Problems with special characters

[mathieu jacquet]

Dear all,

I have a tough time finding shortcuts for special characters.

On the Internet, I found an Ascii table which specifies ALT + 242 for 
"greater or equal than" ; unfortunately, when I type that, an "equal" 
character appears.

I modified the regional options on my computer (set to French at first) 
through the configuration panel but it did not change anything.

I have the same problem for the "different than" character.

Do you simply recommend using the Equation palette ?

Any help appreciated.

Mathieu