Have you tried installing the English Language Pack?
At the time I posted, I hadn't tried anything yet - I hadn't even downloaded the program. I was waiting to find out whether I could get away with using the English version or if I needed to install the Japanese version for some functionality. If I install the English version, why would I need the English Language Pack? And from what I've read, if I install the Japanese version, my menus and such will be in Japanese no matter what I might download to go with it. What I want is all functionality for working with Japanese text, and if possible, with an English user interface. Most people are trying to do this on top of English Windows, and most of their problems revolve around not having the right fonts, not having IME running right, etc. I have none of those problems, as I am installing it on a fully running Japanese machine (which, of course, can also handle English characters just fine).
Since the time I wrote, I searched some more (I discovered the OOo forums in addition to this news group), and read enough to feel comfortable trying the English version. I am currently playing with it (and having other troubles not related to language). It appears that basic functionality for Japanese, like vertical text and separate fonts for "Asian" and "western" text, is working, although I have only begun to work with it. One thing that appears to be missing (I don't know if it would be in the Japanese version or not) is that when I call up the "ruby" dialog (Format -> Asian phonetic guide..."), there is no suggestion for the phonetics. If I have a long phrase selected, the ruby function correctly breaks it into words, so it must have some connection to a Japanese dictionary or whatever database IME uses to do its job. But Japanese MS Word goes a step further and fills in the ruby fields with its best guess for the phonetics of each word, which I find extremely helpful (for normal constructs, it almost always gets it right, and sometimes I call up Word and paste something into it just to have the ruby feature tell me how to pronounce it!). Also, a post from about a year ago had a comment that there were some printing options in the Japanese version that weren't in the English one, but I don't know what options those are or whether I care. Any information on this?
--------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
