I first heard of the Dvorak keyboard somewhere on a Slashdot thread back in
2001, and checked out a couple of sites to confirm my suspicion that the Dvorak
key layout is a neat idea.  


The idea is that by positioning the letters of the alphabet on a keyboard in a
way that puts the most statistically frequent letters in the English alphabet
under the strongest fingers and in the most convenient positions, one can
enable a typist to type more quickly and with less repetitive strain on the
wrists and fingers than they would experience normally on a traditional QWERTY
keyboard.  After 5 years of unscientific study I have concluded this is the
case, at least for me personally.

One of the sites that was most helpful to me was  MW Brooks.  Other good sites
for further reading follow at the bottom of this document.  Rather than try to
duplicate the great body of knowledge and the useful let of links provided at
that site, let me just direct you there for further information and continue
with my own comments.

If you don't want to follow links I'll just cut to the chase:

Advantages of the Dvorak Keyboard: Speed: It will take a while to get used to
the new layout, but once you have learned the new key positions, the flow of
commonly used words is much faster and your overall typing speed will increase
dramatically.  I have found this to be true in my case.  Alternating hand
movement: By grouping all the vowels on one side, commonly typed English
language words fall into a comfortable left-right-left-right typing motion
which is comfortable, intuitive, and fast.  Home Row Advantage: All the most
useful keys -- T,H,N,S,D, and all the vowels -- are on the row where your
fingers naturally rest.  Finger Travel: Because all the most useful keys are in
the most frequently used positions you can reach them with greater speed and
less effort.  Accuracy:  You will have less trouble reaching common letters and
will thus be able to type them with fewer errors.  Comfort and Less Repetitive
Stress: As a result of the layout, you will be able to type more fluidly and
with less jerky, awkward hand movements that ultimately damage your health and
the strength of your hands.  Easy to Learn: Intuitively, having all the vowels
in one area makes it easy to find them, and remembering that the
less-frequently used keys are located in the less-easily reached areas makes it
easy to concentrate on the keyboard's core area.


How to Learn the Dvorak Keyboard First, either print out the keyboard layouts
offered at the websites below, or make your own, and tape copies of it to both
your monitor and your keyboard.  Keyboard stickers are a good way to learn too,
so get some and apply them to your keyboard as soon as you can - they really
make a huge difference when you are learning.  

Then set up a schedule for typing lessons and set to it, each time spending a
little more time at it before taking a break.  It's probably been awhile, but
you might recall when you learned to type the first time, this is how you did
it then, too.  I took a week to go through a typing tutor, challenged myself to
type words and practiced drills and so on.  After a week I essentially knew the
positions of all the letters and simply needed more practice.  I forced myself
to practice what I had learned by using Dvorak whenever I composed an email.
Over the course of several weeks I got smoother and faster and gained
confidence.  Finally, I made it my new year's resolution in 2006 to cut the
cord completely on QWERTY, and here I am.  Start with a little a day, and
gradually increase to the point where forcing yourself to use Dvorak won't make
you lose your job, and then cut the cord.  It's easier than you think.

Some Good Resources on Dvorak

MW Brooks: a great collection of links to further advocacy, history, and
background on the Dvorak keyboard, plus a downloadable PDF file of the keyboard
layout you can print and use at home.  I carry one of these around to use on
computers where I don't dare or don't want to apply key top stickers.  The
World of Stuff: Dvorak discusses a bit of the history of the Dvorak keyboard,
some of the studies that support its use, and tips.  Dvorak Keyboard - Convert
discusses how to set your keyboard to the Dvorak configuration on several
different types of computer operating systems (Mac OS X, early Macs, Windows,
and Linux).  Wikipedia: Dvorak Simplified Keyboard More about Dvorak by me
Typing in style with the (dvorak) Kinesis keyboard Emacs on the Kinesis Dvorak
keyboard