This is because Microsoft Windows Vista has adopted new character coding standards, namely 'ISO/IEC 10646:2003' and 'HKSCS-2004', which differ from the standards currently adopted by the HKSAR Government, namely 'ISO/IEC 10646-1:2000' and 'HKSCS-2001'. Take the character '   ' as an example, Microsoft Windows Vista will return the code point '20779' (which is incompatible with HKSCS-2001) whereas Microsoft Windows XP will return the code point 'EB78' (which is compatible with HKSCS-2001). The HKSAR Government has requested the related software supplier to address the incompatibility problem in relation to text handling in the old and new Windows operating systems, and to provide a solution whereby Chinese characters inputted via Microsoft Windows Vista can be accurately displayed on Microsoft Windows XP .

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Before adopting a new standard, the Government must first assess its acceptability by the market, and ensure the majority of computer users in Hong Kong can process the information when they receive information coded in accordance with the new standard. Since the number of characters incorporated into the new standard has increased substantially, existing computer users may need to upgrade some software or even hardware before they can adopt the new standard. This process will take time.

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Mac OS X and Linux (for example, Mac OS X 10.4, Red Hat Linux 5, Fedora 7) also have similar problems.

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While people recognise a character by its appearance, computers recognise a character by its code point. For example the code point '0041' represents 'A', the code point '7532' represents the Chinese character '甲'. In order to minimise the distortion of information in electronic communication, all related computers must adopt specific standards in the handling of text. Such standards specify the scope of characters that computers need to handle, as well as the code point of individual characters. At present, the standards adopted by the HKSAR Government are 'ISO/IEC 10646-1:2000' and 'HKSCS-2001'.

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In the early days of Chinese computing, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) incorporated frequently used Chinese characters into an international coding standard called ISO 10646. Subsequently, the ISO has added other characters and revised the standard to suit the needs of various parties. The versions published so far include 'ISO/IEC 10646-1:1993', 'ISO/IEC 10646-1:2000' and 'ISO/IEC 10646:2003'. Please refer to the following link for more information on the ISO 10646 standard:

• ISO 10646 International Standard ( http://www.info.gov.hk/digital21/eng/structure/intro_iso.html )

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The Hong Kong Supplementary Character Set (HKSCS) contains special Chinese characters commonly used in Hong Kong and required by the Government and the public in electronic communication, such as the character '  'as in '  '， and the character '  ' as in '  '. HKSCS also has different versions. Please refer to the following link for more information on the HKSCS standard:

• Hong Kong Supplementary Character Set (HKSCS) ( http://www.info.gov.hk/digital21/eng/hkscs/introduction.html )

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The HKSCS will only be required if you need to input the special Chinese characters that it contains.

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There are some points you should note when using GovHK online services:

• You should never enter the same online service from more than one window because it will interrupt the normal application flow.
• If you would like to terminate an online service you are using, be sure to exit the online service properly by clicking on the appropriate 'Exit' button. Otherwise, the GovHK server will continue to process your transaction according to the last command received.

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If you have questions while using a GovHK online service, you can contact the Help Desk of the service as indicated in the left-most column of the page you are on.

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The webpages on the GovHK portal are viewable on browsers running on most operating systems, including Windows (98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista), Linux, and MacOS. You should have no problem surfing the GovHK portal with your computer.

Some of the GovHK online services require online payment or digital certificate. To ensure high security of the payment transactions and authentication process, these online services must be tested against and customized for specific versions of operating systems and browsers. Since significant resources are required for testing the online services, it is not practicable to test all online services against all known browsers and operating systems combinations. We have taken a pragmatic approach by putting our priority on testing the most popular browsers and operating systems. These combinations are listed at System Requirements for GovHK Online Services ( http://www.gov.hk/en/about/helpdesk/softwarerequirement/onlineservice.htm ). To make sure that the payment transactions and authentication process can be completed successfully, you must use one of the combinations of operating systems and browsers listed on that page to access such services.

For online services that do not require online payment or digital certificate, this restriction does not apply and you should be able to use other operating systems and browsers to access them.

Furthermore, online payment service providers, such as PPS, may impose software requirements that are beyond the control of the Government.

In addition, Microsoft no longer provides software patches for security problems on Windows 98 and ME. For better security when doing transactions on the web, we suggest that you upgrade your operating system.

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When you access an online service, the online service would try to determine the version of Java software running on your computer to ensure that it meets the basic requirements for using the service. Even though you have installed Java on your computer, there are a number of possible reasons that Java may not work correctly:

1. The network connection is too slow. In this case, you should be able to access the online service by retrying later.
2. The version of Java on your computer is too old. Please refer to System Requirements for GovHK Online Services ( http://www.gov.hk/en/about/helpdesk/softwarerequirement/onlineservice.htm ) to download and install the required version.
3. Your browser is configured to disable Java. Please see Note (a) below to enable Java for your browser.
4. Sometimes, temporary files left in your computer might cause problems in using Java. Please see Note (b) below and clear the Java cache.
5. Java was not installed properly on your computer to work with the browser. Please note that if you have Java installed on your computer, it is possible that Java may work with one particular browser but not the other. Please see Note (c) below to check if Java is working properly with the browser you are using. If Java is not working, please see Note (d) below to re-install Java.
6. Sometimes, re-installing Java may not solve your problem and you may also need to re-install your browser. For Firefox users, please see Note (e) below.
7. Some personal firewall software or browser add-ons may block the use of Java. Examples include Zonealarm, Norton Internet Security, NoScript and Adblock extension for Firefox. Please check the setting of such software to allow Java to execute.

Notes:

(a) Configure your browser to enable Java

          If you are using Internet Explorer 6 or 7

(1)   From the menu bar, select "Tools" > "Internet Options".
(2)   Select the "Advanced" tab and scroll down to "Java (Sun)".
(3)   Put a tick in the checkbox next to "Java {version number} for <applet>”.
(4)   Select the "Security" tab, and click the "Custom Level" button.
(5)   Scroll down to "Scripting of Java applets".
(6)   Make sure the "Enable" radio button is selected.
(7)   Click "OK" to save the changes.
(8)   If you are using Windows Vista, XP SP2 or later, please also follow steps 9 to 13 below.
(9)   Select the "Programs" tab, and click the " Manage Add-ons..." button.
(10) The list of “Add-ons that have been used by Internet Explorer” is shown. Select “Java Plug-in {version number}” from the list. If the status of the Java Plug-in is shown as “Disabled”, change it to "Enabled" using the radio button at the bottom.
(11) A dialog box will be displayed to remind user to restart Internet Explorer. Click “OK” to close the dialog box.
(12) Click "OK" to save the changes.
(13) Restart Internet Explorer for the changes to take effect.

      If you are using Mozilla Firefox 2

      (1)  From the menu bar, select "Tools" > "Option".
      (2)  Click the "Content" category.
      (3)  Put a tick in the checkbox next to "Enable Java".
      (4)  Click "OK" to save the change.

(b) Clear the Java cache

Close all browsers and check if Java is still running. If a Java icon is shown in the system tray as shown below, please reboot your computer to make sure that no Java software is running.

Please follow the steps below to clear the Java cache from your computer.

If you are using Windows 2000, XP or Vista
(1) Click "Start" > “Settings” > "Control Panel".
(2) Double-click the Java icon to open the "Java Control Panel".
(3) Select the "General" tab, click "Settings" button under "Temporary Internet Files".
(4) Click the "Delete Files" button and then click "OK" to delete all files from the cache.
(5) Click the "OK" button on the "Temporary Files Settings" window.

If you are using Mac OS X (10.4 or 10.5)*
(1) Open the Java folder from your hard drive: HD > Applications > Utilities > Java.
(2) Open the "Java Preferences" application.
(3) Select the "General" tab.
(4) Click the "Delete Files" button under the "Temporary Internet Files" section and then click "OK" to delete all files from the cache.

* For other versions, some of the dialog boxes and fields names will be slightly different from those shown in the above procedure.

If you are using Linux
(1)  Run the "Java Plug-In Control Panel" executable:
      "(Java installation directory)/bin/ControlPanel" or
      Load the "Control Panel" applet page with a web browser:
      "(Java installation directory)/ControlPanel.html".
(2) Select the "General" tab.
(3) Click the "Delete Files" button under the "Temporary Internet Files" section and then click "OK" to delete all files
      from the cache.

(c) Check if Java is working for your browser

Please click the link below –
Test your Java version ( http://www.java.com/en/download/help/testvm.xml )

If Java is working, the page will display an animation and the version of your Java software. If Java is not working, it will say “Java Runtime environment is not working on your system”.

(d) Re-install Java

Go to the page "System Requirements for GovHK Online Services ( http://www.gov.hk/en/about/helpdesk/softwarerequirement/onlineservice.htm )" to check the required Java version and download Java by following the appropriate link. Close all browsers and do the following steps:

 If you are using Windows 2000, XP or Vista
(1) Click "Start" > “Settings” > "Control Panel".
(2) Double-click the "Add/Remove Program" icon in the control panel.
(3) Select the Java software and click the "Remove" button. If you have multiple versions of Java software on your computer, repeat this step to remove them one by one.
(4) Reboot your computer.
(5) Re-install Java (preferably the latest Java 6 version)

          If you are using Mac OS
          Please visit http://developer.apple.com/java/ for reference and installation instructions.

          If you are using Linux
          Please visit http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp#lin for reference and installation instructions.

(e) Re-install Firefox browser

If your problem persists after going through all the above steps (including re-installing Java), you may need to re-install Firefox. For Windows 2000, XP or Vista, re-installing Firefox would repair a Windows registry required for using Java.

In some rare cases, it is possible that an old version of Java plugin is left in your Firefox installation directory and conflicts with the current version of Java. In such a case, you need to carry out a clean re-install of Firefox. Please see the following page for instructions:
Clean re-install of Firefox ( http://support.mozilla.com/zh-TW/kb/Basic+Troubleshooting#Clean_reinstall )

For further Java related issues on Firefox, please see the following page:
Java-related issues ( http://support.mozilla.com/zh-TW/kb/Java-related+issues )

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