Windows Vista Multilingual User Interface

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Multilingual User Interface packs for Windows Vista and Windows XP
Professional are not as easy to come by as Microsoft partners and
customers would expect. The general presumption seems to be that the MUI
packs are available as separate downloads from the Redmond Company. This
is not the case. Far from it in fact. The MUI packs are designed to
provide support for multiple languages during the operating system's
installation. Microsoft has applauded that fact that its latest
operating system will change the strategy associated with multiple


languages. There is however a little detail that Microsoft failed to
emphasize, the MUI packs are not available for all Windows Vista editions.
"We advise that the MUI for Vista is not available as a separate product
and that this functionality is included in the Windows Vista Ultimate
and Enterprise Editions. We also advise that the MUI for Windows XP
Professional is not available as a separate product and that to obtain a
license to run the MUI version of Windows XP Professional, customers
will need to either acquire Windows Vista Business with Software
Assurance, or as an alternative to acquire Windows Vista Ultimate
through the OEM channel. These two options both allow downgrade rights
to the MUI version of Windows XP Professional," revealed Lisa Michigan
from the Microsoft licensing team.
Microsoft overhauled the process of applying MUI packs to Windows XP
with Vista. Language packs are no longer deployed on top of the English
version of the operating system in Vista to create a localized user
experience. "In Windows Vista, the MUI architecture separates the
language resources for the user interface from the binary code of the
operating system. This separation makes it possible to change languages
completely without changing the core binaries of Windows Vista, or to
have multiple languages installed on the same computer. Languages are
applied as language packs containing the resources required to localize
part of, or the entire, user interface in Windows Vista," Microsoft stated.