Recently in Windows Category

The Windows 7 blog from Microsoft recently posted information on new "global" features for the next version of Windows (which would be Windows 7). Most of the focus in terms of fonts is on languages from South Asia (India in particular) and Southeast Asia (including Lao and Khmer fonts).

Microsoft is also announcing enhancements for displaying Arabic script characters and a new Font control panel (which now include a font preview). Microsoft is also releasing pilots of new localization features.

I suspect a lot of people either skipped Vista or returned to Windows XP, so it is worth mentioning that Vista had already included substantial additions in its font and locale repertoire including Ethiopic support and several Indian languages.

I've heard a few good things about Windows 7 through the grapevine, so I am crossing my fingers. I will be anxious to test it in the Penn State environment.

In Windows you can use the ALT key to enter numeric codes for decimal values of Unicode code points (e.g. ALT+065 = A). The limit is set to 255...unless you're in Microsoft Office, where you can input larger values (e.g. ALT+1046 = Cyrlilic Ж (Zhe)).

This is handy, but I found out through the grape vine (specifically blogger John D. Cook) there's a way to also enter the hexadecimal value of the Unicode point. For instance Ж is actually U+0416 in the Unicode spec where they are listed by hexadecimal values. Unfortunately, it's still restricted to Microsoft Office but it can be useful

It's a little tricky, so here's how it goes

1. Open Microsoft Word or other Office app.
2. Type a four digit hex code point (e.g. "0416").
3. Next type Alt+X. The numeric code will be replaced by the correct character.

I wish this trick worked in every Windows app, but it's still useful if you are using Word and need a code and can only get access to a list of codes in hexadecimal format. At least you can bypass the hexadecimal to decimal conversion.

Webmaster "Pinyin Joe" site that might clear up some of the mysteries of Chinese support in Windows (including Vista)

http://www.pinyinjoe.com/vista/vista_new.htm

He goes through set up, the possible input utilities you can activate and even some font samples for the Microsoft Chinese fonts. There's good coverage of Windows XP as well.

FYI - Mac users should check Yale's Chinese Mac site.

Below is a link to handout and materials for a CALICO 2009 presentation on Unicode text entry for the Macintosh (with a supplemental Windows handout). Click the link below to download.

Download CALICO Unicode Handouts .zip

The Windows International keyboard is a Windows utility from Microsoft which allows users to enter a variety of accent codes with combinations of keys like '+e (for é) instead of memorizing a list of numeric ALT codes. If you are typing a lot of accented characters on a Windows machine, it's a godsend.

The interesting thing is that you can now download a Mac version of the Windows International keyboard. As a longtime Mac addict, I find it amusing because I am so used to the Apple Option keys. To me it's an interesting reduncancy.

But I can imagine that if you are a long-time Windows user, you may not want to re-learn a new set of Option codes. I can relate, because I've been struggling with my new phonetics keyboard which is very different from my old one. There's some serious retraining needed before I could use it.

What's really important is that there are utilities out there which allow users to customize their keyboards to just the way they want it. Vive la différance.

I was recently asked how you can spell-check in Spanish in Word (assuming that Word is running in an English environment). I knew the old way, but realized that it had probably changed in Word 2007 because of the new tab layout.

I looked for updated instructions, but I couldn't find one in a quick Google search. So I did some field research which I thought I would document it.

Office 2007 (Vista and WIndows XP)

1. Highlight the non-English text.
2. Click the Review tab on the Word toolbar,
3. In the Proofing section on the left, select the globe icon (Set Language). A pop-window will open where you can select an appropriate language.
4. Perform the spell check. The non-English text will be checked against the non-English dictionary.

NOTE: If no list appears or the spell-check does not work properly, check to see if the appropriate dictionaries have been installed. They are available on installation CD's for Microsoft Office

Other Versions of Word (Windows and Macintosh)

1. Highlight the non-English text.
2. Go to the Tools » Language » Set Language. A pop-window will open where you can select an appropriate language.
3. Perform the spell check. The non-English text will be checked against the non-English dictionary.

NOTE: Dictionaries must be installed

FYI - This is mirrored at:
http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/keyboards/microsoft.html</p>

The Insert Symbol Tool in Word

As I said last entry, I'm working on a symbolic logic course and am learning new quirks for dealing with with Unicode logic symbols...and one of them apparently is the Microsoft Word Insert Symbol tool (this is found by going to Insert » Symbol in most versions of Word.

Like the Windows Character Map and Mac Character Palette, the Insert Symbol tool lets you insert single characters into a document so you can change "P implies Q" to the logical formulation P ⊃ Q or P → Q depending on your symbolism (and you can also switch between "P and Q," P & Q or P ∧ Q).

But...unlike the Windows Character Map/Mac Character Palette, the Insert Symbol tool can take you on a little detour out of standard Unicode and into the Microsoft Private Use Area block - or the block where vendors can define their own characters. For instance, when I tried to insert the character ∩ (union) into a document, I noticed that the Insert Symbol palette gave a code point of U+F0C7 instead of the expected U+2229, and yes the U+F0 code is a sign that you are in the Private Use Area.

First I should say that there is a rationale for this. You'll notice that the font in the graphic is set to "Symbol" which is an older pre-Unicode font which was used to insert lots of special mathematical symbols. The Private Use set-up undoubtedly prevents a lot older documents from breaking.

So What?

If all you're doing is using with Word, the Insert Symbol tool may still be working for you. But these days, more and more documents are actually destined for the Web or some other format...and not all tools recognize the Microsoft Private Use codes.

The way I first noticed that the logic symbols weren't standard Unicode was that some logic symbols did not "convert" well to HTML in Course Genie but mysteriously became things like "(". The ones I had inserted properly converted, but not the ones inserted with the Word Symbol tool. Ugh.

The use of proper Unicode versus an older format does have a real world impact.

Summary

To avoid the Private Use function in new Word documents just always use the WWindows Character Map and Mac Character Palette. On Windows, you may need to switch the font to Arial Unicode.

Or if you're especially insane, you can develop your own logic symbol keyboard utility.

The standard super Unicode font from Apple is Lucida Grande, but now a version will be available to Windows users if they download the Windows version of Safari 3.
See http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/fonts.html#lucidagrande

Like the release of Microsoft's release Arial Unicode MS for Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) I think this is really good for the  Web community. A lot of Mac-oriented designers have gotten hooked on Lucida Grande, but they don't always realize that it's not available on Windows (or they think that Arial is a good substitute, when Arial Unicode may be more appropriate.

With both Arial Unicode and Lucida Grande available for both platforms, the headaches of developing cross-OS friendly sites should be reduced in the future. We may be able to (gasp) pick a Unicode font we like and assume it will be on almost all machines. Wow!!!

FYI - If your site needs to display a lot of quirky characters (like this one does), I would still recommend your CSS file allow for both Arial Unicode MS and Lucida Grande...at least for the next few years.

Note: The number forms were corrected on March 9, 2009

As I mentioned in my previous entry "Formatting Arabic Numbers", most Arabic documents include Western style "straight" numbers like 1,2,3 by default instead of "curly" Middle Eastern numbers like ١,٢,٣, but you can configure Word to generate the correct numbers.

FYI - The curly (or calligraphic) style are actually called "Hindi numbers" in Arabic, while "Arabic" numbers refer to the straight Western style (vs. older Roman numbers like I,II,III).

Note: The "Hindi" numbers used an India (i.e. Devanagari) do not match the "Hindi" forms used in Arabic writing. (Thanks to Eric Verlind for pointing this out).

Word 2007 (thanks to Katia Zakharia for details)

1. Make sure you have activated an appropriate Arabic, Persian or other regional keyboard in the Windows Control Panel
2. Open Word 2007, then click the circular Office icon in the upper left.
   
3. In the new window, click the Word Options button in the lower right corner.
4. Click Advanced in the left menu.
5. Scroll to the Show document content section then look for the Numeral menu.
6. Choose Context in the Numerals menu then close the window
   Note: Do not choose "Hindi" as your option unless you want this style in all documents (including English).
   



7. In the Word document, when you switch to an Arabic keyboard, numbers will be in the Hindi style.

Word 2003 for Windows

Instructions are available from http://www.uga.edu/islam/arabic_windows.html. Scroll to section 8c.

Macintosh NeoOffice (from their support forum)

A similar option is available in the free open source NeoOffice package.

1. Open NeoOffice, then click Preferences in the NeoOffice menu.
2. In the Preferences panel, click the arrow to the left of Language Settings to view additional options. Click the Languages link.
   
3. Check the option for Enabled for complex text layout. A new link on the left called Complex Text Layout.
4. Click the new Complex Text Layout link in the left.
5. In the Numerals select Hindi.

Macintosh Word 2004

I am not aware of a similar tool in Word 2004 for the Mac. I was able to create some Auto Correct text which replaces "\3\" with ٣.

The only other option it to tweak the Region settings in System Preferences, but that affects every application.

In addition to the iPhone, Apple recently released a Beta of Safari 3 for BOTH Mac and Windows. Either version can be downloaded from www.apple.com/safari/ .

There were some Unicode glitches in Safari 2, and some got fixed in Safari 3, but others are the same.

FONT APPEARENCE (Improved on Windows)

It's the same on the Mac side as in Safari 2 (quite acceptable), but I think Windows users will notice a significant improvement in font presentation especially if they are still on Windows XP.

An improvement in anti-aliasing in Safari 3 means fonts will appear crisper/cleaner in general than either Firefox or even Internet Explorer 7. No matter what script you're using, I believe this is generally a good thing.

ARABIC TEST (Windows dicey, Mac OK)

I am not an expert in the Arabic script, but results suggest that the Windows Safari does not render all the joinings correctly, but the Mac Safari does do an acceptable job. I checked the Arabic on Safari for Windows vs IE for Windows and noticed some differences in letter forms.

I suspect the culprit is that Safari may be relying a bit on Mac AAT font technology which does not exist on Windows.

TAMIL TEST (failed on both)

One of the major failings of Safari and other Mac browsers was the inability to process vowel signs on scripts from South India (e.g. Tamil). The vowel marks would appear, but not be placed correctlly.

Alas, this problem still persists...even on the Windows side. The South Asian vowel sign problem does not appear to be fixed.

FONT CONTROL (Not enough for Windows)

The font control options in Safari 2/3 are restricted to just Western European languages. On the Mac, this means that you will default to some system font (usually Lucida Grande) if it's available. Ugly but readable.

On the Windows side, the lack of font control means you COULD have the right font available, but Safari 3 WON'T be able to find it.

For instance, I tested a Syriac page in Safari 3 (Win) and IE 7 (Win). IE 7 correctly implemented the Syriac font (Estrangelo Edessa), but Safari 3 (Win) missed it completely and gave me just a bunch of boxes.

Safari does implement CSS...so in theory, a developer could specify the Windows fonts for Syriac text, but what a pain.

NOTE: Safari 3 (Mac) DID find my third party Syriac font.

CONCLUSION

If you're browsing main-stream languages (English, Spanish, Russian, Hebrew, Hindi, Central European), then Safari seems to function well and has crisper fonts to boot.

But for the exotic languages, results will vary, especially on the Windows platform.