At 09:53 +0100 2002-08-13, Marion Gunn wrote: >Any news from Apple, about X keyboards for Irish and its sister languages?
Apple have made no official announcements about what keyboards will be included in the next or future releases of OS X. General information about specifications for Celtic keyboard layouts can be found at http://www.evertype.com/celtscript/celt-keys.html. In November 2001 Everson Typography provided specifications for an Irish keyboard to Apple, via a developer in Cork. Because Ireland can no longer use the UK locale -- since we use euros now instead of pounds -- it has been possible to get agreement from Apple that they will ship an Irish keyboard (along with other locale information). The Irish keyboard may be included in the next major release (i.e. OS 10.2), but of course it is up to Apple to decide that and I make no promises or predictions. >I'm thinking, specifically, of the keyboard support utility >originally created by Mícheál Mac Brádaigh of Dublin University, >Ireland, and over a decade of further development/updates and >distribution (to 2001) by EGT, the latest version of which I am >using now (which works under System 9, but not under 10), giving >regular writers of Irish, Welsh, etc., quick access to >acutes/graves/circs. Elsewhere I have expressed my opinion that "EGT" was not more than the sum of its two directors prior to September 2001; I should like it noted that it was I who developed the keyboard drivers in question. It should also be observed that while the keyboard layout developed by Mike Brady (Irish Accessories) is similar to the keyboard layout which I developed (Gaeilge), it is not the case that I adapted or updated Mike's software -- rather, I developed the Irish keyboards, and the keyboards supporting the other languages, on my own. The keyboard layouts have been distributed with my CeltScript fonts at least since 1993, and I continue to distribute them free of charge on the Everson Typography website. >Has Apple's continuous, EGT-driven support effectively been scrapped >since 2001, or is there anyone able to speak for Apple today on >these lists, who might have good news for users for whom System 10 >is proving too cumbersome to use without EGT's traditional keyboards >- having to press 3-4 keys (Sys. 10), instead of just 2-3 (Sys. 9) >is not on? I must point out here that it is I who own the copyright for the software to which you refer, as I did also when "EGT" was distributing it, prior to September 2001. It is, therefore, inappropriate to call them "EGT's traditional keyboards". The keyboard layout which has been developed for eventual release by Apple supports the Mac Roman character set, although it runs under OS X. A Mac OS 9 compatible version of the new Irish keyboard can be downloaded from the "Irish Keyboards for Mac OS X" page at http://www.evertype.com/celtscript/ga-keys-x.html. Note also on that page that an "Irish Extended" keyboard making full use of Unicode is under development. This will enable users to type all of the characters used in Irish including the dotted consonants and the Tironian et sign, all very conveniently with one keyboard. More good news: I hope to be releasing soon an OS X Unicode keyboard layout for Ogham, and of course I am developing OS X keyboard layouts with support for Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, and Cornish. -- Michael Everson *** Everson Typography *** http://www.evertype.com
