Why Use Unicode Font Encodings?
You may be asking yourself, "Why go to all of the bother of using yet another font encoding? After all, I already have five font encodings on my computer so that I can read Belarusian, Polish, Russian, German, French, etc. Who needs even more fonts?"
As briefly as possible: Unicode is set up to allow reading (and writing) of all modern languages on our computer systems, no matter who manufactures our computers, no matter what operating system we use, no matter what program (application) we are using. That is the advantage of Unicode. Most of the font encodings currently in use are operating-system-specific, for example, the very popular for Cyrillic "Windows 1251" (in the former USSR). But if you prefer a Macintosh or a Linux (UNIX) computer, you cannot read these materials (without going to a lot of trouble).
Of course, a typical Unicode font does not have all of the encodings possible for all modern languages. When you go to a source for the font (and also once you have installed it on your computer), you can identify which languages (font encodings) are supported, and which are not. Most of the Microsoft Windows-supplied fonts include "WGL4" encodings. These encodings include the fonts for all European and Slavic Cyrillic languages, including the 1251 (Windows Cyrillic), 1252, 1253, & 1254 code pages. (Cyrillic is also used by some Central Asian languages, but they are not included in WGL4.)
What are the disadvantages of installing even more fonts? The more fonts you have on your computer, usually the slower it will run (I am pretty sure this is true for Windows and Macintosh computers; I don't know about Linux/UNIX computers). Complete Unicode font files are much larger than non-Unicode fonts (for example, Microsoft's Arial Unicode font is about 23 megabytes!), but almost no one among us needs needs a font that supports the complete Unicode font file specification.
For most of us, the "WGL4" Windows fonts are more than adequate. These fonts are the Microsoft Windows "Web" fonts and contain all of the glyphs for Western, Central, and Eastern European languages. (They are available from the Microsoft Web site, and are included with most of Microsoft's more recent products.)
But the reason these font files are generally larger is that, in addition to supporting more languages, they also include the earlier, non-Unicode encodings. That is, you can remove many of the fonts you previously had installed on your computer (e.g., the "ER" fonts for Cyrillic languages). Of course, test this before you remove anything!) If you really need to read documents both on and off the Internet in several languages, you probably need to install Unicode fonts, since that is the direction of newer font encodings on computers.
For Web page developers (and especially for Web pages developed by individuals), it is much simpler and easier to create a page in one encoding (that is, Unicode) than it is to support the many encodings required by the range of computers, operating systems, applications, etc., needed for the non-Unicode font encoding systems.
For further information, go to the Unicode.org Web site, read their articles, and follow the links for even more information about Unicode.
Introduction to Unicode Font Encodings
Note: This is the beginning of materials related to installing and using Unicode (UTF-8) fonts on personal computers. If you have suggestions, descriptions, or links to descriptions (especially for the Macintosh, and the different MacOS issues), please contact me. Thanks in advance.
For detailed information about Unicode font encodings, see the Unicode.org Web site.
Go to the following section of the "Unicode.org" Web site for a very good summary (with links) that explains how to enable many Web browsers, operating systems (Windows and Macintosh), and applications with Unicode: http://www.hclrss.demon.co.uk/unicode/.
As is true much too often, both of the most popular Web browsers have too many bugs, and are not without their problems regarding Unicode-encoded Web pages. The following comments relate to the applications on a Windows computer.
Netscape Navigator (v. 4.76) As of November, 2000, Netscape does not have adequate Unicode support as yet. Although Unicode fonts are properly displayed, several minor problems still exist. For example, the "ALT" HTML statement is not displayed properly. Also, you may not be able to view the "source" for a Web page, either. These problems do not occur with Microsoft's Internet Explorer. (And I actually prefer Netscape for other reasons! I have tried Netscape 6, but in general feel it is too unstable and buggy at this time.) On a note unrelated to Unicode, large graphics are often improperly displayed, though are displayed properly with Internet Explorer.
MS Internet Explorer (v. 5.5) When first viewing a Unicode-encoded page, you may see a blank screen rather than the page's content. Use your "refresh" (reload page) button and the page should display properly. In general, Internet Explorer loads pages, especially larger ones, much more slowly than Netscape Navigator.
Is Your Computer Already Unicode Capable? Go to the Following Test Page
Note: To test if your computer is displaying Unicode fonts correctly, go to the following test page: http://www.ccss.de/slovo/testuni.htm.
If you can properly view the test page, noted in the previous paragraph, or the Unicode pages listed further down on this "Unicode" page, you do not need to install the Unicode fonts.
Microsoft Windows Computers & General Unicode Font Web sites
If you are using Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows 98 or Windows ME on your computer, go to the Microsoft Web site, to their "Typography" section, and download and properly install their "Web core fonts." Note: If you have installed more recent versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer as your Web browser, they may already be installed on your computer.
The following ares sources for Unicode fonts. (Follow the links from for a more complete (and possibly up-to-date) list).
Availability: Free download from: http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/2000/downloadDetails/aruniupd.htm.
Linux (& Other UNIX) Computers
Unicode Support for UNIX/Linux Links:
Test to see if your Computer works with Unicode fonts: "Slovo - Slavic Text Processing and Typography" Web site: http://www.ccss.de/slovo/index.html.
There are Unicode TrueType fonts for the Macintosh on some of these Web sites as well, but I am personally not at all familiar with anything but PostScript fonts on the Macintosh.
General Font Installation Issues
If you are not familiar with installing fonts on your computer, you should be able to find someone qualified to do so.
I sincerely thank those who help me with Belarusian language issues and Unicode font encodings and the tools to work with them. Primarily:
"Sustrecha z aficeram Smarhonskaha pahranatradu" ("A Meeting with an Officer of the Smarhon Frontier Detachment; 9 May 1996") by Slavamir Adamovich: http://www.hist.no/~herman/be/sustr.html
"Young Belarus" by Yanka Kupala: http://www.hist.no/~herman/be/mal_biel.html
"And Say, Who Goes There?" by Yanka Kupala: http://www.hist.no/~herman/be/a_chto.html
Unicode Pages on the A Belarus Miscellany Web site
For a collection of Belarusian poetry on this Web site, many of which are both Belarusian and English (and in Unicode encoding), see the following page: Belarusian Poetry (dual language).
There is also a book review in English that includes words in Russian, Belarusian (Cyrillic and Lacinka), French, Polish, and German (an ample demonstration of the use of Unicode): Book Review: Belarus Secret.