Typing in Hebrew:
Microsoft has instructions for enabling Hebrew typing on a Windows XP computer here:
http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/handson/user/xpintlsupp.mspx
I set it up on my computer, and can now toggle back-and-forth from Hebrew to English by pressing Alt + Left Shift. The cursor in the “post” window that I am now using to type this looks like a golf flag on a stick, with the flag pointing right when I type in English, and left when typing in Hebrew.
A picture that can be helpful with the key layout until you actually mark your keys can be found here:
http://www.qsm.co.il/Images/keyboard.gif
The instructions from Microsoft’s site (sans MS’s illustrations)(for XP computers):
Add Language Support
1. Go to Control Panel.
2. Click on Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options.
3. Click on Regional and Language Options.
4. The Regional and Language Options applet appears.
5. Click on the Languages tab.
6. Under Supplemental language support, select the check box beside the applicable language collection. Install files for complex script and right-to-left languages. (The complex script and right-to-left languages include Arabic, Armenian, Georgian, Hebrew, the Indic languages, Thai, and Vietnamese)
7. Click OK or Apply. You will prompted to insert the Windows CD-ROM or point to a network location where the files are located (on my computer, the files were found and installed without my needing to specify a location – ICOT). After the files are installed, you must restart your computer.
Add Keyboard/Input Method Editor
1. Follow steps 1 – 5 from “Add Language Support” above.
2. Under “Text services and input languages,” click on the “Details…” button.
3. Under Installed Services, click “Add…”
4. In the Add Input Language dialog box, click the input language and keyboard layout or Input Method Editor (IME) you want to add.
5. You should now see a language indicator in the System Tray (located at bottom right hand corner of the desktop by default)
NOTE: You can switch between different input methods by pressing the left Alt + Shift keys or the right Alt + Shift keys
Going to the Microsoft page and making sure you are comfortable with their instructions is strongly recommended. If you find this confusing, you should probably not try it – or let someone more knowlegeable perform the update; better safe than sorry.