Mac Forum / Applications / Word / July 2007

Hi guys,

I m trying to type some sentences in German using Word 2004 using OS
10.4.10 on a dual core G5 iMac. I have gone to the International panel
of System Preferences and enabled the German keyboard along with the
US Extended keyboard. But now I would like to use the keyboard viewer
to help me find where German-specific letters are—like umlaut “o”, “u”
or “a” (You know, those two little dots over the letter).

I can select the German keyboard layout using the “input menu” in the
upper right corner of the menu bar.

But when I try to bring up Keyboard Viewer, it stubbornly sticks to
the US layout even though the keyboard layout shifts unseen to the
German key configuration. That means I cannot see the location of
those German letters—or get reminded that my German friends swap the
position of the “y” and “z” keys.

Here is the strangest part. I have discovered that if I hit Option/
Command/Space Bar, it opens Spotlight. I know that is the default key
combination on the Keyboard Shortcuts panel of the Keyboard & Mouse
panel. Then, when Spotlight is open, the Option/Command/Space Bar
combination does indeed switch between German and US keyboard viewers.

Bu everything I type is entered in the Spotlight search field instead
of into my Word document.

I’m pretty sure there is a conflict between keyboard combinations. I
have even changed the shortcut for “Show Spotlight window” to Control/
Tilde to try to avoid any possible conflict with Spotlight. No luck.

BTW, I have learned from MS Office Help under “Insert an international
character by using a shortcut key” that I can produce ä, ë, ï, ö, ü,
ÿ  Ä, Ë, Ï, Ö, Ü, Ÿ by pressing OPTION+u, the letter

But that still doesn’t give me access to things like the German double
“s” letter that looks like ß

Can you help me figure out a way to easily switch between Keyboard
Viewers?