Various 拼音输入法 and the "Sometime-gay Sometime-brooding Monkey"

I have recently become enamoured of the new software that has become available online for entering Pinyin romanization. I have been using the Google system for over a year now and while I may be biased, or just ignorant of a more attractive alternative, it is still my favorite. I have also used for the past couple of months the system from Sogou. It is also a good system, and it has attractive 'skins' with which to update your Chinese Character typing software and step into line with the latest fashion. This is, indeed, the inspiration for this post. My favorite skin is the sometime-gay sometime-brooding monkey, as I in my infinite wisdom have deemed the only likely construing of 悠嘻猴 in the native tongue, as it were.


The Pinyin romanization schemes can be accessed from the links below:
谷歌拼音输入法
搜狗拼音输入法
QQ拼音输入法


And the 'skin' in question here, or from the Sougou page above:
悠嘻猴皮

sometime-gay sometime-brooding monkey 'skin' illustrative and instructing figure

Of course the most important part of the input system is the advantage it offers over others. The three I have described above are superior in the following aspects. Of course they are free and easily accessible by download, although the Microsoft input system can often be hounded from said company at a considerable waste of life on the part of the Microsoft customer, it is not advisable if he values his sanity. Some almost neolithic systems can be downloaded from any Chinese website bursting with trojans, or can be had from the dustiest old box at the now superannuated DVD and software shop at any mall in China.

On to the real advantages, The software updates itself automatically and will integrate new words and terms. They also can remember words an individual uses frequently and will even remember things it doesn't normally recognize as words if they are used often. In Sogou the user can even save shortcuts to frequently used, but rare characters. In both Sogou and Google there are registration schemes where one can sign in from any computer and the information about user preference will be downloaded automatically from the Internet. QQ also allows the user to check the pronunciation of an unfamiliar character by first typing u and then entering the stroke order.

An interesting feature unique to the Sougou software is that the user may opt to download expansions which include words and expressions specific to the user's favorite video games will in turn update the program with new vocabulary as it becomes current. It is not useful to the author, but is certainly an inspired scheme. It is also a good thing these are separate from the main vocabulary as users unfamiliar with the expressions of certain online games might become quite confused when they came uninvited into his compositions or conversations inadvertently.