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Microsoft Office's New Language
Gots_Hussies writes "Stuff.co.nz
has an article about Microsoft trying to extend its influence by creating "skins for Office and XP" in other languages, including New Zealands native Maori. "It is one of a series of translations carried out by Microsoft which is creating skins for Office and Windows XP in more than 40 indigenous languages, such as Basque and Catalan." The program changes words in Office programs Excel, Word, and Powerpoint, and also created "2500 terms" for words not in the indigenous language."
How often do you hear about a language pack for (insert OSS program of choice) being created spoken of in such evil terms?
So how do you say, "You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile." in Maori?
Ignore anything I said above, I actually agree with everything you believe - mod accordingly.
Microsoft makes program in native language. Big fucking whoop. Attempting to read some kind of monopolistic landgrab into this is stupid.
Extending its influence? Pah.
By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
BTW, calling Basque or Catalan indigenous languages would certainly piss off quite a bunch of politicians around this part of the word..
Users have to deal with the learning curve of the software as well as the language. This is one of the major factor hindering the adoption of computers by underprivileged sections of society.
Way to go Bill!!
Here's a working link
Contrast it to a few years back, when a major complaint against MS was the lack of obscure internationalized variants. From what I hear, this was pushing adoption of OSS in the third world.
I can understand the business case both ways. "We can't afford to allocate resources for a few thousand native speakers, the market's too small" versus "we've lost momentum over there, and we run the risk of losing monopoly if the global office-app market diversifies enough to force a public standard". OASIS Open Document probably lit a fire under option 2, so they've pulled out the stops looking for a workflow that can internationalize an app on the cheap and without a support nightmare.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Deem G/D/R implied.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
"ordinateur"
If you think English computerese is bad, wait until L'Académie have finished reinterpreting it. Literally translated, the word is "counter" or "sorting machine".
The advantage of the current system is that I can discuss computers with a Korean, Russian, Zimbabwian or Peruvian -- knowing none of those languages -- and they can discuss computers amongst themselves. It's a pity that such a complex, irregular laguange had to be the defacto default (I'd prefer something like Lojban) but English is already the defacto default. Our choices are to work with what we have, or spend a lot of effort ploughing it up and reinventing local words for something which is essentially non-local.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing