From:    heddaya@cs.bu.edu
Date:    Mon Feb 15, 1993

Subject: Arabic script on the Mac

The Arabic version of the Mac Operating System is called AIS (Arabic
Interface System).  AIS version 7.0.1 was released last Spring.  Your
Apple dealer may be able to give you a copy, if they subscribe to the
APDA Developer CD-ROM series.  It used to be possible to obtain a copy
by anonymous FTP from

	ftp.apple.com:dts/mac/sys.soft.intl/arabic/7.0.1.1400k/

Another name for ftp.apple.com is bric-a-brac.apple.com.
Unfortunately, this is no longer true.

If you are running System 7 already on your Mac, the AIS Installer
program will give you the option of installing only the "Arabic
Resources" in your System (instead of replacing the entire system with
AIS).  This gives you an Arabic keyboard map, Arabic fonts (Cairo and
Kufi in bitmap format, and Giza, Baghdad and Nadim in TrueType
format), and an Arabic TextManager.  These enable you to enter,
display and edit mixed Arabic/Latin script text in any Mac application
that uses TextManager (which is part of the MacOS).  Almost all
applications do so, except for those that do fancy things with text,
e.g., word processors and desktop publishers.  Truetype Arabic fonts
print beautifully on the StyleWriter (same quality as Laser!), as well
as on laser printers.

I have the setup described above myself, and it works reasonably well.
One of the minor glitches include garbling of some font names in
FileMaker Pro's font menu.  Another glitch is that file names in the
Finder cannot be in Arabic!

Enjoy,
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Abdelsalam Heddaya              oo    |    __          |       | |        _
                                (]__) | _)___)   _() _\|_)_)_)_| |  _)_)_(_
heddaya@cs.bu.edu                 oo            |                     o     
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