In computing, Russification involves the localization of computers and software, allowing the user interface of a computer and its software to communicate in the Russian language using Cyrillic script.
Problems associated with Russification before the advent of Unicode included the absence of a single character-encoding standard for Cyrillic (see Cyrillic script#Computer encoding).
History of the MS-DOS Russification
editThe first official Russification of MS-DOS was carried out for MS-DOS 4.01 in 1989/1990, released on 9 April 1990. In Microsoft, the Russification project manager and one of its main developers was Nikolai Lyubovny (Николай Любовный).[1][2] A Russian version of MS-DOS 5.0 was also developed in 1991,[1] released on 9 August 1991. Based on an initiative of Microsoft Germany in March 1991, derivates of the Russian MS-DOS 5.0 drivers used for keyboard, display and printer localization support (DISPLAY.SYS, EGS.CPI, EGA2.CPI, KEYB.COM, KEYBOARD.SYS, MSPRINT.SYS, COUNTRY.SYS, ALPHA.EXE) could also be purchased separately (with English messages) as part of Microsoft's AlphabetPlus kit. This enabled English issues of MS-DOS 3.3, 4.01 and 5.0 to be set up for Eastern European countries like Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania and Bulgaria.[1]
Russification of Microsoft Windows
editA comprehensive instruction set for computer Russification is maintained by Paul Gorodyansky.[3] It is mirrored in many places and recommended by the U.S. Library of Congress.[4]
See also
edit- Cyrillization
- GOST 10859
- Romanization of Russian
- АДОС, unrelated to Russian MS-DOS
- PTS-DOS
- Mojibake
References
edit- ^ a b c Starikov, Yuri. "DOS, Works, Windows… Далее везде… 15-летию Russian MS-DOS 4.01 посвящается" [15 Years of Russian MS-DOS 4.01] (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2019-08-10. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
- ^ Starikov, Yuri (2007-09-17). "Интервью с Юрием Стариковым — первым советским программистом в Microsoft" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2014-05-08. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
- ^ Gorodyansky, Paul (2010). "Russian keyboard etc. - Cyrillic (Russian): instructions for Windows and Internet - Русская клавиатура и т.п. - Инструкции: русский под нерусской Windows и в Интернете". winrus.com (in English and Russian). Archived from the original on 2018-11-11. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
- ^ "Tips on viewing Cyrillic text". European Reading Room. The Library of Congress. 2010-09-21. Archived from the original on 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
External links
edit- Modern Online (Virtual) Keyboard for Russian (not just alphabet order)
- Online Keyboard for Russian
- Virtual Russian Online Keyboard with Spellcheck
