Polish Software Centre - Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Do you do the Polish version of Microsoft Word, is it compatible with Windows 98/2000?
  2. Can I use Polish fonts in E-mail?
  3. Can I use Polish fonts on my website?
Do you do the Polish version of Microsoft Word, is it compatible with Windows 98/2000?

Yes, we can supply Polish version of MS Word 97 or 2000. But MS Word is only sold as part of MS Ofice, so you would have to buy the entire MS Office 97 or 2000 suite in Polish. It will take a couple of weeks to order and cost GBP 290 for Office 97 PL and GBP 495 for Office 2000 PL, probably more than you expected.

You also have to bear in mind that Polish version of Microsoft Word is designed to work on Polish version of Windows. Although it would install on US / UK version of Windows and you would be able to perform basic operations - the full compatibility between localised versions is not guaranteed.

In other words - to make it work it is recommended that you dedicate one entire machine to work in Polish operating system. It would make sense to buy a Polish keyboard for such a machine too.

If however your English is good enough to operate a program with English user interface and your requirement is to occassionally write/ spell check / translate a document in Polish then there is much simpler (and cheaper ) solution. Keep your existing (English) Windows and MS Office and add Back to top

Can I use Polish fonts in E-mail?

You can send the Polish characters in E-mail, but whether your receipient will be able to read them properly is another issue. It depends on the following factors:
  1. What software you use for sending E-mail messagaes
  2. What operating system you use
  3. What software your recipient uses to read E-mail messages
  4. What operating system your receipient uses
Generally speaking bear in mind that when you send an E-mail message (unlike sending fax) you only send the ASCII numbers of the characters in the message, not how these characters look. It is up to the system on the other end to interpret those numbers in the same way you do. In other words to make it work both systems have to use the same code page. If you use a specific font to write your message then your recipient has to have the same font installed and selected in his system to be able to see the same result. If he does not have the same font, then his system will use the default font.

The most popular E-mail client is Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express on Windows, so I will now assume both sender and receipient use it.

The sender has to:

Go to Tools-Options-Compose-Mail-Font settings Select one of the Polish fonts (eg. Arial PL)

The receipient has to

Go to Tools-Options-Read-Fonts

Select Central European Proportioanal font: Select one of the Polish fonts (eg. Arial PL) (if the sender however uses fixed width font rather than proportiona font - the the recipient has to use set fixed width font to be one of the Polish fonts)

That was for Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express. Other programs (eg. Eudora) may have different options, but should allow you such choice also. Apple Mac code page however is different from Windows when it comes to international characters, so any Polish characters in an e-mail sent from Windows to Apple Mac may come as a mess.

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Can I use Polish fonts on my website?

This question has almost the same answer as the question above. Yes, you can, but whether your website visitors will be able to see these characters properly depends on a few factors:
  1. What software you use to make your web site
  2. What operating system you use
  3. What internet browser your visitors use to view your website
  4. What operating system your receipient uses
If you use Zecer or Ogonki package (Windows code page 1250) and your visitors use Microsoft Internet Explorer - then they should go to View-Encoding and select Central European Windows and that should work.

If however your visitors view your website on Apple Mac - that won't work because Apple Mac uses a different code page for coding non-English characters. You should prepare a separate version of your Polish web site aimed for Apple Mac.

If your web site visitor uses a WAP phone to view your website, that won't work either. Your best choice is to prepare a version without any Polish accented characters at all.

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This page is part of and should be seen in the frame context of Polish Software Centre