If you type foreign language on a Mac

Posted by Larry_in_Bangkok
Oct 28, 2021 at 06:04 AM

Have been some rumblings that Apple software is not what it used to be.
Here’s another, which might effect those typing in foreign languages on Mac OS.

When you upgrade to a new version of OS, the keyboard layout may change slightly, without warning.
It changed here yesterday when I upgraded from Mojave to Big Sur.
(Keyboard layout is system software preference, not the plastic keys in front of your screen.)

There was no alert, no warning of the change during the OS upgrade.
This morning while typing text for a translation—BOOM!—a few wrong characters appeared.
(A few, not all.)

It is very annoying to have 10 years experience touch typing in a foreign language, and suddenly a few keys change position.
Doubly annoying to spend half the morning trouble-shooting the problem.

Are similar changes made in layouts for other languages?
I have no way to know.

Granted, the language I’m using is somewhat obscure: Thai ภาษาไทย but that’s no excuse.
And my keyboard layout is somewhat obscure too:
Just as English has a QWERTY keyboard and a DVORAK variation (and others), so, too, Thai language has an ergonomic keyboard variation, which I use.
And the keys which changed are for characters which are not used often, but they are used.

I hope this alert will be useful to others here who type in foreign languages on a Mac.
If you upgrade your Mac OS version, and suddenly a few wrong letters appear in your typing, look at System Preferences - Keyboard layout.
Use “keyboard viewer” to see if any character positions have been changed.

—-

In recent years I’ve started thinking that Mac OS and the entire Apple eco-system is getting worse instead of better.
Alas, I can find no other operating system which is so much better that it’s worth the pain to change.