What are Input Locales?
Input locales, implemented in Windows 95/98, Windows NT 4.x, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, are pairings of an input language with an input method (which might be a particular keyboard layout, an Input Method Editor, or speech-to-text converter, for example). Specifically, an input locale describes the language being entered, and how it is being entered. Input locales are added on a per-user basis. For each account it is possible to install multiple input locales and switch between them when entering text, allowing for the composition of multilanguage documents. Adding or removing input locales has an immediate effect (a reboot is not required). Note that only those input locales for which appropriate language groups have been installed will be available to choose from. An Arabic user using Arabic Windows 2000 wants to type an e-mail message in a mixture of Arabic and Russian. The user already has an Arabic input locale, and installs a second input locale for the Russian language (with
