flameproof Posted October 11, 2006 at 07:14 AM Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 at 07:14 AM I did plan to learn some Madarin, but had no intension to learn how to write. Basically because I don't need writing (minor reason) and that it takes a long time and can probably not achieved in this lifetime (reason). But this article made me think: http://blogs.chinesepod.com/?p=379 If you know Pinyin and have a PC one basically need to writing skill at all. Now the finer points when it comes to writing: I don't like the Windows Xp native chinese writing feature since it messes up all hi-bit letters, that is Ø, µ, ², ³, ä, ö, ü, ß ,€ etc. etc. You can swap back to English input - but have to re-boot every time. My target application is English QQ, which does not display Chinese in English windows (without the boot swap). I want to swap between english/chinese in an instant. Now I tried "NJStar Communicator 2.60" (30 days free trial) - and it does what i want: I can swap between English and Chinese input I can use Pinyin for Chinese input (+20 more methodes) It seems to work well so far. Anything I should know about that software - or any other similar software for that matter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nibble Posted October 11, 2006 at 08:05 AM Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 at 08:05 AM I think you're doing something wrong. My computer is running XP Home, and I can switch between English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Japanese input at any time, in any program (Internet Explorer, Notepad, MS Word, etc) without rebooting my computer, and without using any special programs: Bicycle 腳踏車 脚踏车 自転車 じてんしゃ Also, while you don't need to be able to write in order to type in Chinese, you do need to be able to read, or else you will not know when & how to correct your computer when it converts your pinyin to the wrong characters, which can happen a lot. For example, 我叫王英英 might come out as 我較王應應. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HashiriKata Posted October 11, 2006 at 08:53 AM Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 at 08:53 AM Nibble is spot on! when & how to correct your computer when it converts your pinyin to the wrong characters, which can happen a lot. For example, 我叫王英英 might come out as 我較王應應.Sometimes, having selected the right characters I press "enter", XP then sneakily switches my input back to the wrong characters (without me suspecting it ). Anyone else's experienced the same thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted October 11, 2006 at 10:21 AM Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 at 10:21 AM I think flameproof is talking about setting the default encoding for non-unicode applications, which does require a reboot of the machine. For example, if you want to run QQ, which I'm guessing is a non-Unicode app, you will need to either run Chinese windows, or under windows XP/NT, you can set the default encoding for non-Unicode apps to Chinese (i.e. have XP pretend it is Chinese windows to applications that expect it). However when you do this, it means that the system will interpret all non-Unicode programs as Chinese programs, and so if such a program was one that made use of extended ascii characters (those with ascii values over 128 ), they will be interpreted incorrectly by the system, and most likely displayed as Chinese characters (obviously not desirable). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.stinky Posted October 11, 2006 at 11:32 AM Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 at 11:32 AM HashiriKata (is this the classic aftershave?): "...XP then sneakily switches my input back..." this is annoying.....you'll notice as you type in new characters, that several of the most recent ones have a dashed line underneath them. if you need to use the arrow key to open the character options, the program looks up the first underlined character, not always the last one you enter. i think this allows the program to automatically make changes based on words rather on characters. you have to hit the space bar after each character to accept it as the final choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nibble Posted October 11, 2006 at 03:02 PM Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 at 03:02 PM I think flameproof is talking about setting the default encoding for non-unicode applications, which does require a reboot of the machine. In that case, it's probably okay to just set the "default language for non-unicode applications" it to "Chinese (PRC)" and leave it. 99% of English-language programs have no problem with this (I've had my computer's default set to Japanese for a year with no trouble), and you can still type in English. If you do have a program that absolutely has to have the default language set to English, then I believe you can have two Windows accounts, one for each language, and turn on fast user switching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flameproof Posted October 12, 2006 at 02:10 AM Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 at 02:10 AM I think flameproof is talking about setting the default encoding for non-unicode applications, which does require a reboot of the machine.For example, if you want to run QQ............. Imron is (like always) right! THAT is EXACTLY my problem! And it is about QQ! But now I found that there is a tool that lets EXACTLY any application run in the language environment that YOU specify. It's: AppLocale Info: http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/tools/apploc.mspx Download: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8C4E8E0D-45D1-4D9B-B7C0-8430C1AC89AB&displaylang=en You have to install it and run QQ (or whatever) run through AppLocale (you have the specify the language, 中文 (简体) in that case (it's written in AppLocale just like that!) After that QQ works with both, the MS Keyboard switch, or also NJStar. If you have language/font troubles which come from running a (poorly) written application in another language environment that it was written for, try AppLocale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted October 12, 2006 at 02:13 AM Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 at 02:13 AM In that case, it's probably okay to just set the "default language for non-unicode applications" it to "Chinese (PRC)" and leave it. 99% of English-language programs have no problem with this I would typically agree with this statement, as I've had my system set to Chinese (PRC) for years and don't have any issues. However the fact that flameproof mentioned this issue perhaps indicates that he falls into that unlucky 1% (especially as he mentioned characters with umlauts, which are all extended-ascii values).If you do have a program that absolutely has to have the default language set to English, then I believe you can have two Windows accounts, one for each language, and turn on fast user switching. Nope, the default language for non-Unicode programs is a machine wide setting. It's constant for all users. Even if you have the MUI installed so that different users can have different user interface languages, the default language for non-Unicode programs is still constant. Edit: looks like the AppLocale program solves the problem nicely - but when I started writing this post flameproof hadn't posted about it yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bashFish Posted October 17, 2006 at 05:47 PM Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 at 05:47 PM Omitofo flameproof! I had the same problem (german PC).. - You have 3 ways of writing chinese legal on a foreign os! (The problem is, that the main source isn't installed from the very beginning!!!!) #1- Buy a software You've already found the best 2: -NJStar www.njstar.com/ -HanWJ www.hanwj.com/ #2 - Use a Plugin/ online source There are really many of them in www like: -"chinese-tools" http://www.chinese-tools.com/tools/ime.html #3 - Use the additional M$ way It doesn't looks very nice, but it works like software tools from #1 and it's for free! So - in a Windows os, you need the "IME"-resources (called input method editors) for typing asian charakters. And that's it o0! The filename is "mspy.msi". One link for the IME download: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b91ac197-ffa7-45a7-b1e1-c3457e1b0c1f&DisplayLang=en (i hope link works!) After installing, you should have a new keyboard to switch to... http://llc.ucdavis.edu/Guides/MSPY4.pdf <- there you can see what i mean... If you have some troubles with IME, contact me- but I think (hope?) that's what you meant ~~ 你福 so far- greetings! I hope you'll success ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephanhodges Posted October 23, 2006 at 12:24 PM Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 at 12:24 PM You can also go here http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/results.aspx?pocId=&freetext=Global%20IME%20%28Simplified&DisplayLang=en , which is a search using "Global IME (Simplified". That will also show you the 2004 version, which presumably is more up to date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flameproof Posted October 24, 2006 at 09:55 AM Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 at 09:55 AM thanks all! After running QQ via AppLocale it's works perfectly and free of charge. Exactly what I wanted. Maybe one last question: Can Pinyin input method also used with traditional character? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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