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Windows Vista Chinese Pinyin Setup

«« Introduction / Simplified    «« Traditional    « Language Bar & Shortcuts    English User Guide

4. English User Guides for the Microsoft Pinyin Input Method Editors

Many people have asked if there are English language user guides for the Vista Pinyin IMEs. Yes, believe it or not: the Help files are in English! And there is a lot of good stuff in there too.

The "Chinese (PRC)" keyboard we setup in step #1, Microsoft Pinyin IME (MSPY), comes with a set of useful Help articles, accessible via the Options menu or the Language Bar Help menu. I will show you how to find it.

The "Chinese (Taiwan)" keyboard we setup in step #2, Microsoft New Phonetic IME, also includes a set of useful of Help articles, cleverly concealed under the Language Bar Help menu. I will show you how to find it. Jump to this »»

I have also prepared a few FAQ pages to help you use these input methods:

How do I get the "candidate list" to appear in the PRC (Simplified) IME?

How do I get the "candidate list" to appear in the Taiwan (Traditional) IME?

The characters in the Windows Taiwan/Traditional candidate list are really tiny! Is there a way to adjust the size of the text in this window?

How do I enter the letter "ü" (the letter "u" with an umlaut, two dots above the letter)?  

The Chinese characters in one of my programs and on some web pages are showing up as "???", boxes and other garbage characters. Do I need a Language Pack? Help!!!

The above articles end with a link in the last paragraph that brings you right back here where you can find out how to learn more from the Help files included with these IMEs.

Finding Chinese (PRC) Microsoft Pinyin Help:

I know people seldom reads user manuals, but these help files are worth a quick look.

While in "Chinese (PRC)" mode, click the Options Menu icon and then in the menu click "Microsoft Pinyin IME Help" or press the "H" key...

or, if you have opted to "Show additional icons in the Taskbar" - see step #3 - or if you have the Language Bar in floating mode, click the Language Bar Help icon and select "Microsoft Pinyin IME Help" or press the "H" key...

...and MSPY Help will appear:

This is a good basic intro. For example, it lists the meaning of every button on the Status Bar:

Yes, it's not perfect. But it is a nice surprise and more information than you may have had to begin with. I strongly suggest you go through these short articles a couple of times. Then - although at that point you may know far more than I - if you still need help, feel free to write me.

Finding Chinese (Taiwan) Microsoft New Phonetic IME Help:

Look for the Language Bar Help icon at the far right end of the Language Bar, a blue circle with a "?" in the center.

If you have set the option to "Show additional Language Bar icons in the Taskbar", this will show up at the far right on the taskbar. (If it's not there, see "Adjusting the Language Bar" if you want this icon always available in the taskbar).

Otherwise, first launch the Language Bar into floating mode: while in "Chinese (Taiwan)" mode, click once on the "CH" and then in the menu that appears select "Show the Language Bar".

Click on the blue "?" icon, and in the menu that appears select "Help". Not "Language Bar Help", just the cleverly concealed, cleverly named "Help":

If you get a Vista security message asking it is OK for this application to access web content or something like that, just agree...

...and "Microsoft IME Help" will appear:

Everything you need to get started is in there, including the little gem shown below about the candidate window. It explains how to bring up a list of alternate characters: move your cursor in front of the incorrect character and then press the down arrow.

Yes, it's not perfect. Nothing ever is. I think I've noticed some dated setup material in there related to the XP version, for example, but those are very minor errors that will not get in your way. I strongly suggest you read through these short articles a couple of times. Then - although at that point you may know far more than I - if you still need help, feel free to write me.

Thanks for reading all the way through to the end! Need some review? Here's where we've been:

Previous pages
1. Introduction, and adding Simplified Chinese Pinyin input
2. Adding Traditional Chinese Pinyin input
3. Adjusting the Language Bar and shortcuts

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