How to write in Hindi without any IME

This text written in Devnagri (Hindi).. You will need Unicode support in your Operating system and browser to view it. So If all you get is boxes after this text, your system is Unicode non compliant.

Chatting in Hinglish has become a normal routine for Hindi speaking people.. And with advent of Unicode support in most operating systems and browsers, it has become easy to write in Hindi easily.. The recent versions of MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger support Unicode so now you can chat in Unicode with your friends easily ..

Earlier the only way to do this was either to install an IME on both ends and then communicate or write the text in a transcripter program such as Baraha and copy paste in your IM window .. Well … No more such troubles now .. Now you can directly write in your favorite program in Hindi .. and no fonts installation required .. (Well some installation is required though 😉 .. )

हिन्दी में लिखने के लिये आपको जिस software की जरुरत है वह है HindiWriter Keyboad Map. ईसे आप इसके डेवेलपर के वेबसाईट से डाउनलोड कर सकते हें। इसको इन्स्टाल करना काफ़ी आसान है। ईस कमाल के सोफ़्टवेर को बनाया है देवेन्द्र पारख ने।

So, to use HindiWriter, you’ll need to install complex script support on your computer. On Windows XP, you can do so by going to Control Panel and opening Regional and Language options applet. On the Language tab, Enable the option of Install files for complex script and right to left languages. Click on Apply. You may need your XP Cd to complete the installation. Here is a screenshot :
Screenshot of XP Regional Options

For Windows 2000, Goto Control Panel and click on Regional Options. Click on General Tab. Enable ‘Indic’ Click on Apply. You may need your Windows 2000 cd for comleting the installation.

Now the tougher part is over. Just download HindiWriter and install it. Now to type in Hindi, just run the program and press Shift Pause. Hindi keyboard map will be activated and whatever you will type will be converted to Devnagri automatically. It’s a phonetic font so if you want to write श , you can do so by typing sh . So if you can type in Hinglish, you can type in Hindi too .. We are using it successfully with MS Word, Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger too .. And you can write in Hindi on Unicode compliant browsers such as Maxthon, Firefox or Opera too …

तो जनाव, इन्तेज़ार किस बात का है ? आज से हिन्दी में बात करना शुरु कर दिजिये !

[Update as on 28 May 2008] Seems like Devendra Parekh’s original website is no more. I’ve updated the download link to SoftPedia now.