Chinese Character Input in Mac OS X

With Mac OS X Snow Leopard you can input Chinese Characters directly into the trackpad! This is an extremely cool feature but requires a newer Mac with a multitouch trackpad.

Enable Chinese Character Input in Mac OS X

* Launch System Preferences
* Select the Languages and Text pane
* Click the “Input Sources” tab across the top
* Scroll down to either “Chinese – Simplified” or “Chinese – Traditional”
* After enabled, you can show the trackpad handwriting surface in two ways:
* Either Hit Control+Shift+Space to bring up the Handwriting Input Surface (or whatever else you changed it to in prior screen)
* OR you can select the International keyboards menu bar item and select “Show Trackpad Handwriting” to bring up the Chinese Character Input screen

When the trackpad handwriting feature is enabled, the mouse is disabled for scrolling around and the trackpad itself becomes a writing surface allowing you to draw and input Chinese characters directly into it. The strokes are then monitored and you will be offered different character choices depending on what strokes you enter. Very cool!

[ above image borrowed from Apple.com ]