I didn't change the logo, so it still says ANSI DV in the menu bar if you follow the excellent instructions that come with Keyboard Switcher for activating the Keyboard Menu that has been shamefully left unactivated by Apple on US systems. As if John Dvorak never existed! No, I don't believe it's a conspiracy. It's another example of ignorance due to inertia. Read Stephen Jay Gould for a fascinating and infuriating article on the evolution of QWERTY. To summarize it, though, everyone who types should know that QWERTY was designed intentionally to slow typing down, because the first typewriters jammed easily if you typed too fast. So for those of you who downloaded this layout out of curiosity and are unfamiliar with the Dvorak system, remember that no matter how fast you type on a QWERTY layout, you are using a purposely inefficient system and really ought to give Dvorak a try. It's so sensible.
Now, for why I uploaded this. The Dvorak layout supplied with Keyboard Switcher has the grave (à etc.) diacriticals mapped to acute characters (á etc.), and this was a real pain for me who writes foreign words a lot. So I got into it with ResEdit and like the Keyboard Switcher file said, it was easy to figure out. A matter of simple dragging. I not only fixed the diacriticals but also remapped all the other option characters so they correspond with the regular letters just like the QWERTY option keys do. For instance, using the ANSI Dvorak layout that comes with Keyboard Switcher, option-s gives you an ellipsis (…) because in Dvorak the s is where the semicolon is in QWERTY. In mine you get "ß" (German double s) when you type option s, just like QWERTY, and you get "…" under the ";" key. Option-q is "œ," no longer "≈," and so on. (I left the 3 keys on the right of the Tab row alone {the option keys} because that's where the smart quotes are, and I didn't want problems with Word and the other applications that use them. I didn't leave the regular assignments of these keys alone, however. I thought it stupid that to get "[" you have to type shift "]," and the same with "{" and "}." So now those keys give, left to right, unshifted: /, [, ], shifted: ?, {, }. Also, Finale uses these keys as editing macros { "[" & "]" } so I needed "[" unshifted. So the usual option keys for the "/-?" key, "÷" and "¿," are now under the "\-|" key, which in Dvorak is just above the "/-?" key. For more info just run the KEY CAPS DA!!) So I uploaded this for those of you who already use Dvorak and are tired of typing ridiculous keys to get the characters you want. Dvorak makes so much sense, I couldn't leave this oversight alone. And I uploaded it for you uninitiated millions out there who have not yet seen the light. To use it, you need SYS 7, and just drag it over the System folder or file, then open the Keyboard control panel and choose AK Dvorak. Download Keyboard Switcher to learn how to easily toggle twixt Dvorak and QWERTY, if you must. But if you want to use Dvorak, take my advice: do it cold turkey. Don't look back. Paint over your keys or switch the caps like I did, and type like crazy. The beauty of the system will be enough to hook you.
