I’m back from abroad now and starting to catch up on this and that. So here’s another post for you Mac users.
QIM, a popular pinyin-based Hanzi-input method, has become freeware. It was formerly US$20.
Pinyin News
news and discussions mainly related to Chinese characters and romanization
Hadn’t known that one, thanks! So far, I have always been using FIT (Fun Input Toy). But a first test looks good and if it doesn’t show the same quirks FIT has, then I think I’ll switch…
Why not just use the built-in Mac OS X Pinyin IME. It works extremely well.
The last time I tried (admittedly a few years ago) I wasn’t exactly excited (Kotoeri was way better than Pinyin) – which is why I switched to FIT as soon as it appeared on OS X. FIT was for iOS originally. There is also a Linux version, but unfortunately poorly maintained.
The OS X Pinyin input was greatly improved with the release of OS X 10.7 (Lion). Before that the standard Mac Pinyin input was pretty cumbersome and limited, and QIM was the best alternative available. The move to freeware for QIM is no doubt a reaction to the improvement in the Lion Pinyin input. QIM is still more powerful and customizable than the Lion IME, but the gap has narrowed considerably.
QIM became free because Sogou just released a Mac version of its IME.
Ah, sorry, no lions here, I’m still herding a leopard. But I’ll have a look if a lion should come along…
No need to worry Sogou’s Mac IME is still subpar to its Window IME. I still cannot find ways to switch into traditional characters and customization is still very limited. But it is definitively more intuitive than QIM.
Traditional Characters are easy to find: Just switch to IMKQIM and click on the icon: Traditional Chinese Output is one of the quick options, no need to go even into the preferences – but there too I stumbled upon it rather quickly. Nice IME…