Michael's right: Mac's have had excellent support in the input area (via language kits and installable keyboards) for many years now.
In addition, Windows 9x and NT already switches keyboards (you can install more than one) at the touch of a key. Win2K has the ability to switch keyboards INCLUDING IMEs...
This is a much better method than typing in "other" character than typing Unicode values or CharMap hunt-and-hunt-and-peck. There are scripts (notably Indic scripts) that don't have associated or suitable keyboards available, but this could be rectified.
There are also "compose" utilities (I use one called Accent Composer http://www.kovcomp.co.uk/) with my EN_US keyboard to type Latin-1 extended characters (without having to type in a four digit number or turn the Num Lock on my laptop on and off... a real nightmare for a touch typist)
Addison
__________________________________________
Addison Phillips
Director, Globalization Services
SimulTrans, L.L.C.
+1 650-526-4652 (direct telephone)
AddisonP@simultrans.com (Internet email)
http://www.simultrans.com (website)
"22 languages. One release date."
__________________________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Everson [mailto:everson@indigo.ie]
Sent: Saturday, June 05, 1999 4:20 AM
To: Unicode List
Subject: Re: Hexadecimal in many scripts (ISO 14755)
Ar 09:12 -0700 1999-06-04, scríobh John Cowan:
>It is annoying enough to have to type in random 10646 characters by
>code number. It is doubly annoying to have to use some escape
>mechanism on the keyboard to be able to enter the code number
>at all.
Apple's way cool WorldScript switched keyboards easily, and I imagine will
be a model for multiscript implementations of the UCS. :-)
--
Michael Everson, Everson Gunn Teoranta ** http://www.indigo.ie/egt
15 Port Chaeimhghein Íochtarach; Baile Átha Cliath 2; Éire/Ireland
Guthán: +353 1 478-2597 ** Facsa: +353 1 478-2597 (by arrangement)
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