5.0629 Multilingual SW (2/54)

Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Wed, 29 Jan 1992 23:10:41 EST

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 5, No. 0629. Wednesday, 29 Jan 1992.

(1) Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1992 21:33:12 -0500 (39 lines)
From: mlbizer@phoenix.Princeton.EDU
Subject: multilingual software

(2) Date: Tue, 28 Jan 92 00:06:23 CST (15 lines)
From: pilgrim at ukanvm <PILGRIM@UKANVM>
Subject: Re: 5.0625 Multilingual Software (2/108)

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1992 21:33:12 -0500
From: mlbizer@phoenix.Princeton.EDU
Subject: multilingual software

I'm not completely familiar with the problems of biblical scholars
since I only have to work in French, but I would first like to point out to
DOS users who complain of memory problems associated with using different
fonts and difficulties in displaying odd characters on low-resolution
displays that these problems simply do not exist for Macintosh computers
which handle fonts and memory in much more carefully thought-out ways.
Even the Plus/SE/Classic handle up to 4 MB of memory (forget those archaic
640KB constraints!). It is easy to install and remove fonts (this has been
made even easier under the new System 7, where you just drop them into the
system file), and being part of the system, fonts are available to all
programs, not just to WordPerfect or Nota Bene. There are numerous
software packages which allow you to design your own fonts. Of course, any
font installed in a Macintosh can be displayed thanks to the bit-mapped
video. So where is the problem? Macs can not only read DOS disks, but
also run DOS programs thanks to SoftPC, a software DOS emulator. Finally,
WordPerfect (2.0.4) is available for the Mac.
As far as Hebrew, Greek, and Arabic characters are concerned, I
think the Mac handles them nicely. "Greekkeys" from Scholars' Press makes
typing Ancient Greek very easy. With regards to Hebrew and Arabic, I would
recommend the most powerful (and least well-known) word processor for the
Mac, Nisus. According to the brochure I have in front of me, "Nisus is
available in Hebrew, Japanese, and Arabic versions." These languages may
not be mutually exclusive. In addition, Nisus has incredibly powerful
search and replace features, non-contiguous text selection (not offered by
any other word processor!), automatic indexing, unlimited undos back to
"open file," macros, a graphics module ... the list goes on and on. It is
sold by Paragon Concepts in Solana Beach, CA which offers a free demo disk
if you call them at (800) 922-2993 ext. 2000.
I hope this information will be of use.

Sincerely,
Marc Bizer (mlbizer@phoenix.princeton.edu)
Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
Princeton University

(2) --------------------------------------------------------------21----
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 92 00:06:23 CST
From: pilgrim at ukanvm <PILGRIM@UKANVM>
Subject: Re: 5.0625 Multilingual Software (2/108)

Write to: Gamma Productions -- 710 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 609 -- Santa Monica,
California, 90401 Phone (213) 394-8622
or,
Techware -- P.OO. Box 10545 -- Eugene, Oregon 97440 (503) 484-0520
Phone (503) 484-0520

These companies make or market linguistic software. For further infor-ati
on mation, your library probably has a book entitled "Bits, Bytes, and the
Bible." It is huge, and lists resources until your eyes water.
good luck,
Pilgrim