This software will be released worldwide as a retail product on April 16th under the name 'Japanese Language Kit.' It works as an extension to System 7.1 and allows you to run Japanese applications on any Macintosh operating system (System 7.1 or later), not just KanjiTalk. Japanese was chosen as the first Language Kit, but others will follow.
We have sent this software to you so that you can test it with your applications. Applications that support the Language Kits fall into two categories: those that are customized for a specific language or region, and those that are not localized, but 'WorldScript savvy.' Since the Language Kits will be available worldwide, you may wish to pursue these markets as well. To best accomplish this, you may want to provide bilingual documentation.
The second approach is to revise the non-localized version of your application to support the capabilities of WorldScript. This way, a person could use your application and Apple's Language Kits to create multilingual documents, regardless of what language the menus are displayed in. Applications that can edit and display all Apple supported 1-byte and 2-byte characters, including contextual forms, are considered to be'WorldScript savvy.' These applications will have a strong advantage in the marketplace, and we encourage you to include this level of functionality in new versions of your applications.
The Japanese Language Kit will be distributed in the US through any Apple reseller, including mail order. The US is expected to be the largest market for this product, but significant opportunities also exist in Australia, Canada, the UK, France, Germany and the Far East. The foreign population in Japan may also be interested in this product, although the main solution there is KanjiTalk.
Please test your software running on the Japanese Language Kit and let us know if you consider it to be compatible. We will maintain a list for the use of resellers and technical support personel. Certified Apple Developers can sent this information via AppleLink to DEVSUPPORT with 'Japanese Language Kit' as the subject.
