Then OSX came out and it was even better. I could change the operating system language from Japanese to English and about a dozen others. I could even create multiple users with different languages, so that I could log on straight into Japanese, English, or almost any other major language. It was a perfect operating system for a multilingual family like mine. Or so I thought.

OSX had no support for right to left languages. Not only was Arabic completely missing, but so was Hebrew. I spent some time on the help boards that Apple so generously provides. I was far from the only person who was upset, and I was far less upset than some. Of course you could still use right-to-left languages in the OS9 shell, but it was a hassle to boot up the 9.2 shell every time you wanted something in such a language. And most of the major software vendors were already well advanced porting their popular software to OSX.

Sure, one big draw of Macs is their graphic and video capabilities, but another has been their multilingual ability. Mac had always been way ahead of Windows in supporting a wide variety of languages and writing systems on its computers. It was Unicode compliant long before anything Microsoft put out was. It was the platform of choice for anyone using a variety of languages, especially those requiring non-Roman alphabets.

Emphasize the "was" in that last sentence. While OSX was a unique blend of Macintosh’s user friendliness (think Japanese bar hostess) with UNIX-like stability, flexibility and power (think Russian gymnast), it no longer matched Microsoft’s multilingual ability (think US high school student).

Windows XP finally gave users the ability to enter Japanese and Arabic in an English operating system. In fact, it automatically downloaded whatever language abilities you needed, so you could just surf to the UN homepage to get set up automatically to handle Arabic, Russian, Chinese, or any of the other half-dozen UN official languages. XP did ask you about it, but you didn’t have to ask it, much less try to search a Microsoft database for the right files to install. Of course, having Bill Gates’ minions taking over your computer the way XP does left many people rather nervous, but that’s another story, perhaps for another day. And I had other problems with that XP computer, some of which you may have experienced yourself.

Apple got the multilingual message fairly quickly, though. OSX.2 (aka "Jaguar") supports left-to-right languages, and in fact is fully Unicode compliant. In addition: to the many languages you can use directly, and even make your OS work in, there is a "character palette" you can use to search for and insert characters. You can search by Unicode block, Unicode table, or glyph table. You can even save your favorites so you can find them easily. If it’s in Unicode, and you have a font for it, you can use it in Jaguar. Finally, there was a way to insert Arabic script Hausa language characters like [Unicode 069F]. Maybe now I can finally finish the Arabic script Hausa webpage I have been meaning to finish for years: Ajami.

Of course there are still problems. For one thing, there was no free upgrade to X.2. Had I known that such was the case, I, like many users, would have held off buying X.1 and just waited for X.2, which had what we were really looking for. Furthermore, Unicode is an incredibly complex and constantly evolving standard and the issue of which characters should be added is being discussed around the ‘net. It’s not easy to keep up, even if you hang around the Unicode website.

I’ve given up talking about "switching" operating systems. I’ve come to realize that all major operating systems have their advantages and disadvantages. I like the idea of working with all of them. I’ve never been interested in Mac or Linux simply because I resented Bill Gates’ money. I have to admit that his near success in monopolizing the computer OS market has had the effect of stifling innovation – Microsoft hasn’t taken the lead in such things as multilingual ability – and breaking up Microsoft into separate OS and applications companies might have been one of the best things to happen to the computer industry. Still, if there’s one thing the world in general – and yours truly personally – needs more than a Unicode compliant operating system, it’s an effective malaria vaccine. That is one thing Bill Gates is way ahead of the competition in developing: Gates Foundation.

John Edward Philips Ph.D.

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