With the Windows Vista language packs, you can take advantage of the Multilingual User Interface (MUI) feature of Windows Vista Ultimate. This means that you can change languages as easily as logging off and logging on, and each user of your computer can use his or her preferred language to interact with the PC. So if your family shares a single PC, every family member can pick the language that makes him or her most comfortable. This is a great solution if you have a multilingual household or if one of you is learning a new language.

You can install as many languages as you want, but there are some important things to know first, about installing them. Because language packs contain language-specific resources for all the Windows Vista components, the language packs are large and take some time to install. The average download size is approximately 200 megabytes (MB) and may require up to 1,100 MB of free disk space to install. The installation process takes approximately 30 minutes. However, the time varies depending on the performance of the computer.

And one last fine-print note: 16 languages became available on January 30. The remaining languages will follow. We’ll post an update

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From Times Square in New York City, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates hosted the worldwide launch of Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office System. The celebration paid tribute to the millions of Microsoft customers, partners and product testers around the world who provided input and feedback on these products — helping Microsoft transform the way people communicate, create and share content, and access information and entertainment in the new digital age.

The study, commissioned by Microsoft, estimates that more than 6,500 companies in Massachusetts will be involved in the production, sales, or distribution of Vista-related products.

OK, the Patriots lost — but it’s not all doom and gloom for New Englanders. According to a study released Monday, the rollout of Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system this year will create 5,000 new tech jobs and generate $2 billion in additional revenue for the technology industry in the state of Massachusetts.

In 2007, 18% of total IT employment in the state will be Vista-related, as businesses and consumers purchase the software and related products, hire third parties to install it, and train workers to use it, according to the study, which was carried out by IDC and commissioned by Microsoft. “We expect that in the first year of Windows Vista shipments, this ecosystem will sell more than $2 billion of Windows Vista-related products and services in Massachusetts,” IDC chief research officer John Gantz said in a statement.

The study estimates that more than 6,500 companies in Massachusetts will be involved in the production, sales, or distribution of Vista-related products. It also forecast that each dollar of Windows Vista-related revenue earned

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The Windows Explorer’s shortcut menu is very useful as it is. Did you know that there are some hidden shortcuts you can bring up by holding down another key while you right click?
To power up the right-click menu in Windows Vista simply hold down the Shift key then right-click on the file. Now you will see the additional options show up on the menu.

The Scan With option is only available when antivirus software is installed on your system.

Additional options:

Open as Read-Only: It opens the file as a read-only file.
Pin to Start Menu: Pins a shortcut in the top section of the Start menu.
Add to Quick Launch: Adds a shortcut to the file to the Quick Launch toolbar.
Copy as Path: Copies the file name and path to the Windows clipboard.

First of all - happy Vista Launch Day :)

I just want to write a real quick blog about Windows Vistas way of handling Display Language. With Windows 2000/XP we also had MUIs - Multilingual User Interface language packs - they were just a bit more complicated to setup (just getting the media was a seperate task). LIPs (Language Interface Pack) for Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows Vista Enterprise are now available on Windows Update!

Installing languages (we can have multiple packs installed):

The administrator installs the required language packs and users can user Regional and Language Options to set their Display Language - the language follows the user. In this case I’m, gonna select Danish…

Now all we have to do is to log off:

The GUI is not in Danish… Internet Explorer, Calculator, Control Panel, Help & Support - everything!

Other language packs are available on the Windows Update website - by the end of 2007 there…