Apples in Japan, English service etc.

[Neo-Rio]

Somebody I know is wondering about Apple notebooks in Japan, and is concerned about English support (at an operating system level) and service (again in English)

I know there's a lot of you who are well versed on everything Mac. Where does one go for all this in Tokyo? I was thinking about the big Apple Store in Ginza, but maybe there are other avenues....

[hyogojoe]

First of all, regarding English OS, there is only one version of Mac OS X worldwide. When you boot up the computer for the first time you choose your preferred language from over 100 choices.

After that, you can change the setting anytime in System Preferences. You don't even have to restart the computer.

Bicultural family? No problem--each user can set their own language preference. All Apple software, as well as many others, will also change the menu language to match the OS preference.

As for English support, Apple has a toll-free number for English support, 0070-800-277-531, but the best way to get help is to go to the Genius Bar in the Apple Store. They usually have English speaking on hand.

Beyond that, for more personalized support, there are two Mac user groups in Japan:
Ringo http://www.ringo.net/
Kinki Mac Users Group http://www.kmug.org .

hyogojoe