What's New in the Solaris 9 12/03 Operating Environment

Language Support Enhancements

The Solaris software now includes the following language support enhancements. Common Transliteration-based Input Method for All Indian languages is a new feature in the Solaris 9 12/03 release. Language support features from prior releases include the following:

Common Transliteration-based Input Method for All Indian languages

This feature is new in the Solaris 9 12/03 release.

Users who operate within any Unicode (UTF-8) locale in the Solaris software can now easily and intuitively input characters from Indian regional languages. Users who interact with CDE applications, StarOfficeTM, or Mozilla can more easily interact with Indian scripts. After selecting the transliteration-based input method (IM), users can type phonetic equivalents of Indian language scripts in English. These equivalents are then displayed in the script that is selected, and are correctly shaped and rendered with the help of an underlying layout and shaper module. As transliteration is the most commonly used input method to input Indian languages, this support can greatly enhance the usability of the eight Indian scripts that are provided in the Solaris software.

Unicode Version 3.2 Support

This feature is new in the Solaris 9 8/03 release.

Solaris Unicode locales now support the Unicode Version 3.2. The Unicode Version 3.2 introduces 1016 new characters. This version also includes both normative changes and informative changes, as described in the Unicode Standard Annex #28: UNICODE 3.2 at the following Web site:

http://www.unicode.org/unicode/reports/tr28/

The UTF-8 character representation has been changed to a more secure form as specified in the Unicode Version 3.2. This feature implements the more secure UTF-8 character representation, form, and byte sequences in UTF-8 related iconv code conversions. This feature also implements all OS-level multibyte and wide character functions, such as the following:

Additional Keyboard Support

This feature is new in the Solaris 9 4/03 release.

Software support for three additional keyboards has been added to the Solaris 9 4/03 release: Estonian keyboard Type 6, French-Canadian keyboard Type 6, and Polish programmer's keyboard Type 5. This software support gives users in Canada, Estonia, and Poland greater flexibility for keyboard input. The support modifies standard U.S. keyboard layouts to different language needs.

Refer to the Solaris 9 4/03 Release Notes for instructions.

Wubi Input Method

This feature is new in the Solaris 9 4/03 release.

The Wubi input method (IM) is widely used in China. The encoding rule for Wubi IM is based on the radical or stroke shape of Chinese characters. Users can rapidly type Chinese characters through a standard keyboard rather than through slower, phonetic-based input methods.

Input Method Support for Indic

This feature is new in the Solaris 9 4/03 release.

Input support for Indian regional language keyboards has been added to the Solaris software. Indic language users can type Indic language characters by using their preferred keyboard layouts in the Solaris software.

Seven Additional Indic Scripts for Support in Unicode Locales

This feature is new in the Solaris 9 4/03 release.

In addition to the current support for Hindi, the following Indic scripts are supported in this Solaris release:

Speakers of these Indian regional languages have language support in the Solaris software for any of the Unicode locale environments that Solaris supports.