Microsoft has been talking a lot about Windows 8 recently, and this week is no different. The company yesterday laid out the details for language support with the newest iteration of Windows and there's definitely some improvements.
Redmond has said it's going to be ditching the "local-market feature" approach that it's been taking with Windows up until this point. Instead, with Windows 8, anyone will be able to install any language they like via a new languages preferences section that enables you to find and download all display languages.
Microsoft's Ian Hamilton said in a blog post yesterday the Windows 8 will have a total of 13 new language interface packs (LIPs) that will allow users access to commonly used Windows features in Scottish Gaelic, Punjabi, Uyghur, Cherokee, and many more languages. What's more, for the first time ever, there will also be an option for UK English.
"We admit that this is something we should have done a long time ago," Hamilton wrote on the Windows blog. "Windows users in the UK have gotten by with the US English version of Windows, and while we Americans knew this was not their favourite, that is clearly no defence."
Users will also be able to switch easily between more than one language. Hamilton gave the example of users in the U.S. switching between English and Spanish and said that though computers in the U.S. had shipped with both languages before, the user had to pick their preference at the beginning and stick with it. According to user feedback, the desire to not only hold onto both language preferences but also the switch between the two was strong. All told, Windows 8 will offer 109 display languages. In case you were wondering, Windows 7 supported 95.
