Dear friends,

I am happy to announce the much-awaited release of Baraha 6.0 version. Along with Kannada and Devanagari, Baraha 6.0 includes Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam scripts. It will be a great pleasure if the enthusiasts from neighboring Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala states enjoy using Baraha as well. With this Baraha is emerging as a tool to learn Indian language scripts. Using the Script Override feature, users can learn new Indian language scripts.

Please visit http://www.baraha.com/ website for the download and other information.

Key Features:

• Easy to use Transliteration scheme. Type in English characters and get Indian language scripts on the fly. No learning curve for typing required! Needs the know-how of the English keyboard only.
• Supports Kannada, Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit, Tamil (**NEW**), Telugu (**NEW**) and Malayalam (**NEW**) languages. It can also be used for Kashmiri, Konkani, Nepali, Tulu, Sindhi languages.
• Baraha Direct supports typing Indian language ANSI text into any Windows application, which lets you select the Baraha fonts. Baraha TrueType fonts are compatible with MS-Word.
• Baraha Direct supports typing Indian language UNICODE text into any windows applications that support UNICODE.
• Baraha Direct allows conversion of one Indian language text to another in other applications. (**NEW**)
• Baraha Direct allows sorting of Indian language text in other applications. (**NEW**)
• Baraha Direct allows conversion of Indian language text between ANSI and Unicode data. (**NEW**)
• Supports Ka Ga Pa Keyboard - the standard keyboard for Kannada language proposed by the Karnataka Govt.
• Supports Standard Kannada Fonts proposed by the Karnataka Govt. You can use Kannada fonts from other vendors - which conform to the standard, in Baraha and vice versa.
• Supports TSCII 1.7 based fonts for Tamil script. Other TSCII 1.7 based Tamil fonts can be used in Baraha. See...
• Useful for desktop publishing, e-mailing, web-sites in Indian languages.
• The Indian language text in various formats such as Text, RTF, UNICODE, HTML, can be copied (**NEW**) and pasted (**NEW**) from other applications into Baraha and vice versa.
• Script Override (**NEW**) feature enables converting Indian language text from one script to another. This feature can be effectively used for learning one script from another.
• Supports data conversion between various formats including UNICODE.
• Supports sorting in Indian language alphabetical order.
• Supports exporting text (**NEW**) as Text, RTF, UNICODE, HTML documents, and as BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, PCX picture files.
• Standalone program for editing, printing documents. Needs no other editors. In addition to the standard formatting features, supports multi-columns, pictures, bullets, indentation, tab-stops, hyperlinks,  e.t.c.

• Other third party fonts, which follow the same encoding can be used in Baraha. (**NEW**)
• Template and Style Sheets can be used when exporting HTML files. (**NEW**)
• Searching the Internet for Indian language words is possible by right clicking on the word in the Output Window. (**NEW**)
• All the language plugins support ZWJ (Zero Width Joiner) and ZWNJ (Zero Width Non Joiner) characters for compatibility with UNICODE. (**NEW**)
• brhfc converts documents between Baraha and other 3rd party fonts (**NEW**)
• brhhtml converts web pages in Baraha fonts and 3rd party fonts to Unicode format (**NEW**)
• brhdc converts TrueType based rtf documents to Unicode format. (**NEW**)
• brhsort sorts Indian language text in ascending/descending order. (**NEW**)

Baraha in the future:

Baraha uses TrueType fonts and based on the ANSI character set. The newer operating systems such as Windows XP introduced Indian languages based on the Unicode and OpenType font technology. Some people have expressed concerns about the relevance of Baraha in the future. Some questions.

Is Baraha obsolete? Do the documents that were created in Baraha become un-usable in the future?

The answer is NO. Baraha is constructive today and will be functional in the future for many more years to come.

While Baraha continues to support the users of the pre-Unicode operating systems such as Windows 95/98 – which are still widely used in India, it also adopted to the newer technology such as Unicode and Windows XP, very well.

Baraha 6.0 takes Unicode support to the next level and works seamlessly in the Unicode based operating systems. Data can be copied in Unicode format between Baraha and other Unicode enabled applications by a few clicks of mouse. Baraha Direct enables users to type Indian languages in Unicode format, directly into other applications using the popular transliteration scheme and avoid using other cumbersome input methods. It enables user to convert one Indian language text to another in Unicode and ANSI formats. It also enables user to sort the Indian language text in Unicode or ANSI formats.

So, Baraha is not just an ANSI based editor. It is also the easiest way to create Unicode documents in Indian languages. Several Unicode projects have been successfully completed using Baraha. One of the strengths of Baraha is the portability of data. Baraha also helps to convert documents that are created using other commercial software to Unicode, by first converting them to Baraha fonts.

Baraha users are progressively increasing every day. Baraha website statistics indicate that in the month of July 2004 alone, Baraha 5.0 was downloaded about 3200 times. Baraha is used every month (offline + online) more than a million times! With the introduction of new scripts, Baraha's user base will increase significantly.

So users don’t be agonized! Your work in Baraha will never become obsolete. With users valued buoy up support and encouragement, Baraha is incorporating and always working towards keeping the technology upfront as per present needs and future requirements.

Acknowledgements:

Many people helped and guided me at various stages during the development work in achieving this success.

I am thankful to Sri. Harihareshwara for providing me certain Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam documents that are used in this release. Since Baraha Inception, Hari has been a leader in popularizing usage of Kannada through Baraha around the world.

I am thankful to Sri. Shekharpoorna for giving valuable feedback on HTML export feature. He was also instrumental for giving wide publicity to Baraha 6.0 through the news media recently. I am thankful to the writers and editors of Udayavani, Prajavani, Kannada Prabha, Vijaya Karnataka, thatskannada.com, The Hindu, Deccan Herald and Udaya TV for carrying news coverage on Baraha.

I am thankful to our artist Sri. Lingadevaru, who created quality fonts for Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam scripts. Lingadevaru has also created the Kannada and Devanagari fonts that were used in the earlier releases.

I am thankful to my friend Janardhana Swamy for creating logo for the Baraha.

I am thankful to Sri. Om Vikas representing Dept. of Information Technology, for permitting to use the sentences from some TDIL documents, in the transliteration examples.

I am thankful to all the well-wishers and users of Baraha for their ever-great support. Valuable suggestions and feedbacks from various users are included in this release. Thanks to Shree Kumar for introducing me to InnoSetup, which helped to create a better installation program. Thanks to the people who made contribution to A.Na.Kru. Pratishtana, in the name of Baraha.

My father Sri. K. T. Chandrasekharan, whose immense love towards Kannada and culture is the key motivation behind me in all the success I have achieved. He always Inspires me for more Kannada developmental works. I am thankful to him.

Copyright:

Baraha software, fonts, and utilities are copyright © of Sheshadrivasu Chandrasekharan. It is distributed as a freeware for use in documentation, journalism, literature and for other non-profit activities. For any other commercial use, permission must be obtained from the address given below. Baraha can be copied and distributed to others, as long as no fee is charged for that purpose.

Send your queries/comments/suggestions regarding Baraha to the following address.

Sheshadrivasu Chandrasekharan
email:baraha@hotmail.com
http://www.baraha.com
http://groups.msn.com/baraha