Colemak
So, this is day two of using the Colemak keyboard layout, and well... it's kinda comfy. I don't really have a detailed opinion on it yet, but I figured I'd share a bit of insight on how to get a custom keyboard set up on Windows.
For those of you that don't know, Windows might come with regular QWERTY and Dvorak layouts, but it doesn't come with Colemak. So, how does one get a custom keyboard layout on his Windows box? Obviously an installer is needed, with some sort of DLL, right? Well, it turns out you can make your own.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/bb964665
The Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator allows you to build your own keyboard layouts, and by build, I'm talking in the programmatic sense. You specify what keys you want where, and the program will create an installation program and all the DLLs you need. The only thing it won't do is assign hotkeys. For some strange reason, your keys will type in the Colemak layout, but the moment you press Ctrl, you're back to regular QWERTY until you let go.
But there's a way to fix this. Apparently, what happens (I think) is that the Virtual Keycodes aren't being changed - Windows sees you press a key, says it's Virtual Key F (VK_F), maps that against your custom key layout, and spits out a T. You hit that key combination with Ctrl, it thinks you hit Ctrl and VK_F. That's the hotkey for Find, not Open New Tab. So, you need to tell Windows that the key under your left index finger is VK_T, not VK_F.
You can't do this from the Layout Creator, but you can from Notepad (the Editor of Kings). Save your keyboard layout to a file and open the file in Notepad - don't worry, it's human-readable. Now all you gotta do is find the keys you mapped, and change the Virtual Key assignment on each one. Then, just load up the Layout Creator, reload your modified layout file, and build the installer. Now your hotkeys are fine!
You can find a perhaps more detailed explanation where I got mine.
http://www.sensefulsolutions.com/2010/08/how-to-fix-keyboard-shortcuts-in-klc-eg.html
Of course, you can always go to the Colemak homepage and download the installer, or I could give you the source layout file. I changed the description because it looked ugly as it was, and changed the internal name to something that conformed more with Windows standard.
(Colemak Homepage) http://colemak.com
(Source) http://www.mediafire.com/?r7iljl03cbn07nt
The original Colemak design replaces Caps Lock with another Backspace, which I think is pretty cool, but the Layout Creator won't remap that key.
Oh yeah, I just found out... after a month on Dvorak, I can't type in QWERTY anymore. It's just weird now.
