Q&A Chinese language input on a non-Chinese operating system. In other words, you can add the Chinese Language Kit to an English operating system and input Chinese characters using a Chinese or WorldScript application. It can be installed on any version of Macintosh System 7.1, including KanjiTalk (Japanese), French, or any of the 35 languages supported on the Macintosh. Q. Will the Chinese Language Kit (CLK) work with systems before System 7.1? A. System 7.1 is required, since this is the first version to incorporate the WorldScript technology, which is what makes multilingual computing possible. Q. How many Language Kits are available from Apple? A. The Japanese Language Kit was shipped in April, 1993; Chinese is the second in this product family. Apple will be looking at customer demand to decide which languages will follow. Q. Who is the target audience for Language Kits? A. Customers that require this capability include Chinese nationals working abroad, people providing Chinese language services or products, students, and teachers. Students include both Chinese nationals studying abroad as well as those studying Chinese as a second language. For publishers, Language Kits provide an opportunity to expand their business by adding the capability to create Chinese (or Japanese) language brochures, sign boards, posters, T shirt designs, restaurant menus, business cards, etc. Some publishers have been using ChineseTalk -- Apple¹s fully localized Chinese operating system -- but would prefer to use a system that provides an English Finder while allowing them to work with Chinese text. Perhaps the largest segment of the market is non-Chinese people with an occasional need to use Chinese in a business or personal setting. This group includes people who may speak fluent Chinese or only a little, but have a need to use it occasionally in documents, letters, and presentations. Many people in business or government, for example, travel frequently to China or Taiwan and speak some Chinese. They would like to be able to use Chinese characters occasionally in their correspondence and presentations to accurately describe Chinese concepts, place names, family names, etc. even though they are working primarily in English. This product is ideal for them because of its ease of use. Q. Where can I get the Apple Language Kits? A. Both the Chinese Language Kit and Japanese Language Kits are available in the United States through software resellers, including mail order and the Apple Catalog, for a suggested retail price of $249. Q. Are Language Kits available outside the United States? A. Both the CLK and the JLK are available worldwide, although pricing and availability varies by country. The CLK is expected to be very popular in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, and throughout Asia. The Japanese Language Kit is popular in Japan, mostly among the foreign population because it supports Japanese on an English Finder. Q. How do customers get technical support for their Language Kits? A. Apple provides technical support for Language Kits through the 1-800-SOS-APPL technical support number. Q. What third parties are supporting this product? A. The Chinese Language Kit is supported by two kinds of applications: Chinese localized applications, and WorldScript applications. Many popular applications -- including WordPerfect and Nisus -- take advantage of WorldScript, Apple¹s system software technology. Applications that have been localized for Chinese can also be used with the Chinese Language Kit. The programs include ClarisWorks Chinese and TurboWriter from Transpac, among many others. Q. How does the Chinese Language Kit work? A. Once installed on Macintosh systems with System 7.1, the Chinese Language Kit adds Chinese as a secondary script in the Macintosh system. It adds extensions, Chinese character input methods, language resources, fonts, dictionaries, and other files required to support the Chinese script. To install the Chinese Language Kit, a user simply double-clicks on the install icon, and the program will call for the appropriate disks. As with any system extension, the user must reboot before it becomes active. Through custom install, the user has the option of loading only the minimum configuration to conserve disk space, or adding input methods. Q. Does the CLK support both Traditional and Simplified characters? A. Yes. Customers told us that this would be very important, especially for academic users, but also for publishers. Q: What are all the components of the CLK product? A: The product includes the software on 13 high density floppy disks, an installation manual (in English, with a summary in Chinese), and input method guides for both Simplified and Traditional Chinese (in English and Chinese). Q: Which fonts are included with the CLK? A: The floppy disks contain Apple LiSung Light (TrueType) for Traditional Chinese, and Song (TrueType) for Simplified. The system fonts (bitmapped) are Taipei and Beijing for Traditional and Simplified, respectively. In addition, the kit contains a CD ROM with 4 additional TrueType fonts. These are LiGothic Medium for Traditional, and Hei, FangSong, and Kai for Simplified Chinese. Q: Do customers need to have a CD ROM drive in order to install the CLK? A: No. The floppy disks contain everything they need, including one TrueType font for Simplified Chinese (Song), and another for Traditional (LiSung). The CD contains all of this software, plus 4 additional fonts (1 Traditional, 3 Simplified), which can be dragged into the system folder. Q: Which input methods are included in the CLK? A: For Simplified Chinese, the CLK includes Pinyin, Wubi Xing, Wubi Hua, and Code. For Traditional Chinese, the kit includes Cangjie, Dayi, Parrot, Pinyin, and Zhuyin. Under ³easy install,² Pinyin is installed automatically, but ³custom install² lets users install any combination of Traditional input methods. For Simplified Chinese, all input methods are installed automatically under easy install. Q: How much hard disk space is required? A. Chinese fonts require 6 - 9 MB per type face. Users who install both Traditional and Simplified characters will need 17 MB of hard disk space. However, many people will choose to install only one or the other, or choose not to install both TrueType fonts. This can be done easily through the custom install menu. Chinese Localized Applications The Chinese Language Kit can be used with a variety of Chinese-localized applications. They include: Canvas 3.5 Chinese, from Deneba ClarisWorks 1.0 Chinese (Simplified) ClarisWorks 1.0 Chinese (Traditional) FileMaker Pro 1.0 Chinese (Traditional), from Claris Imprint 1.35 Chinese, from Ivy Systems Lotus 1-2-3 Chinese NewsMaker Chinese, from Compose Nisus 3.50 Chinese (Simplified) Nisus 3.50 Chinese (Traditional) PageMaker 3.0 Chinese (Simplified), from Aldus PageMaker 3.5 Chinese (Traditional), from Aldus TurboWriter 2.0.5 Chinese (Traditional), from TransPac WordPerfect 2.2 Chinese (Simplified) WorldScript-savvy (2-byte) Applications: The Chinese Language Kit can be used with many programs that employ Apple WorldScript technology. These programs include: AllPage 1.82, from MicroMacro AllScript 1.81, from MicroMacro Freehand 3.1 Asian, from Aldus Imprint 3.5, from Ivy Systems In Control 2.0, from Attain Nisus 3.482, from Nisus Persuasion 2.1 Asian, from Aldus Sindex 2.0, from WinSoft StatView 4.01, from Abacus Concepts WinText 2.7.1, from WinSoft WinFile 1.7, from WinSoft WinView 1.7, from WinSoft WordPerfect 2.1.4 Apple has tested only a limited number of applications; these lists are not intended to be comprehensive. Many non-localized applications that do not employ WorldScript software technology may provide limited functionality and allow input of Chinese characters.