Summary of Support for Unicode Tibetan Script
Tibetan script is used for writing various languages of the Himalayan regions and the Tibetan Plateau including Tibetan, Dzongkha, Sikkimese, Ladakhi, Balti, Sherpa, etc. Classical Tibetan is also used as a liturgical language by the peoples of these regions and also by Mongol peoples of the Eurasian Steppe and Siberia. References to "Tibetan" in the following summary refer to the writing system of the Tibetan script, as encoded within the U+0Fxx block of the Unicode standard.
Support for Unicode Tibetan in Microsoft Windows and Microsoft SQL Server
Since 2003 it has been possible to configure Windows (2000 and XP) to use Unicode Tibetan at the application level: in documents, spreadsheets, databases, web pages, email, etc. Recent versions of Windows (Vista and 7) support a wide variety of OpenType Tibetan fonts, providing automatic support for Tibetan at both the application level and at the level of the operating system. Windows Vista / 7 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 support collation (alphabetical ordering) of Tibetan data.
For a detailed list of Unicode Tibetan support in Microsoft, click here
Support for Unicode Tibetan script in Microsoft Windows and Microsoft SQL Server
1. Starting with Vista (January 2007), Windows includes a Tibetan font ("Microsoft Himalaya"), a Tibetan keyboard, and automatic support for Unicode Tibetan.
2. There are more than
30 Unicode Tibetan fonts available which take advantage of Microsoft's Uniscribe module (usp10.dll) to properly render Tibetan script in Windows.
3. Various Tibetan keyboards can be easily added to Windows at the system level.
4. Applications from various third-party vendors, such as OpenOffice, work well with Tibetan if they call upon the Windows Uniscribe module for rendering complex scripts.
5. Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox can display Unicode Tibetan web pages, including Tibetan script within web-based email.
6. Microsoft Office 2007 (Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel, Access, Publisher, etc.) provides good support for Tibetan script. Tibetan-script fonts can be easily and selectively applied to Tibetan content; long lines wrap as expected (after Tsheg or Shad); and Tibetan-script numerals are treated as numbers for calculations in Excel spreadsheets, etc.
7. Adobe InDesign uses its own complex script rendering module instead of Uniscribe and works well with many Unicode Tibetan fonts (but not with all).
8. In Windows Vista / 7, Tibetan-script names can be given to folders, files, device names, user names and other system-level entities.
9. If a Tibetan locale is active in Windows, lists and columns of Tibetan data in Word and Excel can be sorted in Tibetan sort order. Likewise, at the system level, files and folders can be listed in Tibetan alphabetical order.
10. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 is able to store, select and retrieve Unicode Tibetan data and can also sort records according to Tibetan alphabetical order.
Support for Unicode Tibetan in Apple Mac OS X
In December 2002, XenoType Technologies began selling its Unicode Tibetan Language Kit which enabled use of Unicode Tibetan in Apple Macintosh applications (with some limitations). Starting with Mac OS version 10.5 ("Leopard") in October 2007, Apple added built-in support for Unicode Tibetan consisting of two Tibetan fonts and three Tibetan keyboard layouts, along with system level support for proper rendering of Tibetan-script data. Mac OS version 10.6 (“Snow Leopard”) adds enhanced support for some OpenType Tibetan fonts.
For a detailed list of Unicode Tibetan support in Mac OS X, click here
Support for Unicode Tibetan script in Mac OS X
[The following assumes either Leopard (Mac OS 10.5) or later, or else use of the Tibetan Language Kit for Mac OS X from XenoType Technologies]
1. Additional
Unicode Tibetan fonts can easily be added.
2. Current versions of Safari and Mozilla Firefox can properly display Unicode Tibetan web pages, including Tibetan script within web-based email.
3. Recent Mac versions of Excel and PowerPoint can properly display Tibetan.
4. Current versions of Microsoft Word 2008 for Mac can work with certain Tibetan fonts if “Enable all ligatures in document” is turned on (in the Font dialog). Successfully tested fonts include XenoType TB Drepung, XenoType Tibetan New, and Jomolhari ID.
5. Unicode Tibetan can be used in recent versions of TextEdit, iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote), OpenOffice and other applications. Some Adobe InDesign capable fonts that do not work in TextEdit under Leopard (Mac OS 10.5) do display properly under Snow Leopard (Mac OS 10.6).
6. Unicode Tibetan can be used in Adobe InDesign CS3 and CS4. However, only some Tibetan fonts will display properly; these include: the XenoType fonts, the Monlam fonts (2010 version), the Qomolangma fonts (2010 version), Jomolhari ID, and Tibetan Machine Uni (2010 version).
Unicode Tibetan fonts
The Unicode (OpenType) Tibetan font “Microsoft Himalaya” is included with Microsoft Windows Vista / 7; the Unicode (AAT) Tibetan fonts “Kailasa” and “Kokonor” are included with Apple Mac OS 10.5 / 10.6. Additional Tibetan fonts can be easily added to either Windows or Mac computers.
For a list of available Unicode Tibetan fonts and links, click here