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Colemak Mod-DH vs Neo2 (Classic Neo)

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When comparing Colemak Mod-DH vs Neo2 (Classic Neo), the Slant community recommends Colemak Mod-DH for most people. In the question“What are the best keyboard layouts for programming?” Colemak Mod-DH is ranked 3rd while Neo2 (Classic Neo) is ranked 7th. The most important reason people chose Colemak Mod-DH is:

Some people find moving D and H to the bottom row much more comfortable (especially with flat keyboards). Curved keyboards like the Kinesis Advantage also help with lateral motion. Regular Colemak on these keyboards might be the ideal solution since then you help resolve some of the cons of regular Colemak without adding on the ones from Mod DH.

Specs

Bottom Row Key Freq.13.5%

Consecutive Same-Hand Keystrokes (L/R)40.2%/59.8%

Home Row Key Freq.56.0%

Left Index Finger Travel34.3%

Left Index Finger Usage16.8%

Left Little Finger Travel0.9%

Left Little Finger Usage6.4%

Left Middle Finger Travel14.5%

Left Middle Finger Usage10.1%

Left Ring Finger Travel5.1%

Left Ring Finger Usage7.8%

Right Index Finger Travel31.4%

Right Index Finger Usage16.2%

Right Little Finger Travel0.7%

Right Little Finger Usage6.2%

Right Middle Finger Travel7.8%

Right Middle Finger Usage14.0%

Right Ring Finger Travel5.4%

Right Ring Finger Usage7.4%

Spacebar Row Key Freq.15.3%

Thumb Usage15.3%

Top Row Key Freq.15.2%

Bottom Row Key Freq.6.1%

Consecutive Same-Hand Keystrokes (L/R)76.7%/23.3%

Home Row Key Freq.61.1%

Left Index Finger Travel33.5%

Left Index Finger Usage24.1%

Left Little Finger Travel0.6%

Left Little Finger Usage2.8%

Left Middle Finger Travel11.2%

Left Middle Finger Usage10.5%

Left Ring Finger Travel2.9%

Left Ring Finger Usage6.6%

Right Index Finger Travel35.3%

Right Index Finger Usage18.3%

Right Little Finger Travel6.7%

Right Little Finger Usage5.9%

Right Middle Finger Travel5.8%

Right Middle Finger Usage8.2%

Right Ring Finger Travel4.1%

Right Ring Finger Usage8.3%

Spacebar Row Key Freq.15.3%

Thumb Usage15.3%

Top Row Key Freq.17.5%

Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking

Common Questions

What are the best keyboard layouts for programming?

Colemak Mod-DH

Neo2 (Classic Neo)

Pros

Pro
Much less lateral hand movement compared with regular Colemak

Pro
Easy to learn from Colemak

No keys change fingers from Colemak (with the possible exception of Z , which is rarely used, in one variant).

Pro
'HE' easier to type compared with regular Colemak

Pro
Letter G goes back to its original QWERTY position

This puts ING all on the middle row. Regular Colemak has G in the top row.

Pro
Best for programming

Easily reachable programming relevant symbols, like {}'()|~"_[]<>, on the third layer.

Pro
Type mathematical symbols natively

Pro
Many layers

You can type more symbols and letters, that do not even exist on other keyboard layouts.

Pro
Its possible to type letters from the International Phonetic Alphabet

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Cons

Con
Regular Colemak is more standard

Mac and Linux have regular Colemak keyboard options. This isn't an issue if your keyboard is programmable through QMK, VIA, etc.

Con
H, M, V, B change from original QWERTY position

Regular Colemak has these in their original QWERTY position. The learning curve increases somewhat in Mod-DH.

Con
Breaks up ZXCV slightly

Breaks up ZXCV (moves V over one space). Could cause copy paste confusion if also using other layouts like QWERTY. For ANSI layouts the Z is also moved to a new position.

Con
No Innate Layout Configuration In Keybr

Keybr supports Standard Colemak but in order to adjust to DH Mod you must use an extension like tampermonkey and run a Script like this one and adjust to fit whichever variant.