Windows XP

Windows XP does not contain support for rendering combining diacritics with the Latin script. To make use of this functionality it is necessary to:

• Install Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) and follow the instructions for configuring Windows XP SP2.

or

• Install Graphite fonts and Graphite enabled applications.

Third party fonts that are suitable for a range of African languages include:

• Andika
• Charis SIL
• Doulos SIL
• Gentium Book

• FieldWorks
• Firefox 1.5.0.6
• Graphite enabled OpenOffice
• Thunderbird 1.5.0.5
• WorldPad

Available non-Microsoft keyboard layouts fall into two categories:

1. Layouts generated by Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator (MSKLC), and
2. Layouts created for use with Tavultesoft Keyman Desktop.

MSKLC based keyboards are free but have a number of problems. The layouts that can be designed using MSKLC are limited and restrictive. For effective use of these keyboard layouts, it is important that software and web developers support Unicode normalization and case folding. In order to use a custom keyboard layout, it is necessary to assign the keyboard layout to an existing input locale supported by Windows Vista. In practice this means assigning the keyboard to a completely different language. This may have unexpected consequences.

Tavultesoft Keyman Desktop is a commercial product that allows much more sophisticated and responsive keyboard layouts.

Sites that contain or list keyboard layouts include:

• Pan African L10n Project
• Open Road project
• SIL African language Keyman layouts.
• Tavultesoft