ack@ingres.com (David Ackerman) (11/21/90)
I am trying to find a decent (and hopefully affordable!) Chinese word processor for the Macintosh. I know of two: FeiMa-P, and BrushWriter 2. The Wu Corporation, makers of FeiMa-P, have reportedly gone out of business, and I do not want to buy an orphaned product. BrushWriter 2 does not work with a Mac II, which means it has not been enhanced in a LONG time. There is also Mishu, which is a desk accessory for input of Hanzi into English documents, but I am really looking for a true Chinese system. I have the Chinese Apple system software (ChineseTalk), but it's not much fun without applications that work with it properly. Does anyone out there know of any other programs that exist? My ideal word processor would have pinyin input as a minimum, but other input methods (based on radicals or traditional phonetic symbols) would be nice too. It would also have at least 6500 traditional and simplified characters, Postscript output capability, and Postscript (or TrueType) fonts. Hey, I can dream, can't I? I have been quite disappointed with Apple's lack of enthusiasm and direction for Chinese Macs. The Chinese system software has not gotten anywhere NEAR the amount of resources devoted to it that the Kanji system software has. Apple has also not "evangelized" developers to make Chinese versions of their products, or tried very hard to market Chinese Macs. IBM PC compatibles virtually own the Chinese market. This is understandable, considering that they want to make money, not something China as a whole has very much of right now. But there is certainly a market now in the US, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, albeit a small one. The key thing Apple is missing is that China itself is a HUGE potential market. If they do not establish a presence now, it will be too late by the time the Chinese market comes alive, and everyone is drooling over it. So, Apple, I say to you: get off your pi1 gu ! Tao3 yan4 ! +-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+ / David Ackerman | UNIX Systems Administrator \ | ack@ingres.com (smart mailers) | ASK Computer Systems Inc. | | rtech!ack@sun.com (non-smart mailers) | Ingres Products Division | | (415) 748-2637 (voice mailers) | 1080 Marina Village Parkway | \ (415) 748-2770 (FAX) | Alameda, CA 94501 / +-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+