Poll: What keyboard layout do you use?

qwerty

qwerty.

If the alternate layouts do give any real speed advantages (which is open for debate, I've heard of studies proving both sides), it isn't enough to be non-standard, IMO. YMMV but it isn't uncommon for me to be typing at someone else's keyboard and I don't want to have to mentally switch modes, so I just stick with qwerty.

Also, as much as some hackers like to focus on typing speed (advocating dvorak, the essays by Yegge, Atwood, etc), speed of typing has never been my bottleneck to writing good code, so optimizing for it never seemed very useful.

FWIW, I don't even touch type, I have a very odd 5 finger no-look (but not touch typing) muscle memory system (3 on the right hand -- thumb, index, middle and 2 on the left, index and thumb) but that gets me about 90 wpm when I've timed it which feels plenty fast enough.

If it weren't for vim, I would have definitely considered switching. I know you can map keys and all, but, it just doesn't make sense going through all the hassle.

Are there any bi-layouters out there?

QWERTZ is the default here (Germany) however I've switched to QWERTY simply because that's the most convenient if you're using vim as an editor.

Colemak was a lot of fun to play around with, however my frequent use of Vim makes any alternative keyboard unusable. Just scattering H,J,K,L throws my productivity for a loop.

I'm quick with QWERTY (over 100 WPM), all my laptops use QWERTY, my tablet and my phone both use QWERTY, my TV uses QWERTY... It would be silly and pointless for me to switch. I might be able to increase my WPM slightly but my WPM with QWERTY is good enough.

German Mac default QWERTZ, which is different from German PC QWERTZ. The most defining characteristic is @ being alt+L. Windows users trying to check webmail are bound to hit cmd+Q (and quit the foreground app) and Mac users on a PC will hit win+L from muscle memory (logout). Fun.

This might well be the reason why I never liked TeX at all. But I just love the placement of … and many other 'alt' glyphs that have nothing to do with coding.

I have also mapped the caps lock key to ']', which is the single most useful key ever for iOS dev in Xcode 4. Helped me more than switching to Dvorak would, I guess.

qwerty with spanish layout, because I'm french and really need all the accent chars (spanish qwerty is a perfect mix).

typing speed has never been a limited factor for anything I've done. so I don't feel the need to optimize it.

did start learning shorthand once, but I found the simpler solution to my particular problem (nobody agreeing on the meetings conclusions) was just to have the discipline to write a short summary meeting email to all attendees.

QWERTY with caps as control.

Ctrl+[ is considered escape on older keyboards so vi style software includes emulation/acceptance of this behaviour.

Lets you hit escape easily, one finger on each hand, while still having easy access to other ctrl modified behavior (page up, page down).

Dvorak user. I also use vim heavily (I switched to dvorak before I started using vim, so I've always been used to having h,j,k, and l being separated.

There's a lot of "I type fast on qwerty so why would I bother switching?" Speed isn't even the main reason I use dvorak. The primary reason is that it's more comfortable to type in.

In addition, as a programmer, a lot of the characters actually happen to be in more useful positions than in qwerty, even though that's not what the keyboard was designed for. '-_' especially is in a better place (home row, right pinky). Brackets are next to parens. '=' is slightly more convenient. Even in VI I find I like a lot of the key positions better.

I use UK Dvorak, which is similar to Dvorak, except the @ and the " symbols are switched around. I haven't yet encountered an OS that offers this as a default layout, so whenever I'm away from home, I get those symbols wrong. The cost of typing comfort...

QWERTY, but only because I haven't yet had the time to purchase stickers or a Dvorak keyboard so I can learn Dvorak.

It also doesn't help at all that the iPhone doesn't have a software Dvorak keyboard layout (jailbreaking is not an option).

Qwerty, Polish Programmer's.

I started using Dvorak in November. At work we have shared computers, so I don't get to be exclusively QWERTY or Dvorak. In a way it's like becoming bilingual, what with all the mental code-switching.

It's extremely frustrating, but once the initial 3-day hump is past, the learning curve smooths out. I have no reason for learning Dvorak other than the sake of learning itself. If you aren't pushing yourself and destroying your comfort boundaries, what ARE you doing?

QWERTY Canadian CSA ie with support for french and english and many other languages. Apple got it right. But PC sold in Quebec come with some awful mixup (multiple colors per key to support 2 optional layouts)

Is it just because doing what everybody does seems to the the thing to do in a PC construction business?

Can't be IPR because the work was done by parts of the goverment, and IIRC this still is the mandatory keyboard layouy for governmental sale

I tried Dvorak, and while I like the layout it's just not worth it. The number of exceptions that you have to make (certain apps, shortcut muscle memory, other devices, other peoples' systems, games, etc.) becomes a real problem very quickly.

If I only had to type on my own computer's keyboard and nothing else, I'd use Dvorak.

QWERTY with American keymap on my MacBook with support for dead keys and QWERTY with ABNT2 brazilian layout like this: http://oui.com.br/n/e107_files/images/teclado-abnt2.png

Dvorak, mostly. Switched >10 years ago, but have nearly always been using qwerty keyboards at school or work, so I'm quite bilingual, as it were. Given the option, I'll take Dvorak, solely for comfort. Speed was about the same on both after a couple months of use, still is. I was on the Dvorak layout before I started using vim, but it doesn't bother me to use it as such.

Separate Qwerty sub-question: Why does every laptop mfr now put the Windows & Menu keys on the bottom row & Ins/Del on the top row? I use Ins/Del way more. And what genius put PgUp and arrow up on the same key, needing to use Fn? Overall, even if you are Qwerty, the mfrs do a lousy job at placing the rest of the keys well.

Querty with the Kinesis keyboard (http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/). I considered learning Dvorak for comfort and speed advantages, but it's a bit daunting and time-consuming to get used to. I opted to get the contoured kinesis keyboard instead which takes about 10 days to get used to, but I'm slightly faster on it than normal keyboard and the comfort level is more than I ask for. It's really great for long typing sessions.

I spent a month in 2011 learning Colemak. I never got siginificantly faster than QWERTY, but is was way more comfortable and easy on the hands.

Sadly, I went back to QWERTY because I just couldn't manage to retain QWERTY ability. I typed like a retard on other people's machines, and because I spend some of my work hours helping and teaching others (on their machines), this ended up a deal-breaker.

I had thought by typing in QWERTY in the mornings I would be able to retain both, but I just couldn't actually do that in practice.

Learning Colemak ended up being an overall negative experience, even, because QWERTY seems even more stupid than it always has, after experiencing something better.

I've been mulling over popping out keys on a cheap USB keyboard to practice Dvorak but it's just not high up on my list of things to do.

I realized one time that I could always use "setxkbd us -variant intl" instead of "setxkbd fin" and buy standard US-keyboard when & if I have a choice. Letters "ÄÖ" which is the only reason one uses FIN-keyboard are very conveniently located close to letters "AO" as "ALT-Q/ALT-P" in the "us -variant intl".

I am already very handy which this setup. Cost benefits can be ginormous, because there is never "50% off" sales on laptops in Finland.