A serious problem with Mac OS X

new imacnew imac
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Dear Mac Community



Since I bought my first iPod (a 3G), I have been a fan of Apple. For years, I had wanted to make a switch to the Mac. About a month ago, I finally decided it was time to leave the M$ world, and bought a Mini.



My overall experience has been nearly flawless, with no crashes, truly amazing apps that are mac only (like QS, adium, spotlight and the whole iLife bundle, to name a few) and a very good looking interface.



You may've noticed the word "nearly" on the previous paragragh, and it's there for a reason. There is one serious problem I can't solve. I am Brazilian, and therefore, I speak and write mostly in Portuguese. But OS X has no support for the Brazilian layout keyboard. I have been after a solution since day 1 with my Mac, but all I have managed to find out is that there are tons of pages in the web about Portuguese speakers complaining that their keyboards don't work properly. Apparently, this has been an issue since Mac OS 10.0, and until Tiger there isn't a solution for it.



There are many different hacks to try to solve this, and I've tried every one, but they are either buggy, or don't work properly with non-universal apps (including word), or aren't 100% accurate on the keys placement.



The fact is, I write a lot for school, and I need a Brazilian layout keyboard. And my parents, who were also seriously considering switching, work a lot with translations, so it is even more important for them to have the right layout.



I am going to send a complaint for apple regarding this, but I'm skeptical that I'll get a solution, since this has been a known issue for a long time.



Sincerely

Daniel

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by new imac View Post


    ... I am Brazilian, and therefore, I speak and write mostly in Portuguese. But OS X has no support for the Brazilian layout keyboard. I have been after a solution since day 1 with my Mac, but all I have managed to find out is that there are tons of pages in the web about Portuguese speakers complaining that their keyboards don't work properly. ...



    What are you talking about? MacOS X supports both Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese.



    Launch System Preferences.

    Click the International preferences pane.

    Click the Language tab.

    Check Portuguese.

    Click the Input Menu tab.

    Check Brazilian and/or Portuguese.
  • Reply 2 of 8
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
  • Reply 3 of 8
    wircwirc Posts: 302member
    Yeah, all you need is a Brazilian Keyboard with USB and you're set, once you've turned on the international settings. I write in Russian all the time, and with the exception of Microsoft Word, which refuses to stay in one language, and I have no problems.



    You cannot, however, make your system run in Portuguese, as far as I know.
  • Reply 4 of 8
    new imacnew imac Posts: 29member
    I'm not that dumb, you know. The brazilian and portuguese layout built-in osx don't work properly with the current brazilian layout called ABNT2 (it uses a very very old layout called ABNT) and therefore is useless.



    And btw Ireland, I switched to mac for many reasons, including the promise of a community where people try to help you (as opposed to laugh at you).



    EDIT:



    the proper brazilian layout is the Windows ABNT pictured (which btw is actually the so-called ABNT2. the real ABNT is the Windows US International)
  • Reply 5 of 8
    intlplbyintlplby Posts: 45member
    i kind of agree with you....



    personally i have no idea what the Mac Brazilian corresponds to. I've never seen that Brazilian keyboard layout. I don't even understand how you get the grave and the cedilla on it.



    I always use the Portugal layout and it works fine... it may not be exactly what you want but it works just fine... it's a matter of getting used to one keyboard layout over another.





    kinda like using a 2 button mouse or using a one button and ctrl... it's a different paradigm..... my biggest complaint is having the damn portuguese flag in the menu bar instead of my own flag....



    i wish apple made MBP keyboard skins for all the keyboard layouts
  • Reply 6 of 8
    maclover-brmaclover-br Posts: 4member
    Hi there,

    Here's a couple of links that might help:



    http://www.biloca.com/blog/wp-conten...abnt2-rsrc.zip



    and



    http://acacioas.digi.com.br/files/LayoutsTeclado.zip



    The good thing about the second one is that it's a bundle, meaning you don't have to rely on an already

    existing layout (which can cause some funky behavior sometimes). However, it seems that they have

    mistaken the ' for the \\ keys but other than that it's ok.



    MacLover-BR
  • Reply 7 of 8
    almalm Posts: 111member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wirc View Post


    I write in Russian all the time, and with the exception of Microsoft Word, which refuses to stay in one language, and I have no problems.



    Same here. Luckily I barely use it.
  • Reply 8 of 8
    dspercivaldspercival Posts: 1member
    Hold down your option(alt) key to see the appropriate modifiers. Please do not whine about not being dumb if you haven't let us know what you've already done. OK? I think you were held back by assuming the Mac keyboard would work like the Windows keyboard. That is judging from the keyboard layouts you show.

    However I am dumb and can't figure out how to post a tiff image. Maybe you could help me with that.



    I hope this gets everyone going. I like Brasileiro.

    Dave

Sign In or Register to comment.