So my other half goes home to Tokyo for a visit, and her Dad decides to buy me a laptop, since I'd been moaning about wanting one for ages. Grateful as I am, the only problem is that the lovely gleaming Think Pad R32 with Windows XP Pro installed is ... all in Japanese. Now typing in English is of course not a problem, but despite a storming improvement in my Japanese, I confess I can't read any of the menu or display and will doubtless never be able to.
What can I do ? Is there anyone there who has any ideas ?
I've been to PC World and they suggest maybe getting XP in English and installing that (pricey, risky) - Microsoft's website says something about a Multilingual Interface Pack - anyone know what that is ?
I'd be obliged ...
― darren (darren), Friday, 9 May 2003 21:29 (twenty-two years ago)
no sympathy from this crowd. get a computer-age kanji guide and learn some kana! Shit be easy! Only three alphabets, man!
― Millar (Millar), Friday, 9 May 2003 22:11 (twenty-two years ago)
don't know if it helps, but this is in the xp support center:
To switch languages or keyboards from the taskbar
Open Regional and Language Options in Control Panel.
On the Languages tab, under Text services and input languages, click Details.
Under Preferences, click Language Bar.
In the Language Bar Settings dialog box, select the Show additional Language bar icons in the Notification area check box.
Click OK three times.
Click the language icon or the keyboard icon on the taskbar to display a menu.
Click a language or keyboard.
Notes
To open Regional and Language Options, click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Regional and Language Options.
The language icon is available only if you have added multiple languages or multiple keyboard layouts in Regional and Language Options in Control Panel.
When inserting text, you can use the keyboard, speech recognition, or handwriting recognition interchangeably without clicking a button.
The letters on the icon represent the active language. For example, EN stands for English.
maybe your computer has english available - it seems plausible *crosses fingers, etc* good luck navigating the menus in japanese :)
― ron (ron), Friday, 9 May 2003 22:19 (twenty-two years ago)
Thanks Ron - I had already looked at the XP support center thing but it looks ominously like it won't work without the language interface thingie. But cheers for looking that up.
Millar mate - my kana is not that bad but it won't ever be good enough to navigate at the speed that you want from having a laptop. Not even Momus could learn kanji that quickly.
― darren (darren), Saturday, 10 May 2003 12:08 (twenty-two years ago)
get your radicals down first. Kanji/hanja/zi aren't really that bad if you recognize what they're made of.
― Millar (Millar), Saturday, 10 May 2003 15:56 (twenty-two years ago)