Comments on: A look at Microsoft’s website for downloading localized versions of IE8

By: Gerv

Gerv — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:25:10 +0000

The spreadsheet at http://www.gerv.net/hacking/l10n-stats/ has details of exactly what languages Microsoft ships. For details of when they ship them, you’ll have to search back through old postings on the IE blog. They usually post an announcement when new packs are available.

By: Ferdinand

Ferdinand — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:50:29 +0000

IE8 was installed in English until recently even when I choose the Dutch version of Vista Ultimate. Only last month did I get an update of IE8 to have it in Dutch. Vista itself was of course already in Dutch. IE8 was the only program that wasn’t translated.

By: Julen

Julen — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:03:26 +0000

It may be a nuance, but for Mozilla, we try not to interchange language and localization.

It's not a nuance, but it's part of the definition (Language localisation on Wikipedia):

It is important not to reduce it to a mere translation activity because it involves a comprehensive study of the target culture in order to correctly adapt the product.

As Dwayne said, many of the languages listed on that site aren't shipped on default Windows installations, i.e. you have to download and install a patch on top of another installation. This also limits the use of a language to a specific region (note that Basque is listed only for the Spanish region, what about Basque speakers in France?), since AFAIK the Basque UI for Windows can only be installed on top of a Spanish installation of Windows. As I'm not a Windows user I can't tell for sure if this also applies to IE. Regarding the locales count, after selecting my country/region I can count up to fifty six (56): ar bg bn bs bs-cyrl ca cs da de el en es et eu fi fr gu he hi hr hu id it ja kk kn ko kok lt lv mk ml mr ms nl no pa pl pt-br pt-pt ro ru sk sl sq sr srb sv ta te th tr uk vi zh-cn zh-tw Perhaps the list is longer/shorter depending on the Windows version (XP/Vista).

By: flod

flod — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:43:56 +0000

Does Microsoft ship each version simultaneously? Or, are versions offered as “downloadable” packs after major release in Englsh?

Microsoft usually doesn’t do only one simultaneous release: if you’re not in the first group of languages (and this happens sometimes for Italian), you have to wait until your localized version is released.

IE8 release schedule: http://www.browser-watch.com/2009/03/20/internet-explorer-8-release-schedule/

Another example: IE7 was released in English on 10-18-2006, the Italian version was planned for 01-01-2007 but released on 11-16-2008.

By: Dwayne Bailey

Dwayne Bailey — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:33:15 +0000

@seth from the little I’ve seen of this these are all outputs from Microsoft’s LIP (Local Interface Program). Many of these languages don’t ship with default Windows. You need en-US and then you can install the language pack. Can’t find any links though