Preview of Arabic Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger

[Magnus]

Emirates Mac had the pleasure of trying out a development beta version of a version of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger localized in Arabic. This means it's not just the Arabic support that has been present in Mac OS X since 10.2 Jaguar, but a complete Mac OS X in Arabic. The localization process is still under way and there is no known release date.

A first glimpse clearly shows that this is unfinished project, so many commands, applications, menus are in a mix of English and Arabic. That said, we obviously expect a fully Arabized Mac OS X when this project is completed. For example, the System Preferences window title is named in Arabic, while its relevant command in the Apple menu is still in English. The Arabic font is overall smooth and readable, but wordings are not accurate in some areas. The often rumored resolution-independent interface that may be a part of Leopard would probably help make the Arabic font more readable since the user then can adjust the font size to suit the screen they use.

Reflecting back to the last Arabic Mac OS, 7.5.3, there were some phrases that people became used to see at that time. A suggestion for the people working on this add-on is to take a look at this earlier Arabic Mac OS version while working on this project.

Check out the Text Edit application, for example. While trying to Save As "Word Document", the translation doesn't give this meaning. A technically experienced person should check the translation afterwards. Not all warnings and alerts are translated, users with no or little English required to read, understand and decide which button to press.

While there are translated warning and information dialogs, the Help application doesn't support Arabic. This is an important feature for new Mac users in the Arab World who are concerned about learning new skills. The Help application must get Arabized. For example, while trying to search for how to burn CD, no results were shown.

Spotlight can find any Arabic named document and Arabic contents in specific documents such as Word, PDF. However this feature is available in the International system that supports Arabic language as well. Viewing folders and documents in the favorite columns style doesn't support preview, which is an important feature and doesn't show detailed information. While in the icon and list view some of this informations is visible. In the File Info. all information is scrambled and just partly visible.

All in all and keeping in mind this is a developer version, there is a long way to go before this is ready to be released to the general public. It seems the developers have put in place much of the underlying mechanisms for Mac OS X to be displayed in full Arabic, but there's much of the translations left to do as you can tell from the screen shots. Some key applications, like Safari and Mail, don't seem to have been touched at all so far, and we would expect the entire standard installation of Tiger to be Arabized if this is ever going to become something really useful. Whenever this is finished and released, there will also be issues of updated and new versions of Mac OS X. Apple has said that Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard will be released "spring 2007" and what we've looked at is an Arabic version of 10.4 Tiger which is not finished yet. So for users there are many questions still to be answered. We applaud the effort and look forward to seeing further developments.

Zaid and MacUAE were the ones taking the time to install and look at this preview so a big thank you to them.

[DXB Law]

It looks good but from the screenshots it appears to be, as you say, only a partial job; for people who already read English the Arabization is not necessary and for people who don't partial won't be good enough. I trust that it will be a complete Arabization by the time it is released.

Also, care must be taken that this is Arabization and not translation. Some of the screen shots reflect very literal translations of the English equivalents that might not convey the intended meaning to an Arabic speaker without English knowlege (or prior Mac knowledge).

So, in summary, this is a good start but there is a long way to go. I wonder how much of this excellent effort will be transferable to Leopard?

[Zaid Al Hilali]

One of the first things any one will notice about this Arabic version is it is completely based on the English version, while an Arabic Operating System should consider the right to left issue of Middle Eastern scripts.
In Middle Eastern Microsoft Windows you will find the whole system is build around this right to left concept, for example you will find the Start button on the bottom right corner of the screen.

If my memory is correct, as this has been more than 9 years ago, the last Arabic Mac OS had the Apple menu on the right hand side of the screen. This is not a matter of menu positions only but the way that our language and script is structured.

[DXB Law]

I agree; that is one of the key differences between "translation" and "arabization." However, I don't want to be too critical because I am pleased that somebody is engaging in this project.

[alonst]

It will work in all RTL languages?

[Zaid Al Hilali]

It will work in all RTL languages?

Just like the International Mac OSX, the Arabic OSX 10.4.5 supports all languages you find in the International System Preferences. You can choose Persian, Urdu, Hebrew to read and and type using these languages BUT the system will not switch to any thing else, it stays rather in Arabic mode.

It is not like when you choose German from the International System preference to get all menus, commands, dialogue windows switched to German.

[Appleholic]

Hello there Emiratesmac
for your information... you have been posted on Macminute regarding the Arabic Tiger. the word is spreading fast. this is very good news.
http://www.macminute.com/2006/08/16/arabic-mac-os-x/
and you have been also posted on www.macsurfer.com

[kroom]

من وين احصل علي هذا التعريب

[Zaid Al Hilali]

من وين احصل علي هذا التعريب

مرحبا، جرّبنا هذه النسخة عندما كانت «بيتا» ولم تنزل هذه النسخة المعربة للسوق حتى الان. أنا أعلم انك تبحث عنها في مواقع اخرى ولكن للأسف لايوجد نسخة مكتملة لهذا التعريب بعد.

[kroom]

مرحبا، جرّبنا هذه النسخة عندما كانت «بيتا» ولم تنزل هذه النسخة المعربة للسوق حتى الان. أنا أعلم انك تبحث عنها في مواقع اخرى ولكن للأسف لايوجد نسخة مكتملة لهذا التعريب بعد.

اشكرك على ردك ياغالي
ولكن هل من الممكن الحصول على هذي النسخة البيتي