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Instrucţiuni în limba română
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Displaced characters Q, W, X, Y, K, `, ~ are still accessible with the AltGr key - what is AltGr?
A small software application that installs and configures the above keyboard layout for the Romanian language. After installation, this layout is readily available from the taskbar's language indicator. Use this layout instead of the built-in Microsoft Romanian (see why the Microsoft Romanian layout should be abandoned).
What is the Ergo Romanian layout?
A mapping (layout) and method of operation for the Romanian alphabetic diacritic characters on QWERTY (standard) keyboards, where non-Romanian letters like Q, W, Y, K, X are moved to the AltGr shift state to make space for the Romanian diacritic letters, taking advantage of the fact that each non-Romanian letter is positioned in the immediate proximity of a base letter of diacritic letters. The resulting layout provides fluent typing and requires virtually no training, as well as virtually no keyboard labeling.
But I know nothing about computers...
You don't need to know anything! Just run the installation, you won't need to do anything else. Your system remains with the current default language (usually English), but you can switch to Romanian when needed (select it from the taskbar's language icon).
Does Ergo Romanian add more complexity to my Windows ?
No, the layout DLL is built like any other native Windows layout. Your operating system sees the new layout as a genuine Windows component.
Learn it in 5 minutes. Then you'll need no key labels.
Preliminary ideas and observations that led to the Ergo Romanian layout:
There are five Romanian diacritic letters: Ăă, Ââ, Îî, Şş, Ţţ.
There are five non-Romanian letters - what is a non-Romanian letter? - on a QWERTY keyboard, the exact same number as the Romanian diacritic letters.
Each of the base letter keys (A, I, S, T) - what is a base letter? - has a non-Romanian letter in its immediate proximity:
A is next to Q, and close to X
I is next to K
S is next to W
T is next to YNon-Romanian letters are extremely rare in Romanian, except for X which is just rare. Statistically, these letters occur at the following frequencies (allowing for reasonable approximations):
Q -- less than 0.001%
X -- 0.146%
K -- less than 0.001%
W -- less than 0.001%
Y -- less than 0.001%Such being the situation, why do we still keep the non-Romanian letters on top? Let us move them down to an AltGr shift state - what is AltGr? - what is a shift state? - and use their keys for the Romanian diacritic letters.
A user only needs to know that we replaced the non-Romanian letters with the diacritic letters (their base in proximity). Examples:
Where is Ă ? Next to A, then it must be on the Q key.
Where is Î ? Next to I, then it must be on the K key, a.s.o.
A QWERTY typist will find Ă on Q comfortable, because Ă, being an alternative pronunciation of A, is a replacement of A, and Q is close to A. Similarly, a typist will find Î on K comfortable for the same reason, a.s.o.
IMPORTANT: also read page Typing Instructions
DISCUSSION
On a quest for fluent Romanian typing, two facts are reality and it is imperious for them to be considered:
Most keyboards are of the QWERTY type. Users who need to type Romanian have already acquired the skills for QWERTY fluent typing.
Characters printed on keys of a QWERTY keyboard only reflect the English language, not Romanian.
Thus, users, as QWERTY skilled typists, need also to type fluently in Romanian - while making use of their current skills, and not having to acquire new ones.
Also, users need not learn a new keyboard layout, because most keyboards are already imprinted for English, not for Romanian. Thus, users need an intuitive layout where they can easily determine the location of Romanian diacritic letters, even when no Romanian key labeling is present.