Most typefaces (fonts) used on both Macintosh and Windows computers include many characters that do not have corresponding keys on the keyboard. These are called "extended" characters, and include letters with diacritial marks (such as those shown above) as well as typographical symbols (like a bullet or the copyright symbol).
To use these extended characters, you have two options:
If you type frequently in English, but want to know what keys to hit to create extended characters, then choose one of the following below.
Microsoft Word for Windows offers some additional keystrokes that make word processing in foreign langauges easier. If you have a computer with Microsoft Windows and you use Microsoft Word, you should read this:
To learn about using extended characters in E-Mail messages (regardless of what type of computer you use), read:
Lastly, if you use HTML to create World Wide Web pages (regardless of what type of computer you use to do it), you should read:
If you have used a computer in a country where your langauge is spoken, you may be familiar with a different keyboard layout--that is, one which includes some of these symbols used for that langugage that are not found in US English. (For example, in Spain and Latin America, the "ñ" key replaces the semicolon key on typewriter and computer keyboards.)
If you are accustomed to typing on keyboards from another country, you may want to consider changing your keyboard layout from the US English configuration to the foreign one. Both Macintosh and Windows environments are capable of making this change, and Windows 95 makes it especially easy to switch between languages with a single mouse click. The drawback, of course, is that while your computer may think that you are using a foreign keyboard, the arrangement of the keys on your keyboard will not change, so you will have to make adjustments for this (probably spending some time hunting to figure out what key does what if you're not completely familiar with the foreign keyboard layout).
Keyboard layout diagrams are currently available for the following layouts:
If you use Windows 95 and would like to make this configuration yourself, you should read How to Configure Windows 95 for Foreign Keyboard Layouts.
If you are interested in doing this but are not familiar with adding new keyboard drivers on your computer, you should contact your computer support person to help you.