| Q |
How long will it take for
Unicode to become available? |
| A |
It is already in actual use. |
Unicode is being utilized
in many different areas.
It is not some futuristic fantasy character code.
The major software currently using Unicode is
given below.
-
Wordprocessing software (Word, etc.)
In wordprocessing software
such as Word, characters are already administered
using Unicode. For this reason, if the font is
available, it is possible to use Unicode
characters unavailable in Shift JIS.
- Windows NT
Windows NT is an OS that
uses Unicode throughout. If Shift JIS is used, at
the point when data is passed to the OS, it is
converted to Unicode before undergoing
processing.
-
Windows CE
In the case of Windows CE,
which runs on smaller systems, support of several
character codes would make the system slower, so
only Unicode is supported. This makes it possible
to handle languages from around the world.
-
IMAP4
Under IMAP4, which is
atracting attention as a new standard for
receiving email, character-based information is
passed using Unicode. Thus, people who receive
their mail via an IMAP4 server can be said to be
latent Unicode users.
- Java
language
The Java language is
designed to use Unicode for all character data
handled in programs. When conducting input or
output, it converts the data to traditional
character codes. Thus, users who operate programs
developed in the Java language can be said to be
latent Unicode users.
- XML
Under XML, which is
attracting attention on the Internet as the
successor to HTML, it is possible to use all
Unicode characters by specifying them by name, no
matter what character code is used to create
documents. (Of course, to display them, the
appropriate font is required.)
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