14 DAY TRIAL // The Windows Developer Preview is quite limited in terms of localization, which is understandable, especially considering that the Build 8102 release still belongs to the Milestone 3 (M3) stage of the development process. For the time being, Microsoft is offering the three Developer Preview Builds of Windows 8 exclusively in English, but as the operating system will reach Beta, additional language flavors are bound to be offered to testers worldwide.
Further on the development process, the Redmond company will localize Windows 8 into tens of languages, getting it ready for international release.
Of course, internationalization means that Windows 8 will need to be tailored to specific markets around the world, and this will be done by essentially translating all of the terminology associated with the platform.
As early adopters testing Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 M3 know, this release of the OS introduces a number of new terms, designed to reflect the evolution of features and capabilities.
The software giant is currently looking for a little help / feedback from users in specific markets as to what linguistic equivalents it should use for the new terminology in Windows 8, such as the Start Screen, for example.
“We are starting the work to figure out what we should call Windows 8 user interface terms such as “charms”, “apps”, “snapped apps” or “thumb keyboard” in international versions. You can now have a say in what we call all this in Chinese Simplified, Japanese, German and French,” revealed Microsoft’s Palle Petersen.
“To take part in deciding, sign on to the Microsoft Terminology Community Forum and give us your opinion. You can vote for existing suggestions, comment on good or bad suggestions or make a new suggestion yourself.”
For now, the software giant is only looking for Windows 8 terminology translations in Chinese Simplified, Japanese, German or French, but the promise is that international testers will soon be able to provide feedback on a range of additional languages.
In order to send their input to Microsoft, users need to make their way to Petersen’s blog post, select one of the languages available, namely Chinese Simplified, Japanese, German or French, and sign in with their Windows Live ID.
“Once you’ve signed in and registered, simply click the Glossary link. You will see the list of English source terms and our preliminary suggestions. You can vote for the specific translations, comment on them or propose new ones by selecting Suggest a Translation or Vote. The forums will remain open for feedback until 12 October,” Petersen said.
Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 Milestone 3 (M3) is available for download here.