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Program Modes

Chinese Toolbox supports three program modes: TRIAL, FREE, and READER. An upcoming release of Chinese Toolbox will support a fourth: WORD mode. The name of the current mode appears in the title bar after the product name, Chinese Toolbox. Immediately after installing and launching the program, “Chinese Toolbox TRIAL 11.0.0.3” will appear in the title bar of the main window, the window that contains the program’s menus, indicating that Chinese Toolbox is running in TRIAL mode.

TRIAL Mode

TRIAL mode allows you to use the program for fifteen (15) days with all the features of the full-featured mode (READER mode) with three exceptions:

  • TRIAL mode does not allow importing or exporting of vocabulary or familiar words. Vocabulary and familiar words are saved each time you quit the program, and you can build up a considerable list of vocabulary and familiar words during the trial period. These word lists continue to be available when you activate READER mode, and at that time, the word lists can be copied or exported for use in other programs or documents. If the trial period expires (the program starts up in FREE mode), all vocabulary and familiar word lists are lost, as FREE mode does not support any word functionality.
  • TRIAL mode requires an Internet connection. If Chinese Toolbox cannot connect to the server, the program will automatically shut down.
  • In TRIAL mode the program automatically shuts down after running for 24 straight hours. Your data will be automatically saved before shutdown. You can relaunch the program to continue using it.

FREE Mode

If you choose not to purchase a license for READER mode, the program will switch to FREE mode after 15 days. FREE mode is very similar to the 2009 release of Chinese Toolbox FREE 9.1.2, but with several improvements. What it lacks is support for words. It is a character-oriented Chinese learning tool.

FREE mode of Chinese Toolbox improves on Chinese Toolbox FREE 9.1.2 in the following ways:

  • You can change the color of almost everything on the screen via the new Settings Dialog.
  • You can set the font size for the Reader.
  • You can set the font for Chinese text. However, only SimSun and MingLiu have been verified to work correctly. Most downloadable Chinese fonts will not work correctly in Chinese Toolbox 2011. This is an area for future development and improvement.
  • You can maintain and switch between three documents. See the Document menu.
  • You can create three Context Links to link to external websites from the main (large) character in the Character Dictionary window.

WORD Mode

WORD mode is planned for the next major release of Chinese Toolbox, probably in 2012. It will consist of most of the functionality of Chinese Toolbox READER and will be less expensive than READER Mode. WORD mode will support all basic word-oriented features, but it will not support all of the advanced features of a future Chinese Toolbox READER.

READER Mode

READER mode is the premier mode of Chinese Toolbox 2011. It contains the most complete set of features that have been released in any Chinese Toolbox product.

READER mode is activated by purchasing a license and entering a serial number received via email in the Serial Number field of the License page. Once validated, the program switches from TRIAL or FREE mode to READER mode.

Most READER mode features are available in TRIAL mode. READER mode includes many improvements over Chinese Toolbox READER 9.2.

 

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