Managing languages and localization in OS X
<p>OS X supports displaying core system components in most common languages. This support also extends to third-party applications, where developers can add localization to easily implement multi-language support in their applications. Through juggling la
OS X supports displaying core system components in most common languages. This support also extends to third-party applications, where developers can add localization to easily implement multi-language support in their applications. Through juggling language preferences both for the system and for individual applications and components, you can set up personalized ways to handle languages in your computer.
In OS X languages work by first being supported and enabled in an application or system component, and then being selected for use based off the preferences set in the "International" system preferences. Setting the order of languages to use in the "International" system preferences does not guarantee that language to be available in a given application, but only shows how languages are to be prioritized. As such, the best way to think about language support in OS X is from the applications first.
Setting languages for an application
Right-click an application to get information on it, and in the resulting window see the list of supported languages for that application. In this list you can check or uncheck languages to enable or disable them, and you can also use the " " and "-" buttons to add or remove specific language support. By default all languages are checked, but for troubleshooting purposes you can remove or disable them.
This is true for every Cocoa-coded application in the system, including core components such as the Finder and Dock, and application plugins, or any item that has a graphic interface element.
Setting language preferences for the system
Supported and enabled languages are then put to use based on the order set in the "Language" section of the "International" system preferences. The list in this preference pane is just the order in which supported and enabled languages are handled by the application, and is not a guarantee of support or use of any language in the list since this is done on the application level.
In most cases people will use their computers in one language, but if you ever need to use two or more languages you can set their order of preference in this list, and then any applications you install will be instructed to use the topmost language preference first, but if that preference is not available then the next one will be tried.
Putting it to use
Understanding this behavior allows you to set different languages for various applications: all you need to do is check or uncheck an application's language support in it's information window, and couple the enabled languages with the order of the preferred languages list in the system preferences.
For instance, if an application supports Chinese, Russian, and English, they will be listed in the information window for the application. There are two ways to have the application use one of these as the desired language. If you get information on the application and check only "Russian", then that will make the application use Russian, regardless of what other applications may use (including the system components). The second way to select Russian for this application is to put it at the top of the preferred languages list in the system preferences; however, being a global setting this will have all other applications that support Russian (including system components) to first present in that language as well, essentially changing the language of your system.
Similar to any application, you have just one core system component run in a different language. To do this for the Finder, for instance, go to the Macintosh HD/System/Library/CoreServices/ folder and get info on the Finder. Click the lock to authenticate and then uncheck all but the desired language. Then either log out, restart, or force-quit the Finder to have it relaunch with the new language, but have all other system components still use the default language.
Problems and troubleshooting
In some cases, you can have problems with the localization of applications that have them appearing in undesired languages. If this is the case, find the application, plugin, or system component that is showing the odd behavior and ensure the desired language is both present and checked. If it is unchecked, enable it and relaunch the application, but if it is unavailable then you may need to reinstall the application if the developer does not provide separate localization files to install. Many times pre-release software will not be fully localized and will be missing language packs, so be sure to first try updating software that has language problems, and then try reinstalling the program.
Other useful language items
In the "International" system preferences, you can turn on the input menu in the "Input Menu" tab, which allows you to quickly change your keyboard layout. Select the languages and language variants used, and then check the "Show input menu in menu bar" checkbox to make them easily selectable from the input menu, which will appear as a flag in the menu bar. This does not change the system language preferences, but does allow for the keyboard layout to be easily changed to match either the language currently in use. Additionally, you have the option to enable the character palette and keyboard viewer windows, which allow you to easily access special characters for insertion in your documents.
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