Can Your Computer Speak Japanese?

PCs and Macs sold in North America are bundled with software that can only handle languages that use the Roman alphabet. It's basically an English operating system. To make one's computer Japanese friendly there are two choices. 1. Add on software. 2. A localized operating system. The add on software is installed on top of the English system enabling one's computer to handle two-byte characters and providing Japanese fonts. The localized operating system is not installed on top of the present operating system, but rather replaces it.

Two popular add on packages are: WIN/V and Twin Bridge. Both are designed to change the English based MS windows into a bilingual windows environment. This is to one's advantage as the English based Windows environment is kept.

An option, though less favorable, is DOS/V, which is a bilingual version of DOS and Windows-J, A Japanese version of windows. Both are available from Microsoft Japan. DOS/V can flip between English and Japanese mode (using the switch command). This will shut down the current system and re-boot the other system. Many DOS applications require that one's computer be in English mode. Conversely, most English Windows applications are able to run in Japanese DOS mode when Windows-J has been installed.

Some disadvantages to consider: 1. A higher operating cost. 2. Having to constantly switch back and forth between languages (which is ok if you are the only one using the computer).

Click here for more information about displaying Japanese characters.

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