Macs in the Grinnell computer labs (AV center, Gencomp, at the library) should already be set up to read and write in Russian, so you might not have to do anything at all, or if you do, you might only have to make a few minor modifications. I am listing instructions here for both OS 9.2 and OS X.
Writing in Russian | Viewing Russian Websites
Most likely any Mac (or PC) you use in a Grinnell computer lab will let you type in Russian, but the Cyrillic letters are in a seemingly meaningless order (to those of us used to the QWERTY keyboard). As of right now, I have been unable to find a Cyrillic QWERTY keyboard that consistently works on OS X; I can only find ones for OS 9.2.
Therefore, if you have OS X, I do not know where you can find a phonetic keyboard. I suggest then that you look at how your Russian keyboard is laid out, in order to make typing easier for you.
First, to type Russian on a Mac, you should look to the top of your screen, near the date/time on OS 9.2 or next to the file names on the left on OS X. There should be an American flag. Click on it, and then find Russian and click on it. Try it out: as I explained above, this Russian will not be in an order that makes sense to you, so you'll either have to view the keyboard, or if you have 9.2, follow instructions below.
If you don't see this flag, on OS 9.2 go to Apple Menu (upper left, Apple graphic), Control Panel, Keyboard. In the Script box, select Cyrillic, and then select Russian (and phonetic, if available). On OS X, go to Apple Menu (upper left, Apple graphic), System Preferences, International (it's a flag). In the Languages box, lower half of the screen (Scripts), make sure Cyrillic is there and the Behavior selected is Russian. In the Input Menu, make sure Russian (Cyrillic) is checked.
If you have 9.2 and you want a phonetic keyboard, download one here. I have tested this one on Mac OS 9.2 on Grinnell College computers. Once download is complete, open the folder that was created, and drag all of its contents into un-opened System Folder (this folder is in Macintosh HD). You may need to restart. To type using this new keyboard, click on the American flag and select Russian Accented QWERTY.
If you would like to see what the layout of this new keyboard actually is, click on the Apple in the upper left, and click on Key Caps. Then select Russian Accented QWERTY as described above.
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If you use one of the Macs in a Grinnell computer lab, you should automatically be able to view websites that use Russian, but you might want to keep in mind a few tips.
While on Internet Explorer, if you view a website and the Russian looks garbled, click on View and then Character Set. Try all of the different varieties of Cyrillic (there are probably 4 of them). KOI8-R is most standard.
If you are viewing a page with frames, and only part of the page looks Russian, click on each frame individually and make sure the Character Set is in Cyrillic. (I've found that the Macs will only set one frame to Cyrillic automatically, so the others are all garbled.)
Sometimes a page will use a Russian font that you do not have. Most pages that do this will tell you which font they are using and let you download it. If not, try a different computer.
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