Microsoft Plans to Create Local Language Software

zensufi writes "CNET News has a story stating that Microsoft has announced plans for a program to help governments produce local language versions of key Microsoft applications, giving the software giant a hedge against a growing international threat from open-source software." The piece explains: 'The Local Language Program will provide local and regional governments with "language interface packs" that government and academic developers can use to produce localized versions of the Windows XP operating system and Office 2003 productivity package.'

Comments

Wow translating their software to other languages?

[stratjakt]

What antimonopolistic evil behaviour!

Actually customizing their products to different markets. UN FRICKIN BELIEVABLE.

Now throw yer tantrum kids.

Northern Californian Localization

[Anonymous Coward]

The NorCal local language pack will add the words hella and and shit in as many places as it can.

"Ah man, now I get it. The help files are hella easy to understand 'n shit. So if you wanna shut down, click the start button, and select Shut Down And Shit"

Meanwhile, the Southern Californian Localization will feature such items as "Shut Down - It's Just Called Shut Down"

Re:Northern Californian Localization

[Eberlin]

SoCal could use a stereotypic smattering of "Dude" and Valleyspeak's "Like" and "Totally" if not the "Foshizzles" and "Shizznits"

On a "Help" tab that nobody uses, I wrote:

"You, um, push buttons and like stuff happens. Sometimes it's like totally cool stuff but sometimes it's like 'oh man, there's no undo button? Mega bummer!'"

Not sure if anyone has noticed it here yet.

Now there's a job I wouldn't want...

[Anonymous Coward]

...the schmoe who has to translate all the stupid shit Clippy says into other languages.

Re:Now there's a job I wouldn't want...

[Chief Technovelgist]

The open source article says "The language spoken by most Rwandans has no word for "computer" ... the Rwandan [open source] developers created their own: "mudasobwa," which roughly means "something or someone that does not make mistakes."

Microsoft should have no problem localizing in Rwanda ;)

Has to be asked:

[irokitt]

Where can I get my hands on these development tools so that I can start on a ROT13 version of Office?

Vg nccrnef lbh ner gelvat gb glcr n yrggre. Jbhyq lbh yvxr zr gb uryc?

Can't resist.....

[the.jedi]

How Do you say General Protection Fault in swahili?
EEEEeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Re:Can't resist.....

[G-funk]

Windows has detected a balls-up in kernel32.dll. Would you like to:

(Fuck it)

(Avagoyamug)

(email the lousy poofters that wrote this software)

Freeloading

[chrispyman]

So Microsoft is giving us the priviledge of letting us translate their products for them. For some reason I don't think this will work well commercial product. You paid for it, why should you work more? Obviously for open source, it's diffrent.

What Gall

[bstadil]

that government and academic developers can use to produce localized versions of the [snip] Office 2003 productivity package

For $400 a pop you would have thought they could have done this themselves.

Re:What Gall

[GMFTatsujin]

Er... as an employee of an academic institution, I really must protest.

First, you're an insensitive clod.

Second, the money that we get comes from a mix of payments made by students and funded legislated by the state. Neither of those sources are eager to part with their cash, and in order to earn it, the institution has to provide value.

Part of proviing value in our case is delivering the maximum service for the smallest outlay of cash. In other words, you're damn skippy we have to pinch our pennies, often to the point of under-funding projects, begging for grant money, and underpaying the staff and faculty. This we do in the name of providing a higher education, because there's no money to be made here. Only reputations.

The trick is to pinch the pennies in ways that appear extravegant and bold, to "show" that we're a competitive, forward-thinking institution with the future in mind.

Credit where credit is due

[Anonymous Coward]

Give them some credit where it is due. Microsoft has always pushed multi language support at every level long before OSS was a serious contender. All their OS API's support unicode, multi language versions of their OS's and many applications have been around a long time.

Re:Credit where credit is due

[Tiro]

Ever tried Office on Mac OS X? If you want to use Unicode, better fire up TextEdit, the free Apple-written app, because Office won't let you use Unicode characters.

Re:open source challenges??

[System.out.println()]

Open source, bad? HOW DARE YOU!!!11one!!!! ....but seriously, Apple has M$ completely stomped. Not only is almost every app multi-language, but they make it very easy for the third-party developers to make their own apps multilingual - it's as easy as creating a Spanish.lproj file (or whatever language). Although you do have to actually translate it....

Linux forced it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft didn't even want to support Icelandic,
in spite of the government wanting to fund the
whole project.

Now, with Linux supporting all sorts of weird
stuff like Welsh and a zillion Indian languages,
Microsoft is losing out in places. All those
little annoying-to-support markets add up.

Is MS 'Seeing th Light'?

[femto]

It almost sounds like the begginings of a 'bazaar' development model (albeit a miniscule step in that direction).

So, what license is to be used for these translations, written by third parties? Will Microsoft try and demand ownership, or at least commandeer a right to unlimited use of the translation?

If it is legally possible, it would be a really interesting experiment to write a translation and release it under the GPL, then sit back and watch the reaction.

Aren't they just outsourcing

[Stevyn]

This sounds to me like they're just outsourcing the task of translating their software to different languages to other small countries that wouldn't make it financially worth it for microsoft to do it.

Isn't that backward?

[YouHaveSnail]

Microsoft has announced plans for a program to help governments produce local language versions of key Microsoft applications

Shouldn't that be the other way around? Why should governments be doing Microsoft's work? If Microsoft wants to sell in upper Mongolia, it ought to make the effort to localize its own damn software for that market.

If you ask me, this is just one more example of Microsoft's incredible hubris.

Re:Isn't that backward?

[bomblaster]

Just another example of twisted OSS thinking.

MS is going about it in a brilliant strategic way. They realize that it is not financially worthwhile for them to do it themselves. Instead they are getting the help of user who might want to use their product.
Right now upper Mongolia doesnt have a customised version of Linux or Windows. There is nothing to stop Upper Mongolia from creating a language pack for KDE. What MS has done is to provide an alternative to that, maybe at a lower cost.

Profit abroad

[DryBaboon]

I'm in China and I've never seen a non-pirate version of any piece of software, including on computers of reputable companies. Not only is there no respect for copyright, there is no understanding of the concept. The increase in profit will not be that great because everyone will use the new localised software... but in pirate copies with no money going to MS... but I guess that's ok if you rate it by convenience to humanity.

Re:Wow translating their software to other languag

[DaHat]

There is nothing monopolistic about making your product available to as many people/organizations/governments that you can.

Where I come from... we call this competition! You know, where different organizations tailor their products to a given market and duke it out to see who succeeds.

Just translating may not be enough...

[soullessbastard]

Disclaimer: I work on OpenOffice.org for MacOS X

Unfortunately MS fails to realize that simple translation may not be enough. Take Office v.X on the Mac for example. It's lack of full RTL and Unicode support means some languages can't be supported, even if just the interface is translated. Rubi for Japanese is another language feature that may require access to the source code itself. Not to mention other tasks like modifying their English grammar checker to support new languages...

Merely providing the ability to make a "Language Pack" and translate the strings on the screen does not provide enough access to really support foreign languages. Without full access to the source code, foreign languages will still remain second class citizens

ed

Dialectizer Office?

[PetoskeyGuy]

Dialectizer Wizard

Please choose a language...

( ) Elmer Fudd
( ) Redneck
( ) Jive
( ) Cockey
( ) Sweedish Chef (my favorite)
( ) Moron
( ) Pig Latin
( ) Hacker

(BTW, this is from The Dialectizer site - Microsoft currently blocks them - no sense of humor)

unless i'm missing something

[ozric99]

The Amiga did this over a decade ago with it's "locale" settings. Anybody could produce a localised translation of application menus etc. In fact there are hundreds of such "locale" settings on aminet.

What languages?

[tuxlove]

Their language packs wouldn't be complete without these languages/alphabets:

- Ebonics
- Pig latin
- Esperanto
- Elvish
- Klingon
- Linear B

I guarantee you Microsoft won't support any of these. But the open source community is certainly not above it, and will surely be the only recourse for anyone needing to localize software in those languages. And I'm sure there's more I haven't named here.

This was finally got me off Microsoft.

[wltack]

I read an account in 1999(?) detailing how the government of Iceland wrote to M$ about when they expected to develop packages to run the OS in Icelandic. M$ replied "Well, hmm, never". Not enough by itself, but I just remember that this was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.

Re:open source challenges??

[stephanruby]

FYI: KDE now supports 49 languagesand the list is actively growing.

I don't think it's fair to count Elvish and Klingoln.

Re:open source challenges??

[PacoTaco]

Modded insightful? Office doesn't even support right to left languages.

Yes, it does.

Finally, Mi|Xro$0f7 31337 5P34k

[rock_climbing_guy]

joo MU57 4CC3PT teh T3RM5 0f 7hIs 4GR33M3N7 B4 537U9 wi11 C0N7INU3. 913453 S313C7 "I AGREE" 70 1ND1C473 joo 4CC39T teh T3rM5.

[ ] I AGREE.
[ ]I DO NOT AGREE.

How do you say "security hole" in Swahili?

[Anubis333]

What about languages that don't have direct translations for key words like "security hole", "patch", "bug", "unstable" and "hotfix"?

Yes and no

[Felinoid]

Microsoft is far ahead of open source projects in terms of language support in products BUT...

There is usually a version in your local language.
Microsoft Windows China version compleate with anti-Chinese slurs.
One of the first things local governments do with open source is translate the error messages and directions into something the staff can understand.

American companys are legendary for exporting crap. They don't even begin to understand local sensibilitys and insult or piss off everyone.
Microsoft is known for ignoring the sensabilitys of people INSIDE THE UNITED STATES and end up insulting or pissing off anyone who dosen't use Microsofts products and a larg part of the people that do.
American trampling of local culture plus Microsofts apathy twords anything not directly related to Microsoft culture equals an unholy nightmare in the error messages, system prompts, docs and anything else any Windows user has to deal with on a daily basis.

American:
Hit Ctrl+Alt+Del to log in

Vogon:
Punch the guy next to you to urinate on the system

Annother example: "All your base are belonging to us"
It sounds like the bad guy is saying "We captured all your military instalations" or something like that.
Now would YOU want to deal with "All your base" every freaking time you logged in?
And that presumming you didn't bumble into a cultrally significant notion.

Picture a Vogon pushing Control then Alt then Del.. not all at once but in sequence as if Control, Alt and Del were each letters to a word.
(Did I mention Vogons are stupid?)
Purely becouse of the context...

Microsoft is offering to let local governments to do the translations instead of doing it themselfs to address cultrally significant issues in the way things are put.
Open Source projects automatcly do this becouse the translations are handled by locals.
On the other hand....
Yes most Open source projects don't support more than one language for lack of someone in a diffrent locality than the project leader.

Please help us increase our profits!

[Starky]

I can understand the spirit of community service that inspires people to volunteer their time and resources to open source localization projects.

But here we have a company with over $60 billion in the bank, pulling in more than $1 billion per month in pure profits, raking in unheard of profit margins on their products, and they are asking local and regional governments to provide them with gratis localization services.

Shameful.

There more to L18N than just translating

[ashitaka]

Years ago I sold a package called Win/V that allowed you to run native Japanese applications on Windows for Workgroups. This was significant since there was never a Japanese WfW but the Japanese users wanted the networking features.

What made Win/V different is that it didn't just modify the interface to support a different language as the MultiLingual Packs do, but added the underlying code that localized versions of applications need. This way you could run the Japanese version of Excel for example and get all the local features like rubi and Japanese dates but still be running on an English version of the OS. Embassies loved this system as the underlying OS and network would be supported from the home country.

Macs have had this for years with their Language Kits and I don't think Windows has ever matched it. What happens if you try to install Japanese Office 2K on English XP?

Re:Wow translating their software to other languag

[hdparm]

Can I still hate Microsoft, regardless?

Re:Wow translating their software to other languag

[Black Parrot]

> Can I still hate Microsoft, regardless?

Yes, in more languages than ever before.

LIPs are not full Localisation

[divec]

In Wales we have had experience of this - Microsoft recently announced that they would make a Welsh LIP available. However:

• The LIP only translates a minority of strings in the UI. OTOH most Open-Source software lets you do a full translation.
• It is monolingual - once Welsh LIP is installed, all users of that computer get the Welsh interface. This is almost useless in a country like Wales, where most businesses are bilingual. Most Open-Source software supports UI language choice at start time, or at least lets you install multiple copies for different languages.
• It is unsafe - there is no guarantee that Microsoft will continue to make this available in the future. When planning IT for a large organisation, you need more security than 2 years into the future. Open-Source licences guarantee that governments, or volunteers, will always have the power to translate software, at a predictable cost.

Having said that, it's certainly a start. I think we will see Microsoft, and other proprietary software vendors, forced to provide localisation in the future, to compete with Open-Source software which enables this.