Jaa

Customizing Your Language Locale in Windows Vista

  • Artikkeli

This is something I really like to see: MS being a conscientious global citizen through innovation by taking into account languages and cultures from across the globe, regardless of their pervasiveness or the size of the "market" they represent.

What do I mean? According to Kieran Snyder, Program Manager on the Windows Globalization Team,

"... we have 130+ languages enabled in Windows Vista, impacting hundreds of millions of people. However, by giving customers the tools that we are going to be providing for free when Vista releases ( Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator and Microsoft Locale Builder ), we are going to make Windows linguistically accessible for >90% of the world’s literate population – that’s over 3.5 billion people."

(3.5 billion people is a conservative estimate, BTW.)

This means no more hunting for the €, © or ô symbols via Insert | Symbol in Word -- you can now assign any symbol to any key of your choice. Or, you can use a standard locale as a starting point to build a customized locale of your own, be it for Esperanto, Klingon, or your own private cipher for a civilization of one ;)

While the Keyboard Layout Creator already works with Windows 2000, XP or Server 2003 and will be supported in Windows Vista, Locale Builder is a tool specific to Windows Vista versions from Beta 2 forward. Put the two together on Windows Vista and you're all set to share your custom locale with anyone you choose (say, by creating a Worldwide English keyboard layout that uses a 24-hour clock and the lunar calendar).

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