I think the best test for Dvorak vs. Qwerty would be to have two people who have never used a keyboard (yes, there are such people) of about the same age, background, command of the english language, etc. to learn touch-typing (in say 1 month) and have periodic speed contests throughout the period. That would be a real un-bias (if there is such a thing) test. By the way, does anyone know a good typing-tutor style software for Linux that supports qwerty and dvorak. Any other keyboard layouts out there? Peter Hiscocks wrote:

Personally, it's my opinion that it's gotta be easier on the hands to have the commonly used consonants and vowels in the home row. In Querty, the 'e' is on the top row, where you have to reach for it. Apparently IBM used to sponsor typing speed contests to promote their typewriters. One of Dvorak's claims was that IBM did not want to have to produce two layouts, so they opposed the Dvorak layout. When Dvorak typists began to clean up in the contests, IBM dropped their sponsorship. It would be interesting to have a modern-day speed contest between an expert Querty and Dvorak typist and see if there really is a consistent speed difference.

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