Changing the Default Character Set in POP3 E-Mail Clients for Writing E-Mail Messages in Chinese and Japanese

To minimize the possibility that someone cannot read your messages in Chinese or Japanese, you can change the default character set for English-language POP3 e-mail programs, which is usually ISO-8859-1, to Unicode (UTF-8), which accommodates most if not all of the world's languages. Detailed instructions are available for Outlook 2003, and Outlook Express 6.0 You can also elect to change the default encoding to one of the East Asian character sets (GB2312 for simplified Chinese, Big5 for traditional Chinese, or ISO-2022J for Japanese), depending on your personal correspondence pattern. But Unicode is the most flexible and compatible choice.

Outlook 2003

    1. 1.      Outlook 2003 with Internet Explorer 5.5 or above installed automatically selects the encoding for outgoing messages, based on an analysis of its content.
    2. 2.     Since this feature appears to work well, and turning off the automatic encoding of outgoing messages involves an initial step of editing the Windows registry (something that should be attempted only by advanced users), it is recommended that the user leave the automatic encoding in place. However, those who want to attempt turning off this feature and manually configure the default encoding to Unicode or some other encoding can consult the Microsoft document on "Configuring Encoding Options in Outlook 2003," which provides a detailed explanation as well as step-by-step instructions.

Outlook Express 6.0

    • 1.      Open the Tools/Options menu. Then click on the Send tab.

      http://newton.uor.edu/Departments&Programs/AsianStudiesDept/Language/images/oe_send.jpg
    • 2.     In the Sending section, click on the button for International Settings ...

      http://newton.uor.edu/Departments&Programs/AsianStudiesDept/Language/images/oe_western.jpg
    • 3.     In the line Default Encoding, click on the button to the right of Western European (ISO). In the dropdown list of encodings that opens, move the cursor to Unicode (UTF-8) to highlight and select it by clicking on it.

      http://newton.uor.edu/Departments&Programs/AsianStudiesDept/Language/images/oe_utf.jpg
    • 4.     Click OK to change the default encoding to Unicode (UTF-8).

      http://newton.uor.edu/Departments&Programs/AsianStudiesDept/Language/images/oe_utf2.jpg

      Finally, in the Options window, click on the OK button to finish the process.

      Your outgoing messages will now automatically be sent in Unicode. You can even mix languages in your messages.

     

       
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