Snow Leopard and Chinese input

[untmdsprt]

For all you Mac users out there that have bought the new Snow Leopard, have you used the Chinese input yet to look up kanji? That was the main reason I bought the new OS, but alas my computer is just a bit older and doesn't have the correct trackpad on it. How well does it work? Are there some kanji that you just can't look up because they are technically "made in Japan?"

Has anyone tried using this with a drawing pad? I guess the better name would be those Wacom tablets.

Thanks!

[Psy]

My mac is previous generation so I'm not able to use it regularly, however I have played with it at the Apple Store an can say it's a pretty neat feature. It's offered in both traditional and simplified Chinese, so while there are a few characters that won't pop up if you're writing in Japanese, there's a lot of overlap so you should still be able to find what you're looking for. Additionally, it's quite liberal with its interpretation, so if you decide to slur 言 into 2 or 3 strokes it'll still appear on the candidate list. It also shows possible follow-up characters to save you from writing them (e.g. if you type 中 it might show 国、国人、文、etc). If you've got an iPod Touch/iPhone it's pretty much the same deal.

For it not working on my system--- ultimately I'm a little disappointed but not heartbroken. Would certainly be a nice adjunct to learning characters.

[Belton]

Having a tablet won't enable the new input method either.

I did find this interesting thread however
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jsp ... &tstart=75

It has pointers to other solutions.
I downloaded the public beta of Axiotron's Quickscript which is pretty impressive. It works with mouse input but is better with a tablet. It may well be amazing on a tablet.
It has Japanese input including kana.
Unfortunately it expires in November, and I wonder what the release version will cost.
It also looks identical to a program on wacom's Chinese site, Bamboo Scribe. Maybe it is licensed from the same company.
http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=quickscript

If you have a Touch or iPhone
www.thisfinger.com
looks interesting.

[untmdsprt]

I have an iPhone 3GS which is where the Chinese input came from. I guess I'll have to continue using it to look up the kanji when I'm out.

@Belton - I'll take a look at those links you provided. Maybe something there would help.

@Psy - yes it would have been nice, but I'm not in the market for a new computer. Maybe when I have the money I may go ahead and buy one and send my current one to my mom in the states.