Viewing Chinese using Netscape browser

If you are using the English version of Windows 95 and wish to read those WWW information published in either traditional or simplified Chinese characters, you can do so by setting up a Netscape v.3 browser on your PC with the following procedure:

  1. Download and install the Chinese font(s) on your PC.
  2. Configure the Windows 95 Registry for Netscape v.3 to use Unicode fonts.
  3. Select the installed font in Netscape v.3 browser.

(If you are interested in knowing more about Unicode, check www.unicode.org.)

1. Procedure to download and install the Chinese font(s)
    1. First download an executable file for installing the traditional Chinese font (4,145,232 bytes), or another executable file for the simplified Chinese font (2,895,952bytes).
    2. Then close all active Netscape browser sessions and run the downloaded file(s) to install the font(s) by double clicking the respective file name(s) shown when the File Explorer of Windows 95 is selected.
    3. After the installation, shut down the Windows 95 and restart your PC.
2. Procedure to configure the Windows 95 Registry for Netscape v.3 to use Unicode fonts.
    1. Close all Netscape browser windows.
    2. Run Registry Editor by clicking on the "Start" button, then "Run", then entering the string "regedit.exe", then clicking on the "OK" button.
    3. In the Registry Editor window, under "My Computer", double click on "HKEY_CURRENT_USER". Under it, double click on "Software", then "Netscape", then "Netscape Netvigator", then "INTL".
    4. In the Registry Editor window, select menu "Edit", then menu item "New", then "String Value". A new entry "New Value #1" will appear in the right pane of the window and you can edit the string to become "UseUnicodeFont". (If you forget to edit its name at the right place, you can delete the new entry by selecting it and pressing the "Delete" key, and then create the string value "UseUnicodeFont" as above.)
    5. Select menu "Edit", then menu item "Modify" and type the string "1" at the "Value data" field.
    6. Quit Registry Editor.

3. Procedure to select the installed font in Netscape v.3 browser.

    To use Traditional Chinese Font:

    1. In your Netscape v.3 browser window, select menu "Options", then "General Preferences", then "Fonts".
    2. In the "For the Encoding" field, choose Chinese(Big5).
    3. Then for both Proportional and Fixed fonts, click on the "Choose Font..." button.
    4. In the "Choose Base Font" window, choose the installed Chinese font MingLiU. Check that in the field "Script", the value "CHINESE_BIG5" is set; and if not, set it so.
    5. Then click on "OK" buttons to close all Options windows.
    6. Select menu "Options", then "Document Encoding", then "Traditional Chinese(Big5)" to view a web page using traditional Chinese font encoded in Big5 Chinese character code.

    To use Simplified Chinese Font:

    1. In your Netscape v.3 browser window, select menu "Options", then "General Preferences", then "Fonts".
    2. In the "For the Encoding" field, choose Chinese(GB).
    3. For Proportional font, click on the "Choose Font..." button.
    4. In the "Choose Base Font" window, choose the installed Chinese font MS Song. Check that in the field "Script:", the value "CHINESE_GB2312" is set; and if not, set it so.
    5. For Fixed font, click on the "Choose Font..." button.
    6. In the "Choose Base Font" window, choose the installed Chinese font MS Hei. Check that in the field "Script:", the value "CHINESE_GB2312" is set; and if not, set it so.
    7. Then click on "OK" buttons to close all Options windows.
    8. Select menu "Options", then "Document Encoding", then "Simplified Chinese" to view a web page using simplified Chinese font encoded in GB2312 Chinese character code.

    To use Western Latin1 (English) Font:

    1. In the Netscape v.3 browser window, select menu "Options", then "Document Encoding", then "Western (Latin1)" to view a web page using Latin1 fonts so that the English glyphs are displayed nicely.

    Note:

    Acknowledgement: The above steps are suggested by Patrick Pang, formerly with McMaster University, Canada.

    For further information, please contact the undersigned.

    Vitus S. W. Lam
    Tel: 2859 2484
    E-mail: lswvitus@hku.hk

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