Windows-1255 is a code page used under Microsoft Windows to write Hebrew. It is an almost compatible superset of ISO 8859-8 — the symbols are in the same positions (except for A4, which is 'sheqel sign' in Windows-1255 but 'generic currency sign' in ISO 8859-8), but Windows-1255 adds vowel-points and other signs in lower positions.
Contents
Modern applications prefer Unicode UTF-8 or UTF-16 to Windows-1255.
Code page layout
The following table shows Windows-1255. Each character is shown with its Unicode equivalent and its decimal code.
Legend:
Usage
Windows-1255 Hebrew is always in logical order (as opposed to visual). Microsoft Hebrew products (Windows, Office and Internet Explorer) brought logically-ordered Hebrew to common use, with the result that Windows-1255 is the Hebrew encoding that can be found most on the Web, having ousted the visually ordered ISO-8859-8, and preferred to the logically ordered ISO-8859-8-I because it provides for vowel-points.
Relation to Unicode
The Unicode Hebrew block (U+0590–U+05FF) follows Windows-1255 by encoding both letters and vowel-points in the same relative positions as Windows-1255. Unicode goes further in encoding cantillation marks in lower positions. Unicode Hebrew is always in logical order.
For modern applications UTF-8 or UTF-16 is a preferred encoding.