{"id":548568,"date":"2006-04-20T07:09:35","date_gmt":"2006-04-20T07:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/wordpress\/technology\/548568-microsoft-translates-windows-into-three-local-languages.html"},"modified":"2006-04-20T07:09:35","modified_gmt":"2006-04-20T07:09:35","slug":"microsoft-translates-windows-into-three-local-languages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/technology\/548568-microsoft-translates-windows-into-three-local-languages.html","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft translates Windows into three local languages"},"content":{"rendered":"

Schools, community centres, government bodies and individuals can download the software to convert the popular Windows XP operating system into user friendly native languages. <\/font><\/p>\n

The programs sit on top of the system and translate 400000 words and phrases, including all menu items, tool bars, help files and error messages. <\/font><\/p>\n

The Zulu version will be launched in eThekwini today, with the Setswana version due in May and Afrikaans in June. <\/font><\/p>\n

Versions in the other seven official languages will probably be finished only for the new Vista operating system next year. <\/font><\/p>\n

Microsoft had been preparing local-language software for about two years, as the process took far longer than expected, says Gordon Frazer, its MD in SA. <\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are pretty excited about it. It\u2019s something we have been working on for some time in partnership with a lot of people because we had to deliver linguistically correct versions.\u201d <\/font><\/p>\n

Although some open-source software is already available in a handful of African languages, until now there has been little to cater for the 90% of PCs running the dominant Windows operating system. <\/font><\/p>\n

The first word processors in Zulu, Sepedi and Afrikaans were released by the Zuza Software Foundation in 2004 so people could work in their mother tongues. Again, those programs took more than two years to develop, with Zuza founder Dwayne Bailey citing the difficulty in translating words such as spreadsheet or format. <\/font><\/p>\n

Debates about how to translate phrases such as \u201cyour printer is not connected\u201d were the main stumbling point for the Microsoft developers, too. <\/font><\/p>\n

They consulted the Pan South African Language Board, the National Language Board, several universities, various communities and government\u2019s departments of science and technology, arts and culture, education and communications. <\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to get consensus on the terms and terminology to protect the integrity of the languages. We didn\u2019t want to just say e-this and e-that,\u201d Frazer says. <\/font><\/p>\n

But if there was no suitable translation some English words did sneak in, with Zulu users offered an \u201ce-Internet\u201d icon. <\/font><\/p>\n

Frazer expects most demand for the software to come from new computer users. <\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cThe benefit will be for first time users who don\u2019t speak English and have a fear of PCs. <\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we will see quite a big take-up in schools and in the 50 community computer centres we sponsor where English is an issue. <\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cBut I don\u2019t know whether the provincial departments in KwaZulu-Natal will use the Zulu version rather than English.\u201d <\/font><\/p>\n

The software can be downloaded for free from microsoft.com, but to reach people without internet access it will be distributed on CDs as well. <\/font><\/p>\n

Microsoft will also supply it to schools around the country, building on its existing commitment to supply free software to every state school to increase SA\u2019s computer literacy. <\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not looking at it from a commercial perspective. We see it as a way to make Windows more relevant to the local marketplace, and it\u2019s also part of our corporate citizenship.\u201d <\/font><\/p>\n

Microsoft SA has spent more than R1m on the project so far, and will spend more. <\/font><\/p>\n

Inet-Bridge ||\u00a0 <\/font>Discuss this article<\/font><\/a> <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FIRST-time computer users who are daunted by a barrage of alien terms and technologies will find the learning process far easier as Microsoft finally converts its most popular software to Zulu, Setswana and Afrikaans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-548568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548568"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548568\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}