14 DAY TRIAL // What better way to celebrate UNESCO’s International Mother Language Day than pushing the total number of languages supported by Windows 7 and Office 2010 to approximately 96? Lauren Woodman, Microsoft General Manager, Partners in Learning reveals that International Mother Language Day is offering an excellent opportunity not only to make the company’s hallmark products available to even more users in their native tongues, but also to raise awareness of the necessity to preserve linguistic resources.
As a part of attempting to preserve cultural elements that define generations of people worldwide, the Redmond company has increased the number of languages supported through the Local Language Program (LLP).
Windows 7 and Office 2010 users across a few countries can now enjoy Microsoft’s operating system and productivity suite in Dari (Afghanistan), Mongolian (Cyrillic - Mongolia), Turkmen (Turkmenistan) and Valencian (Spain).
In addition to the languages enumerated above, Office 2010 also plays nice with Maltese (Malta).
“With these additions, Microsoft Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010 are now available in nearly 96 languages, 60 of which are through the Local Language Program,” Woodman explained.
“This program not only helps us to preserve local languages and cultures, but also helps in finding new ways to create economic opportunities and build IT skills. Through the LLP, we strive to help ensure that the identity of communities continues to thrive worldwide.
“As a matter of fact, nearly 1.7 billion people speak the languages that are supported by our most recently released products in the Local Language Program.”
Jeff Meisner, Senior Manager, Corporate Blogs underlines that the new languages added to the LLP is Microsoft’s way of contributing to ensuring that more languages around the world get a fighting chance at surviving.
Woodman notes that there is a palpable need for people to get involved in making sure that spoken languages that are currently being less and less used will not disappear.
“There are roughly 6,000 languages spoken globally, and half of those are projected to be in danger of being lost forever over the next century,” she explained.