Colemak
What is Colemak?
Colemak is an alternative keyboard layout that is much less-known than the more-popular Dvorak layout, but has comparable benefits. I started the switch from QWERTY to Colemak in Summer of 2009, and essentially completed the switch by the end of said Summer. This was also a period where I was dealing with false "RSI" issues which actually turned out to be TMS issues, but that's getting a bit off-topic and into something I don't care to recount here (though if you are suffering from RSI issues I would urge you to educate yourself about TMS). This page recounts my experience with the new layout and the transition period.
Why Colemak?
The only keyboard layout you hear people switching to nowadays is Dvorak. Colemak is really obscure in comparison, but is still one of the most notable ones. The major reason I chose Colemak over Dvorak is that it's advertised as being much easier to learn, which I do believe to be true--you can read why here. I was interested in possibly picking up a new keyboard layout, but I wanted to do it with as little effort as possible. As far as I could see, Colemak gave at least equal proposed benefits as Dvorak, while also not being as "weird" (punctuation and number keys switching around, etc), and preserving ctrl-zxcvaq shortcuts.
How did you switch?
I began by practicing the Colemak typing lessons using TypeFaster. These took a lot of repetition until I mastered the home key rows--I found that S T N E were pretty easy to learn, but adding R and I into the mix complicated things intensely. Adding A and O wasn't that bad because A is in the same spot as before, but I ran into the common problem of mixing up R and S because that's one of the trickiest parts of colemak to learn--S is a very common letter, so getting used to shifting it over one to the right can feel very weird. I still used QWERTY for everything else.
After completing the typing lessons (I was still probably a little shaky on some of the latter ones), I switched over to using Amphetype for typing practice. It has some really neat features, like progress charts, ability to analyze your most frequent mistakes, etc. I still used QWERTY for most things, IIRC, but I imported a book that I wanted to read into Amphetype and used that as my Colemak practice. This was great, because I got typing practice while reading a story that I wanted to read in the first place.
Eventually I started using Colemak for things like blog posts and everyday use (with the aid of an on-screen keyboard for reference), though I still reverted back to QWERTY for things that required speed, or playing games, or when I didn't feel like typing slower. Gradually I became more comfortable, until I could use Colemak for everything.
How long did it take?
Before the switch, I was somewhere around 97 wpm with QWERTY. I started learning Colemak at around June 28th, and on August 26th of the same year I managed to beat the 2-minute typing test score that I had previously set using QWERTY. So I would say it took roughly 2 months for me to become as proficient with Colemak as I was previously with QWERTY.
Tips
There's not many golden tips I can give you--you're just going to have to practice a lot. I would say definitely practice on the first few home row keys in the beginning--it will seem laborious, but you really need to drill those into your head as the foundation with which to build upon. Using an on-screen keyboard can help. I wouldn't recommend trying to do any real typing in Colemak at this point--just stick with QWERTY for anything except Colemak practice. After you get into the phase where you know all of the keys (but you're still making a ton of mistakes), then you can focus on your most common mistakes (Amphetype can help with this), such as the G key, confusing S and R, and the LUY trio. Try and go a little bit slower and -really- focus on these keys when they come up, so you can train yourself to avoid missing them.
Current typing speeds
You can see my current records and watch replays of them here.
What about QWERTY?
I can still do QWERTY relatively proficiently. My QWERTY speed has definitely gone down, but not by much at all. If I took some time (not even a day) to "recalibrate myself", I might even be able to reach my previous speeds. I actually still use QWERTY for applications such as games where hotkeys correspond to letters (e.g. S for Stop), as I find it easier to just use my QWERTY mind-mapping than try to translate a single letter into colemak. Plus, these games are often designed around the QWERTY layout anyhow, so trying to play in Colemak often causes issues unless you remap everything, which defeats the point in the first place. So I still get some QWERTY practice, but I'm using Colemak for most everything. I think probably the number one thing that screws me up when I use other people's computers and am not paying attention is that Colemak uses the Caps Lock key as a secondary Backspace, so when that doesn't work it can kind of cause some hilarious messups. =P
In Windows I switch between Colemak and QWERTY using Alt+Shift+1 and Alt+Shift+2 (Alt+Shift+3 goes to Japanese input). On Mac I use Control+Option+Command+Space.
Overall verdict
Colemak is a fun layout to learn, and I'd probably recommend it over Dvorak just because it's that much easier to learn--though if you're really willing to go that far I'm not going to stop you. However, I would not recommend learning Colemak to those who are looking for faster typing speeds or more efficient typing. I feel like the speed gain is minimal enough that you could gain an almost comparable amount of speed for a lot less effort simply by training your QWERTY skills--this means working on things such as typing flow and rhythm and using QWERTY-specific "finger tricks" that you can use to circumvent some of the bad situations that come up with QWERTY if you're using standard touch-typing. The -ED suffix is a common one--some people like to use index finger on D to avoid using the middle finger for both keys (slow!), and others like to "roll" their middle finger from E to D.
However, if you're looking for something fun to try, and are willing to go through the effort required, I'd definitely encourage you to give Colemak a shot. Even though I don't feel like my typing speed has improved -that- significantly (don't get me wrong, it definitely has improved), I don't regret picking up Colemak at all, just because it's been really fun. I think you should think of the speed increase as a little bonus, rather than -the- primary reason for picking up the layout. I think the most striking difference between the two layouts is the "feel" of typing in either of them. Colemak feels much more efficient in terms of movement (which doesn't necessarily make it faster--there's just less movement), whereas when I'm typing with QWERTY it definitely feels like my fingers are jumping all over the place. It's really quite an interesting experience. And if it hasn't been made clear yet, it is perfectly easy to retain your QWERTY skills even after learning the new layout--as long as you're using QWERTY for something every once in a while. I also find that it helps me to look down at the keyboard when I'm using QWERTY. Sometimes it's better than others--I just have to "tap into the QWERTY part of my mind".
Plus, having a secondary backspace can actually be helpful--when you want to hit backspace 6 times, it's generally too little to rely on keyboard autorepeat, so instead you can hit both Caps Lock =and= Backspace alternatively and do it in about half the time that it would have taken using the Backspace key alone. Neat, huh? And of course the other little extra bonus about using an alternative layout is that when other people try to use your computers they get hopelessly confused =P.
I won't comment on any potential ergonomic benefits from different keyboard layouts because of TMS nonsense, and because ergonomic issues are largely subjective anyways.
The one addendum I have to all of this is that I'm assuming you're already really proficient at QWERTY. If this isn't the case and you're still using the "hunt and peck" method and can't even break 60WPM, then maybe you would want to consider learning Colemak just because there's not much to lose at all because you're essentially learning touch-typing for the first time, instead of having to relearn a second system.
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