Why don’t you simply use XeTeX?

From an FAQ post I wrote a few years ago:

This may seem like an odd question, but it's actually one I get very often. On my TeXtip twitter account, I include tips on how to create non-English characters such as using \AA to produce i.... Every time someone will ask "Why not use XeTeX and just enter these characters?"

If you can "just enter" non-English characters, then you don't need a tip. But a lot of people either don't know how to do this or don't have a convenient way to do so. Most English speakers only need to type foreign characters occasionally, and will find it easier, for example, to type \AA or \ss than to learn how to produce i... or i from a keyboard. If you frequently need to enter Unicode characters, and know how to do so, then XeTeX is great.

Related posts:

• Frequently asked questions (2016)
• Frequently asked questions (2013)
• LaTeX / Unicode converter
• Three ways to enter Unicode on Windows
• Unicode in Emacs
• Unicode and ASCII art
• Which Unicode characters can you depend on?