to Colemak, but the 5 and 10 step layouts are interesting concept pieces.

Ditto !

It's a good idea to have some time on your hands and not expect too large results too fast! Best of luck!

Yipee!

This implies that the workman is not a good choice because only a few people use it, when Colemak is used by a lot more.  I find it very ironic that this reasoning would come from a Colemak user.

This can be paraphrased as "Shai has thought things through more thoroughly and most others have not so Colemak must be the better choice." This sounds like a combination of Appeal to Authority and Appeal to Blind Faith --- at least some form of Genetic Fallacy.

I'm not saying that the workman is a better choice over Colemak or vice versa but I just think that these reasons are bad reasonings and it just peevs me to see them here. We can't knock the workman just because it is young. There might be a practical benefit to choosing the majority, but sometimes there aree good reasons to choosing the minority. Linux is an example. And bada bing bada boom, Colemak itself is an example. Not too long ago Colemak was in the same position as this new workman is now. That's why it's so ironic. Colemak's popularity gives it the benefit of making it more "convenient" than the workman at this present time but it does not necessarily make it a better or worse layout. Like Cevgar said, it's not a popularity contest.

I personally think that Shai did a great job on Colemak but this doesn't mean that the workman guy's ideas are not as thorough in fact the guy seems to have put a lot of thought into his layout as well. I give credit to where credit is due. If you read his blog, I would like any of you to argue that it is not well thought out. You can't. You can disagree with him. But you cannot say that he did not put some serious thought into it. Or that Shai thought more than him. The fact is... it doesn't matter whether Dvorak or Shai or this other workman dude thought more about their layouts or not. Instead it's whether the thoughts (or reasons) that they give you are right. Each person should look at the evidences and merits of each layout and come to his/her own conclusion as to whether the reasons given are valid or not. It's not whether you think the author or leader is better or smarter or works harder or what not. It's about the layout not the authors.

I've also seen things like "I'm sure Shai could disprove this or that, or Shai could tell you why Colemak is better". It could be true... or not. But the thing is, the fact that one resorts to this kind of reasoning tells me that person saying this doesn't really know why. So it's a pseudo-evidence in a way. It seems like he/she is giving evidence but really not. If you're no sure exactly why for yourself then you just shouldn't say anything and not try to put it on somebody else, or try to appear like you know when you don't. You just end up looking like a blind follower.

So if you decide on Colemak because it's more convenient for you, or it's good enough for you, then let that be your reason. But no one here should say (or even imply) that another layout is worse, or is a hack job, or not well thought out, without giving some real good, solid, logical evidences and reasons... not just imaginary numbers or statistics pulled from thin air.

I'm not trying to attack any person here in particular. I'm trying to be reasonable here.

What both cevgar and CaptainKirk need to do in my opinion, is read the original post very thoroughly. The topic maker clearly states that (s)he's in doubt because of time and effort constraints as well as the daunting number of possibilities.

Therefore, trying to boil it down and simplify at the risk of oversimplification is perfectly in order in this particular instance! Had the topic maker seemed, say, like a kid with infinite time and energy to spend on research, my answers would've been different.

If a banker's bet is asked for, nobody expects a thesis.

[edit: On the topic of Shai's answers, he just analyzed the Workman a bit in this post:
https://forum.colemak.com/viewtopic.php?id=939
Not because he's an authority, but because his answers usually are well thought out and therefore a good read!  :)  ]

Classy comeback there, cevgar!  :)  Thank you for not keeping said trap shut.

And so, the abbreviation 'YASIS thread' came to life.

Sounds like you're making good progress then. Best of luck with your further efforts and welcome to Colemak!  :)

What's wrong with the QWERTY layout?

What's wrong with the Dvorak layout?

(I attempted Dvorak initially but even as a novice I became aware of its limitations which is what lead me to find Colemak.)

I've never touched typed before, but now that I am cruising at 30 words per minute (week 3 with Colemak) my fingers are beginning to feel words without the brain getting in the way.  Colemak makes this effortless the way common letter patterns just tumble right into each other.  It is a well thought out layout that simply flows. I can only imagine what a difference this will make at 60 words per minute and beyond.

Grats! I think that's sweet progress. It always seems that "everybody" progress faster than you but I think it's mostly a matter of publication bias.  :)

You've certainly surpassed my speeds. Good work!

Just a quick update: well I've kept practising over the summer and, although not quite as fast some people learnt in the same time period on hi-games as I confess, I would like to convey with a bit of sustained time (2-5 mins per morning & evening) it is entirely possible to go to 100wpm which is my goal.

I say 'is' because firstly my top speed is actually 99wpm lol and secondly I do not have a consistent 90+wpm yet.

Anyway I am now pleased to update my score:
30 sec - 98wpm
1 min - 99wpm
2 min - 90wpm
5 min - 86wpm

Not bad, eh? With a bit of time and patience you can do it too!

PS: I thought I would emphasize it took a lot of time going from the 75s to the 90s. A real lot of time. I would also share with you how at least in my case I got to these speed.

My tip which I have became conscious of which allowed me to go faster than 70wpm (which was where I was at for a very long time, some several months) is to try and look at the words ahead whilst typing at varying speed. Easy words such as 'the' etc., and I presume with all the other really common words/ other words you type out on a daily basis can be done without thinking after time. Therefore I found the aim is to eventually break down the word with certain combinations i.e. certain smaller common words so that you can combine them into bigger ones (com-bi-na-tions) into one effortless movement (mo-ve-men-t). Try to break down words into combos - hard to explain but for example when I type ex-am-ple like that with the sli-gh-test pause as w-e-ll as the pre-vi-ous e.g.. When you are looking ahead at the next word and internally planning ahead you should get into a flow and when looking for it you should see the words break up in your mind. So bigger words become smaller easier to type 'words' (not really words, hence the term I use is combo). In other words, essentially you are trying to form a 'database' in your own mind of the building blocks of words whereby you can imagine them in your head when you read the text and type it real quickly. Because typing smaller combinations of words is much faster than typing big words all-in-one. Hope that makes sense. Also I found that trying not to make mis-ta-kes also helped a lot when thinking about this and what and where my fingers were doing.

Hope all that makes sense. LOL.