Buying MACs Internationally

[kotr]

Hi, everyone!

I am glad I found this site. Hoepfully someone could help me with a small dillema.

Currently I am living in South Korea. I plan on buying an iMac G4 via the online Apple store here in Korea. There is no actual store.

My main issue is that the start-up disks are in Korean (which I can't read very well) and possibly the operating system.

My questions:

1. If i bought the computer and changed the language to English, would error messages and other system generated messages be in Korean or English?

2. Is the operating system the same in all macs around the world or is it specific for where it is being sold.

3. I was told by the korea-apple online store that the start-up disks are in Korean. Does that mean only the instructions are in Korean or the ENTIRE operating system is in Korean

4. If i am uncomfortable using the korean language, would you recommend purchasing the computer from The U.S. instead of in Korea?

Thanks for any input on this. I really want to get it soon but I need to know some more about this international issue.

kotr

 

[caveman_uk]

I don't know about Korean specifically but the European supplied disks start in English then allow you to choose a language that you want to continue with. I guess the Korean disks are much the same. You may however wish to locate a US or UK keyboard.

 

[irmongoose]

Most probably the whole system will be in Korean. But, since OS X is international, you can just go into the System Preferences and change the main language to English. The error messages will all be in English, but the text that appears on screen during the startup will be in Korean unless you use TinkerTool System to change the startup language.

Only one OS X is used throughout the world, just a difference of the language it is shipped with. Classic, though, will always be in the language of where you bought the computer from. So you will have a Korean Classic OS installed in your computer. But you most probably won't be using it ever so it should be no problem.

But try to locate a US keyboard if you can, it's just so much prettier.



irmongoose

 

[Nermal]

When you turn on your Mac for the first time, the first thing that pops up is a box asking you to select your language. It localises the entire OS, plus all the Apple applications. However, as Caveman pointed out, it may come with a Korean keyboard.

 

[irmongoose]

It doesn't do that on Macs sold here in Japan...



irmongoose