Russian Fonts on IE 4.0 and Netscape 4.0 -- Instructions

[Benjamin Sher]

Dear Colleagues:

Below are step-by-step instruction on how to automatically add
Russian fonts (or for that matter, most European fonts) to your
computer if you are using Internet Explorer 4.0 (or above) or
Netscape 4.0 or above.

Here are the step-by-step instructions. You might wish to print them
out before proceeding:

1) Open IE 4.0. Look for the menu at the top.

2) Go to Help, Product Upgrades (second option from top of
Help menu).

This is Microsoft's AUTOMATIC updating service. Really great, I
might add. All you have to do is press a few buttons and sit and wait
while it DOWNLOADS and INSTALLS the fonts or any other items
you may wish to upgrade or whatever you want. Netscape has a
similar automatic downloading and upgrading service on its
Netcenter, but you won't find any Cyrillic fonts because fonts are a
Windows affair and must, in win95 or Win98, be installed in the
Windows, Fonts folder, and while you can install any fonts in that
folder, you need Microsoft's Pan-European fonts to be able to read
Russian on the Internet if you are using IE 4.0 or Netscape 4.0.

3) Click on Product Updates.

You'll see a message asking you to wait while IE 4.0 is initializing.
Now a new dialogue box appears, asking:

"Active Setup is about to determine what components are installed
on your system. Is that all right?"

Answer "Yes."

4) After a few seconds, if you look on your right, you'll see "Already
installed" or "Not Installed." These are all add-ons to IE 4.0. The first
option, as you can see, is IE 4.01 SP1, the last and final version of
the 4.x series.

5) You may now select the programs or upgrades you wish to add
on to your system. That's a decision for you to make. My advice is
to be very conservative, to know what you are downloading because
it will be installed automatically. And you can always return later to
do that, anyway. I'll mention only two things:

a) The first item on the list is Internet Explorer 4.01 SP1. This is the
final version of the IE 4.x series and you may wish to upgrade to it.
The new IE 5.0 series is currently in Beta testing and will not be
available till after January. If you wish to download it, first check to
see if you do not already have it. In the IE Menu at top, go to Help,
then About Internet Explorer at the bottom of the Help menu. As you
probably know, the About section of the menu is where almost all
programs give you their version number, authors, how to contact
them, etc. Look carefully and see what is says:

My IE 4.01 SP1 reads as follows:

Version 4.72.3110.8
Cipher Strength:40-bit
Update versions: ;SP1;2735

The critical part is the last line that says: ;SP1. If you don't have the
latest version, you might wish to download it, but please remember
that it will take a good hour and a half at 33.6 modem speed. You
can always do that later.

You can also download Netscape's latest offering, the
Communicator 4.5, by going to Netscape at:

www.netscape.com

However, you must already have the Netscape Communicator (4.0
or above) to be able to download the 4.5 version.

b) You'll see RealPlayer by Progressive Networks (now renamed
RealNetworks) listed on IE's add-on list. DO NOT SELECT IT. It is the
old RealPlayer 4.0 version. In other words, it's ancient history. If
you want the latest FREE RealPlayer, go to:

www.real.com

and download either the FREE RealPlayer 5.0 or, preferably, the
superlative new FREE RealPlayer G-2 Full Beta (with Intel
technology). Nearly all (99%) of Russian audio and video sites use
RealPlayer. That's why it's so important for you to avoid the
obsolete version like the plague and get the right one from
RealNetworks' web site itself. If you accidently have already
installed it, just download the latest from RealPlayer and it will
install itself over any earlier version automatically.

Now to return to the matter of fonts.

6) Go down till you see the Category: MULTI-LANGUAGE SUPPORT.

Under this category of Multi-Language Support you'll find exactly
what you need, namely, the PAN-EUROPEAN LANGUAGE SUPPORT
add-on (1086 kb).  Check this item on the left and then click on NEXT
at the bottom right of the screen.

7) Now the last step is downloading and automatic installation.

Wait a few seconds until you see a list of installation sites.
Strangely enough, the first place you'll see is Chile. Scroll up till you
get to the United States, select one of the three major sites and then
click on Install. The rest is automatic. If you get a dialogue box
which asks for you to grant permission to Microsoft to install the
software, say Yes.

Then reboot, if so asked.

8) USING THE FONTS:

IN INTERNET EXPLORER:
After installing the fonts, you must go to your IE, View, Internet
Options, Language (at the bottom of the screen, between Fonts and
Accessibility). Open the Language window, then add "ru" to your list
of languages. Make sure it's ru (standard) not Modavian Russian.
Now click on Apply and OK, close the Internet Options box.

Now go to a Russian site, e.g. Radio Free Europe at:

http://www.svoboda.org

In most cases, Russian web sites will allow you to switch from
Cyrillic Windows 1251 to Cyrillic KOI8-R. These are the two major
Cyrillic font codes for PC's. Macs have their own. There is even one
for Dos, which you won't need. And there is even a transliteration
code called "Latin". Ignore them.

Radio Free Europe's site uses only KOI8 Russian fonts. So, once
you are at the site, RIGHT CLICK with your mouse and select
Language to change codes from Western (which is set by default) to
Cyrillic KO18-R, etc. When you are done with Russian, remember to
switch back to the Western font code (at the very top of the
Language option on the Right-Click menu. Otherwise your English-
language web pages won't look right.

Please note that the View, Font option in IE (in the Menu at the top)
has nothing to do with selecting fonts, only with selecting the size of
the fonts.

These Cyrillic fonts (and Greek and Japanese and Chinese and
Turkish -- they all come with the Pan-European font set and are all
there when you Right Click with your mouse on a page using that
language and select Language) will work with any application, that
is, any program that uses the Internet. So, if you are using
Netscape, here are the instructions at this stage, that is, after having
installed the fonts.

IN NETSCAPE.

To activate the Cyrillic fonts that you have just installed in
Netscape, go to Netscape's menu at the top, choose Edit, then
Preferances. You will now see a new box or window with options.
Look for Navigator, then Languages, add Russian (i.e. "ru"). Now go
back to Radio Free Europe, then go to the menu on top, select View,
then click on Encoding at the bottom of the menu and select your
code, in this case, KOI8-R. I don't think you can right-click to change
language codes in Netscape. You have to use the View, Encoding
instead.

9 If you wish to look at the St. Petersburg videos, remember that the
site uses the Windows 1251 Cyrillic code only (plus English).
Finally, remember to RIGHT-CLICK on the RealPlayer box and select
Zoom Double Size.

10) A final note: As many of you probably know, there has been a
war going on in cyberspace between, on the one hand, Microsoft,
which owns the Windows operating systems (Win95/Win98 and
WinNT), on which 95% of PC run and, on the other hand, dozens of
software companies such as Netscape, RealPlayer, QuickTime, etc.
etc. The battle is being waged both on our computers and in court,
even as we are speaking, where the Department of Justice and 20
state attorney-generals are suing Microsoft for "predatory,
monopolistic practices" and for "sabotaging other competing
software manufacturers and new technologies. That is very close to
home. In other words, that means Netscape and RealPlayer. If you
experience any difficulties with Netscape or RealPlayer, they may of
course be due to the Netscape or RealPlayer, but they may also
have something to do with the above. We'll let the court decide the
issue, but I want to mention specifically that if you try to configure
Netscape's Preferances, that is, to add Russian to your list of
languages in Netscape, you may find yourselves locked out, that is,
it will not open. Who is responsible for this: Microsoft's sabotage or
Netscape's incompetence? That's for the court to decide. However, if
this does happen to you, it would make it impossible for you to read
Russian on Netscape. The solution? There is only one: Reinstall
Netscape completely. You can reinstall it over itself. And suddenly,
the Preferances box will open up and you can select Russian and
live happily ever after.

All my best.

Yours,

Benjamin


Benjamin Sher
Sher's Russian Web and Index
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/msy/s/h/sher07/