Editing Alternative keyboard layouts (section)

== German ==

=== Neo ===
{{infobox layout
| name       = Neo
| image name = Neo-2-Layout.PNG
| creator    = Multiple?
| license    = [http://wiki.neo-layout.org/wiki/Lizenzfragen GPLv3]
| introduced = 2004 <ref name="neo-intro-date">[http://www.linux-community.de/Internal/Artikel/Print-Artikel/LinuxUser/2009/05/Ergonomischeres-Tastaturlayout-mit-NEO Neo Intro Date]</ref>
| website    = [https://neo-layout.org neo-layout.org]
| top row    = XVLCW KHGFQß
| middle row = UIAEO SNRTDY
| bottom row = ÜÖÄPZ BM,.J
}}

Neo was released in 2004 and open sourced to allow multiple users to contribute to. It was developed with the experiences of other ergonomic layouts like Dvorak in mind. It is mainly targeted at German users, but supports nearly all characters of Latin-based alphabets, as well as the Vietnamese and some African alphabets. It consists of six layers, available by combinations of multiple modifier keys. Using these layers there are special characters available which are not easily available in QWERTY-based layouts, like mathematical symbols and Greek letters. The layers are as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Layer
! Usage
|-
| 1
| Lowercase characters
|-
| 2
| Uppercase characters, typographical characters
|-
| 3
| Special characters, especially  for programming, etc.
|-
| 4
| Navigation keys, Numberblock, etc.
|-
| 5
| Greek lowercase characters
|-
| 6
| Mathematical symbols and Greek uppercase characters
|} 
{{-}}

=== AdNW (Aus der Neo-Welt) ===
{{infobox layout
| name       = AdNW (Aus der Neo-Welt)
| image name = AdNW-Layout.PNG
| creator    = Multiple
| license    = [http://www.adnw.de/index.php?n=Main.Impressum "Public Domain"]
| introduced = abt 2012 <ref name="adnw-intro-date">[http://www.adnw.de/index.php?n=Main.HomePage?action=diff AdNW Intro Date]</ref>
| website    = [http://www.adnw.de/index.php adnw.de]
| top row    = KUÜ.Ä VGCLJF
| middle row = HIEAO DTRNSß
| bottom row = XYÖ,Q BPWMZ
}}

AdNW is a Dvorak-like layout which appeared around 2012 for the German and English languages.

==== History ==== 
AdNW is a layout that emerged from online discussions about <em>Neo</em>, a layout that was made for the German language. The discussion focused on whether Neo layout which was new at the time was an improvement over Dvorak for German and English typist. AdNW was created in response to this converation, from the idea that a layout could be made that was better then Dvorak or Neo for typist who write in both German and English. To do this, Dvorak's usability criteria were coded in a newly programmed layout optimizer. Since the group formed itself during the Neo discussions, they called their layout "From the Neo World", which in German is <em>Aus der Neo-Welt</em>, abbreviated to <em>AdNW</em>.

==== Philosophy and Performance ==== 
AdNW is based on roughly the same ideas as "Dvorak" keyboard. Being in the Dvorak tradition, the following aspects are important:  
* Same finger use (low)
* Adjacent finger use<sup>(*)</sup>(low) 
* Inward motions versus Outward motions (high)
* Home row use (high)
* Row jumps (low)
* Finger balance (less on pinkies, more on middle and index) 
<small>(*)On QWERTY AS and SD which are right next together is a negative mark against the layout. The AD and SF positions are seen as better. The idea is that adjacent fingers, especially the pinky and ring finger are not completely independent. Making "rolls" with adjacent finger less pleasant and therefore to be avoided. "Rolls" on index and middle finger (e.g. ER on QWERTY) are less problematic and get a lower penalty for that reason. 
</small>

As a result of these criteria, the AdNW layouts also have a balanced Left/Right distribution (roughly 50% of effort on each hand, compared to QWERTY that puts most work on the right hand) and a high hand alternation. Alternation means that common letter combinations like ER or IN are not typed on one hand (like in QWERTY) but on two hands. In AdNW, E and I are on the left side, R and N on the right. 

To make the differences between QWERTZ and AdNW clear, they are compared both visually and statistically. The graphs and data are produced by the AdNW optimizer. In the graphs, the letter 'flow' is shown. The more common a digraph is (e.g. ER), the fatter the line that is drawn between these two letters.  

[[File:Adnwqa2.png|thumb|800px|center|AdNW and QWERTZ compared.]]

Looking at the graphs, one sees that QWERTY uses the left hand a lot, especially the top row. Some of the most frequent bigrams are on the left top row (WE, ER, ET, RT). On the right hand the frequent IN bigram includes an home row jump, which is seen as highly unwanted. Compared to QWERTY, AdNW is more balanced, has more home row use, and much less one handed bigrams. Frequent bigrams (like WE, ER and so on) are not typed with one hand, but alternate between hands. 

Even though AdNW was optimized for 50/50 English/German, it performs quite well for English solely. Comparison Below:

[[File:Qwertzadnw2.png|thumb|791px|center|AdNW and QWERTY compared.]]

Compared to QWERTY:
* AdNW is more balanced left/right (52.7 versus 59.0) 
* AdNW is more home row oriented (72% typed on homerow, versus 32.6% in QWERTZ) 
* AdNW is more balanced over fingers (less use of right hand index and middle finger; more of other fingers)
* AdNW has more hand alternation (70.8% versus 52.2%) 
* AdNW has less adjacent finger bigrams
* AdNW has less same finger use
* AdNW has higher home row usage

==== Variations ==== 
From its inception AdNW has had several variations apart from the standard community release version. The other versions place slightly different weight to Dvorak's criteria (e.g. even lower adjacent finger use, at the expense of other criteria). Some of these variations are designed for different keyboards (matrix/orthogonal layouts, Ergodox, TEK etc.) or for other languages. A user can also calculate a custom layout.

Reasons for calculating a custom layout include: 
* Non-standard physical keyboard, for instance a Planck, a Space Cadet, a modded Ergodox or a DIY split keyboard
* Different preferences regarding finger use, alternation, and so on. Users may sacrifice performance on one aspect (e.g. alternation) in order to gain better performance on others (e.g. lower same finger use).
* Physical differences between users
* Input language. Users may not type 50/50 English-German prose, but for instance 30% French scientific prose and 70% Python code. 

All this can be combined: a user may calculate an optimal layout for "30% English prose, 40% Swedish forum use, 30% Polish, for Maltron keyboard, that avoids using the pinkies and that prefers the bottom row over the top row". Because of this freedom, there is not one single AdNW layout.

Some other examples of AdNW layouts are: 

<em>Standard AdNW</em> 
<p style="font-family:Courier New, monospace; font-size:100%">
KUÜ.Ä VGCLJF<br>
HIEAO DTRNSß<br>
XYÖ,Q BPWMZ </p>

<em>Bu-Tek</em> - for the Truly Ergonomic Keyboard
<p style="font-family:Courier New, monospace; font-size:100%">
ßbu.,ü pclmfx<br>
&nbsp;hieao dtrns<br>
&nbsp;kyöäq jgwvz </p>

<em>KOY</em> - even less adjacent finger use
<p style="font-family:Courier New, monospace; font-size:100%">
K.O,Y VGCLßZ<br />
HAEIU DTRNSF<br />
XQÄÜÖ BPWMJ<br />
</p>

<em>AdNW-NL_EN - for Dutch and English</em> - like old Dutch typewriters, it has a dedicated ĳ key (Unicode 0133)
<p style="font-family:Courier New, monospace; font-size:100%">
buy,! fpvmljx<br />
saeio gdtnrw<br />
z:.ĳ/ kcmhq<br />
</p>

<em>Without ß Ä Ü Ö</em> - diacritics replaced
<p style="font-family:Courier New, monospace; font-size:100%">
KU!.@ VGCLJF<br />
HIEAO DTRNS:<br />
XY/,Q BPWMZ<br />
</p>

==== Community and Use ==== 
<em>Software</em>:
AdNW consists of a layout and several software implementations:
* Drivers & scripts for using the layout on Windows, Linux, OSX and *BSD; with versions for standard keyboards and for ergonomic keyboards (Ergodox, Maltron and others). This includes AutoHotKey files for Windows.  
* Typing training software
* The Optimizer: an algorithm (written in C++11 and open sourced) for calculating a custom AdNW-layout. 

<em>Userbase</em>: 
AdNW is not a massively adopted layout. The (German language) [https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/adnw Google user group] has around 100 participants, mostly from Germany. The [http://www.adnw.de AdNW website] is in German as well. However, the manual of the optimizer is in English, and participants on the discussion group say they are very open to questions in English. 

<em>Support</em>:
The developers of the software are active on the discussion forum and answer support questions.

<em>Development</em>:
AdNW has been iterated upon by many in its community. Usually these changes are trade-offs between the specific use-case the layout is being optimized for. The developers claim that there is not much room for further overall improvement, but invite users to prove them wrong and to come up with new ideas.

{{-}}