Changing the Language of the User Interface

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Many non-English users prefer to run Mac OS X in English but still desire to use their application software in their native language. Since NeoOffice/J integrates with the settings in the International pane of the Mac OS X System Preferences this is possible, but it requires a somewhat convoluted procedure to set up, particularly under Mac OS X 10.4.

Using NeoOffice/J in a different language from the system language

In the examples in these steps, English is the desired Mac OS X system language and French is the desired NeoOffice/J interface language.

  1. If your preferred language is not one of the 12 languages which ship with the standard NeoOffice/J install, install the appropriate language pack before beginning.
  2. In the Language tab of the International pane of the Mac OS X System Preferences, set your preferred language for NeoOffice/J (French) to be the topmost in the Languages: list.
  3. Launch NeoOffice/J and then quit it after it has completely launched.
    The two preceding steps are necessary to activate the writing tools for your preferred language; see Activating Dictionaries for more info.
  4. In the Finder, select the NeoOffice/J application and "Get Info" on it (Cmd-I or Get Info from the File menu).
  5. In the "NeoOfficeJ Info" window, click on the triangle to the left of Languages: to expand that section.
  6. Uncheck the language that you want to set as the default system language (English); then close the "NeoOfficeJ Info" window.
    You must be a user with administrative rights in order to uncheck these boxes.
  7. Return to the Language tab of the International pane of the System Preferences; this time, set your other preferred Mac OS X system language (English) to be topmost, and then set your preferred language for NeoOffice/J (French) to be in the second position. Close the System Preferences.
  8. Launch NeoOffice/J and continue the setup of the writing tools for your language as described in Selecting the Dictionary to be Used in a Document or Section, as well as setting up your other preferences.

Note that unlike activating writing tools, which affects only the account in which the procedure is done, this procedure will have some impact on all accounts, since the enabled languages (the checkboxes) in the NeoOffice/J application apply to all users on a given Macintosh.

Special Note about Norwegian and Mac OS X 10.2.x or 10.3.x

Due to bugs in Apple's language codes in versions of Mac OS X prior to 10.4, NeoOffice/J's UI will appear in English (or another language) even if Norwegian is set as the topmost language in the System Preferences in those versions of Mac OS X.

Follow the steps outlined in the Norwegian and Mac OS X 10.2.x and 10.3.x section of the Activating Dictionaries article to activate the Norwegian dictionaries and set NeoOffice/J's UI language to Nynorsk or Bokmål.

N.B. This Apple bug was partially worked-around in NeoOffice 1.2 Alpha. If "Norsk" is the top-most language in your System Preferences, NeoOffice will use the Bokmål UI. You can use the Nynorsk UI by following steps 4 and 5 above and then unselecting all of the other languages in step 6.

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