LINGUIST List 5.448

Tue 19 Apr 1994

FYI: Chinese software

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

1. Ecological Linguistics,Anderson,PRT, Chinese software corrections
2. , corrections: chinese software for the mac
3. , RE: 5.426 Sum: Chinese software for the mac

CChinese software corrections:

Apple's CHINESE LANGUAGE KIT is Apple's Worldscript for Chinese, they are the
same thing. This is the only reasonable way to do Chinese now on Mac.
Installation with system 7.1 is simple. Available also from Ecological
Lingusitics, P.O. Box 15156, Washington, D.C., 20003, $199.

MacChinese (by Linguist's Software) is not and has never been available from
Ecological Linguistics.

Strongly recommend NISUS (only the Complete Flags version!) as word processor
compatible with all Apple Worldscript modules (and Chinese Language Kit). It
has at least recently been available for $199 to any members of Macintosh users
groups, or at $175 at eductional discounts. Not sure prices still valid.

A full catalog of Ecological Linguistics offerings is available from the
address given just above.

Lloyd Anderson

I think the following supplements to your summary would be helpful to the
readers of the Linguist List.

1) Of the software you mentioned, Chinese Language Kit, ChineseTalk, and
Qiyi are operating systems or system extensions. In order to do word
processing, desktop publishing, etc, you need to run some _application_
_software_ on top of the system software, such as Nisus or TurboWriter.
2) Xia4 Li3 Ba1 Ren2 is an application, but it can run on the English
system directly. It does not require the Chinese system. (But my memory
may fail me on this. You'd probably better check with Dr. Hua Lin for
this one.)
3) There are no Chinese versions of MacWrite. There is MacWrite II-J, the
Japanese version of MacWrite II, from Claris.
4) NJ Star seems to be a Japanese word processor. Are you sure there is
a Chinese verson also?
5) While the latest version of Qiyi supports TrueType fonts, you do not
get free TrueType fonts as a part of the software package. Last time I heard
Great Eastern has some bundling plan (that is, you buy Qiyi and some TrueType
fonts togetherly from them and save some money), so people who want to buy
Qiyi may like to check on this.
6) Zhong1wen2 Talk and ChineseTalk is the same thing in different names.
ChineseTalk is the "official" name even in Taiwan.
7) ChineseTalk and Chinese Language Kit both comes from Apple, the major
difference is that ChineseTalk is a fully localized system, which means that
after you install ChineseTalk, the menu items and error messages in Finder
will all be in Chinese. With CLK, everything still remains in your original
language.
8) WorldScript (I or II) is the name of a piece of software, which is the
central part of both ChineseTalk and CLK (and KanjiTalk and Japanese Language
Kit and HangulTalk...). WorldScript is never a product by itself.

Hao-yang Wang
Pai Technology, Inc.
Taipei

Message 3: RE: 5.426 Sum: Chinese software for the mac

In answer to the recent summary posting on Chinese software for the Mac, a few
points which might be of further interest:

1 We have just installed the Chinese and Japanese language kits in our
Mac lab - Centris 610s, currently with 4Mb RAM - andn this machine a Centris
660AV 12Mb RAM.

Although Apple say you need 5Mb, we haven't *ye*t encountered any problems onthe
610s which have Nisus Complete Flag with the Arabic Extensions. There is a
slight oddity if you put Japanese in a document and then use the PinYin entry
system for simmplified Chinese - you have to ask for PinYin twice. I know
people have been using the machines for Arabic since Chinese and Japanese were
installed, but I have heard of no problems. We have ordered more RAM!

2 On this machine I have Word, WordPerfect and Nisus, and it works well
with all of them so far. The only problems are Filmaker Pr in which the Font
menu appears blank, though you can still choose fonts from it, and with
MacKermit which I use as a terminal emulator, and havoc has been created with
the screen - so god knows what this will come out like!

Mark Hilton
University of Westminster
School of Languages
hiltonmuk.ac.westminster