Most operating systems use the term Input Method. It is commonly called Input method editor (IME) in the Microsoft Windows operating systems. Some sources state that front end processor was an equivalent term to input method editor, for other operating systems such as Unix.[1][2]
Other operating systems may have a different name for the same idea, for example:
in Microsoft Windows, the operating system component is called an Input Method Editor;
in DOS, the type of program is called an input method (Chinese) or an front end processor (Japanese);
in the X Window System, it is called an input method. (The specific built-in implementation of X11?s input method support is called XIM, short for X input method; however, support for input methods are also provided by input method modules in various other parts of the system including GTK+ and Qt), SCIM is a common input method managing most methods (more than 130 including UIM ones) on GNU/Linux, followed by UIM.
in NeXTSTEP, it was called a front end processor named Clare, there was a Japanese input method which was developed by Canon.
in BeOS, it was called an input method, there was a Japanese input method.
Implementations
Although originally coined for CJK computing, the term is now sometimes used generically to refer to a program to support the input of any language. To illustrate, in the X Window System, the facility to allow the input of Latin characters with diacritics is also called an input method.
Relationship between the methodology and implementation
While the term input method editor was originally used by Microsoft Windows, its use has now gained acceptance in other operating systems, especially when it is important to distinguish between interface and implementation of input methods, or among the input method itself, the editing functionality of the program or operating system component providing the input method, and the general support of input methods in an operating system. This term has, for example, gained general acceptance on the GNU/Linux operating system; it is also used on the Mac OS.
The term input method generally refers to a particular way to use the keyboard to input a particular language, for example the Cangjie method, the pinyin method, or the use of dead keys.
On the other hand, the term input method editor on Microsoft products refers to the actual program that allows an input method to be used (for example MS New Pinyin). PRIME,[3] or SCIM) prefer the term of Input Method Engine or Input Method platform or Input Method environment,[4] or the actual editing area that allows the user to do the input. It can also refer to a character palette, which allows any Unicode character to be input individually. One might also interpret IME to refer to the editor used for creating or modifying the data files upon which an input method relies.
Multi-tap ? Hit the key for the letter you want until it comes up, then wait or proceed with a different key.
T9/XT9 ? Type the key for every letter once, then, if needed, type Next until the right word comes up. Also corrects misspellings and regional typos (if an adjacent key is pressed incorrectly.)
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