This site will deal with issues regarding working with Chinese characters on Macintosh computers. This page is very out of date and much of the information should be considered historic reference. I have more recent information including detailed instructions on how to use the Pinyin Input Method with the OS 9 language kits at my new website called San Bei Ji.
I currently have the Chinese Language Kit (CLK) installed on my Mac. This is great for viewing web pages and e-mail using the Big-5 or GB encodings used for traditional and simplified Chinese, respectively. The CLK supports Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and input methods such as Pinyin, Cang Jie, Ban Xin Jien Pan, Da Yi, and Zhu Yin. A Chinese keyboard is used for input methods other than Pinyin. This type of keyboard is similar to the standard QWERTY type of keyboard, but has special characters printed on the face and stem of the keys (in addition to the standard roman set.) These characters aid in the navigation and input of Chinese characters in a way that is easy for native speakers of Chinese dialects.
CLK tip #1: Use the Cmd+ Space combination to toggle between input methods and language systems. This is very useful for preparing documents in both English and Chinese, for example. This works in OS 8, but I am not sure with earlier versions of Mac OS
CLK tip #2: When indicating the tone of the character you are looking for, use the most common value for quickest location. For a Pinyin example, for the word for "no", use the more common bu4 instead of the occasional bu2 tone combination that may arise in conversation.
CLK tip #3: Sometimes the tone in CLK does not match the one you are used to. Sometimes CLK is just plain wrong (eg: nu3 for "woman" comes up in CLK under nu1). If you don't know the tone, just hit the spacebar to display all the possible characters.
CLK tip #4: To easily sort through the list of synonym characters, hit the space bar after you input the tone (or space bar a second time if you don't know the tone.) This will place a bold underscore cursor under the first character on the list and you can use the arrow keys to move about the list. Use the corresponding number row key to select the character you want, but only when the cursor is on the same line as the character in question.
CLK tip #5: The Chinese Language Kit, and all other language kits, come bundled with Mac OS 9. Free. Run the Mac OS 9 Installer and run a custom installation, selecting to install only the language kit you want.
[Note on the following info: AICS is no longer sold. There is a product available from AsiaSoft called Penpower Handwriting System for Macintosh. There are also versions for Palm and Windows. — July 10, 2001]
Advanced Chinese Input Suite (ACIS) — Using a graphics tablet, Mac users will be able to simply write the character in the proper stroke order and have the computer immediately recognize it. Furthermore, the ACIS comes with Apple's pioneering voice recognition and text-to-speech technology. The user can simply speak to the computer in Mandarin and it will take dictation for you using the Chinese characters. Or, you can use the text-to-speech feature to have the computer read back your e-mail, business proposal, or whatever. I have ordered this software from AsiaSoft, Apple's reseller in Asia.
PowerBook users: Important! The voice recognition (Chinese Dictation Kit or CDK) only works on desktop models with 16 bit sound. Try as you might, the CDK just won't work on PB1400 computers, and I don't think it works on the 2400 or 3400 models either. I have no idea if it can be used on the new PB-G3 models since their entire archetecture is different. Everything else works just great. In fact, the touchpad on PowerBooks works fairly well as a quick graphics tablet substitute for the Chinese Handwriting Kit (CHK).
AICS tip #1: Use the Cmd+Option+Space keystroke combination to toggle between input methods within a selected language kit. This is useful if I wanted to switch between the handwriting recognition method and the pinyin imput method, for instance. This feature must be enabled in the Keyboard Control Panel.
AICS tip #2: You can use the mouse or touchpad as a substitute for the graphics tablet. It doesn't work as good as a graphics tablet, but it might come in handy if you don't have your tablet plugged in at the moment or if you are PowerBook user in a mobile situation where you can't set the tablet up. For instance, I will use the touchpad to input Chinese during my morning commute when I am on a cramped subway since there is no place to put the graphics tablet. For PowerBooks, the trick is to use a "click and a half" (click, click and hold) on the touchpad to initiate each stroke and another single click to release the stroke. Once you get this technique down, the rest is like fingerpainting. Since input this way can be slow, you will want to set your CHK to send the data in intervals as long as possible. To access preferences, use option+shift+W. Set the response time to 6.
AICS tip #3: PowerBook users, you might as well not even bother installing the CDK. It won't work on your PowerBook and it takes up lots of precious hard disk space. If you installed it, remove it. You will see at least 25 more MB of space available on your hard drive. (Of course, I have no idea about G3 PowerBooks. Look before you leap.)
AICS tip #4: If you happen to be one of the lucky ones that has a copy of the AICS at this time (the thing is now out of print), it works just fine with the latest version of CLK that comes bundled with OS 9.
AICS tip #5: If you still have an old ADB graphics tablet and want to use it with one of the new USB iMacs or G4s, don't throw it out just yet! You can get an iMate ADB to USB connector to continue using your old tablet. Make sure you download the latest iMate driver and the latest driver for your tablet. (For example, there is a new driver available for the Wacom ArtPad II ADB tablet, and that driver is required for proper connectivity to an iMac running OS 9.
One very popular software title that dosen't support WorldScript is America Online (AOL). With AOL 3.0 for Macintosh, you are unable to view webpages and e-mail in non-roman languages such as Chinese. There is an AOL client for Japanese that can view and use Japanese characters, but you have to download the software and use it exclusively when logged on. I really don't even know if they have a Mac version, to be honest. Mac users who would like to see AOL get with the times should let them know in the Mamber Services area.
However, all is not lost. There is a solution: Netscape Navigator. You can set Netscape to display your Chinese fonts. To do this, go to the Options menu and choose General Preferences. Click the Fonts tab and choose the desired fonts (I use Apple LiSung Light 12pt.) Then click the Languages tab and select the desired lagnuages you think you will be using. Then to change the encoding, choose Document Encoding from the Options menu. Set it to the desired option (I usually have it set to Traditional Chinese Big-5).
To send and receive e-mail, get yourself a HoTMaiL account. This is a free, web based e-mail service that will render your e-mail directly on Netscape. It's easy to use, and you will be able to send and receive all the Chinese e-mail you want. My HoTMaiL e-mail address is jojolewis@hotmail.com. Recently I got myself an account with Lycos' E-mail service, so that I can use the more functional e-mail features in Claris E-Mailer, Netscape Communicator, and Microsoft Outlook Express. For a small price you can use a POP account that is way better than AOL's e-mail capabilities, and still retain your AOL account.
If you are worried about AOL logging you off with their 46 minute warning, you can download software from Mike Rampell's Home Page to automatically click the OK button every time it pops up. I am experiencing some bugs with this item on my PowerBook 1400 running Mac OS 8, but others have experienced good results and it looks pretty good. Mike Rampell is aware of the bug and (hopefully) is working on a solution.