Many international users have keyboards with the U.S. layout, and are accustomed to typing accented characters with the key sequences of the Windows "U.S. - International" keyboard layout. They often don't wish to get used to the Mac's option-key sequences for accented characters, and many mistakenly complain that "the Mac doesn't allow accented characters at all".

Now here's a Mac version of the "U.S. - International" keyboard. It duplicates as closely as possible the Windows key sequences, while keeping most of the option-key sequences intact.

Unfortunately, this keyboard layout will work only for "normal" applications. Some games don't check the keyboard layout correctly, and Unix-ported applications running under X11 won't see it either.

Version 1.2 (Size: 56396 bytes) is for Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and up, though it also should work well with 10.4 (Tiger) and, possibly, older versions of Mac OS X.

To install, copy the "U.S. International" file to the /Library/Keyboard Layouts folder. You have to create it with that exact name if you don't have it already. If you're not an administrator, or don't wish to make the layout available to other users, you can create/use the same folder inside your home folder's Library folder. If you have an older version of the layout already installed, don't forget to put it into the Trash.

You must log out and back in again to make the system recognize the new layout. Now open the System Preferences and select the layout's checkbox in "International -> Input Menu". I recommend disabling the keyboard shortcuts, as it's quite easy to switch layouts without noticing.

For older systems, if the latest version didn't work, you may try Version 1.1 (Size: 43264 bytes) which is for Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) and 10.3 (Panther). If you still use Mac OS X 10.1.x, Mac OS 9, or the Classic environment, download version 1.0 (Size: 90732 bytes). Instructions are inside each disk image.

USInternational is freeware. However, if you think it was useful to you, you may contribute with a donation.