Text input is one of the most frequent operations in our daily work and learning. On Windows, the mainstream input tools are probably third-party input methods such as Sogou and Baidu. However, the common problems of advertising pop ups, junk software bundling, and redundant useless functions are also headache inducing. In fact, after multiple iterations, the long overlooked Windows 10 native Pinyin input method (hereinafter referred to as Microsoft Pinyin) has transformed into an efficient and powerful input tool, and the simple and beautiful one has also become my main input method. Next, based on the Windows 10 Creator Update (Version 1703), I will introduce some Microsoft Pinyin Input Method tips that you may not have noticed.
Advanced Input Mode
U mode, stroke, split, and handle difficult to spell characters directly
In daily life, we inevitably encounter words that we don’t know their pronunciation, and in this case, Microsoft Pinyin’s U-mode can help us. Just tap the letter U key (Shift+U in double spelling mode), and you can spell unfamiliar characters in stroke order. The rules are also very easy to remember: the five basic strokes of “horizontal, vertical, apostrophe, press, fold” are represented by their pinyin initials “h, s, p, n, z”, for example, “u’spnp” can be used to input “less” characters.
In addition, for a character composed of multiple Chinese characters, you can find it by splitting the input, for example, “u’you’you’you’you’you” can input the character “company”. If these are not enough, you can also combine the two, for example, “u’lou’phpn `” can input the word “number”. More thoughtfully, when using these input methods, Microsoft Pinyin will annotate the pronunciation of each word for you to avoid such awkward situations from happening again.
In addition, you can also quickly input various special characters through U mode, whether it is folk units or mathematical symbols, which can be easily handled. Microsoft Pinyin divides it into six categories: units, serial numbers, special, punctuation, mathematics, geometry, and letters, which can be summoned through “uu+first letter pinyin of categories”.
V mode, relying on it for format conversion and formula input
Sometimes, we need to input some special formatted text, such as uppercase numbers, lunar dates, or mathematical formulas. At this point, Microsoft Pinyin’s V-mode can help you. Press the V key (Shift+V in Pinyin mode) and enter a number or operator. Different formatted text will appear in the menu for you to choose from, and you can even use it for simple mathematical calculations or formula input. In addition, the V mode also supports inputting characters through Unicode or GB-18030 encoding. For example, “VUC6D3E” and “VGBC5C9” both correspond to the “pi” character, which may be useful when inputting some very obscure special characters.
; Mode, enter person name, take one step faster
Unlike other phrases, a person’s name often has a fixed combination, such as surnames such as Wang, Zhang, Li, Zhao, and common characters such as Jiaqi and Ziwei. Occasionally, there may not be any difference when entering, but if you need to enter a bunch of names in bulk, the irrelevant characters in the input method candidate box can greatly affect efficiency. To solve this problem, Microsoft Pinyin provides a dedicated name input mode. You can enter the pinyin of the name and press the “;” and “R” keys in sequence (in double pinyin mode, it is “Shift+;” and then press “R”). This way, candidate words become common names and are roughly arranged in frequency, which is very convenient.
Text replacement
User defined phrases
The native text replacement feature of iOS is probably a favorite of many people, as it can help us quickly input preset long sentences. In fact, Microsoft Pinyin can also achieve this, but the entrance is relatively hidden, and it is difficult to discover without some exploration. To add a user-defined phrase, first right-click on the Chinese and English status indicator button in the language bar, then enter the Microsoft Pinyin settings interface, and then select the “Vocabulary and Self learning” menu. Under “Input Method Built in and User Customized Phrases”, you can find the option to add a user-defined phrase. You can abbreviate frequently entered phrases such as email and address to several lowercase letters that do not start with the letter v, and choose their positions in the candidate window to improve input efficiency.
Built in text replacement
In addition to user-defined phrases, Microsoft Pinyin also has many common phrases built-in. For example, “s’j”, “r’q”, and “n’l” can respectively summon the current time, date, and lunar date. In addition, you can also use the name to quickly input emoji, facial expressions, and units, for example, “p’f” can be used to input square values that are difficult to type ² Symbols.
More features
Spelling scheme
In iOS 11, Apple finally added a dual pinyin solution, and in Microsoft Pinyin, you can not only choose from three dual pinyin solutions: Microsoft Dual Pinyin, Smart ABC, and Natural Code, but also add other custom solutions, which can be said to be extremely thoughtful (don’t know what dual pinyin is? Come and read the introduction topic of minority dual pinyin). In addition, you can freely choose the default input mode, Chinese English punctuation, page flipping, and word based shortcut keys to maximize the retention of your original spelling habits.
Professional dictionaries and cloud vocabulary
A major highlight of domestic input methods such as Sogou and Baidu is the ability to download different word libraries to meet the personalized needs of users. In Microsoft Pinyin, you can also choose to use different professional dictionaries. In addition to specialized subject dictionaries such as computer science, mathematics, and medicine, there are also daily vocabulary such as movies and games, covering most usage needs. In addition, cloud vocabulary, once a major killer of third-party input methods, has also been learned from Microsoft Pinyin. With the huge user base of Windows and Bing, Microsoft Pinyin can obtain various latest internet buzzwords from the cloud as candidates. If you are concerned about privacy issues, you can also uncheck the cloud computing, self-learning, and dynamic word frequency adjustment functions in the settings.
Emoji and Symbol Panel
Enter any letter and press the tab key to switch to the emoticons and symbols panel (you can also use the shortcut keys “Ctrl+Shift+B”). Here, you can confidently choose various emojis, emojis, and special symbols. Microsoft Pinyin also intelligently predicts the emojis you may want to input based on the context. In input boxes that support direct image pasting (such as QQ, WeChat, and other chat apps), you can even use Microsoft Pinyin to directly search for emoticons and send them. Although the quality of the emoticons obtained from the search is not too high, it is already a great breakthrough for native applications.
Appearance preferences
If you are used to the floating status bar of domestic input methods, you may not be accustomed to it when using Microsoft Pinyin for the first time. In fact, you can choose to enable the desktop language bar in the appearance settings of Microsoft Pinyin, and then a floating status bar similar to Sogou, Baidu, and others will appear in front of you. Of course, you can also freely customize the number of candidate items, font, size, etc., to create the most suitable input method for you.
If you have had enough of the various pop ups of third-party input methods, or are concerned about your privacy and security issues, why not try changing the default input method to Microsoft Pinyin. I believe that concise yet not simple, it can definitely win your love with its strength
