Response to critique at Maidan: Microsoft "washes ITS hands", :)
03/01/2003 | Сергій Грищ
Microsoft clears up misunderstanding re: Ukrainian Windows
From: ArtUkraine.com Information Service
Microsoft responds to criticisms that new software uses "surzhyk."
KYIV, UKRAINE...Responding to assertions being made on some Internet websites that Microsoft has developed a laughable, mixed-language Ukrainian version of its popular Windows XP software, the marketing director of its Kyiv office said that a huge misunderstanding has taken place and pointed out that no full Ukrainian Windows XP software package currently exists, according to a recent article by Roman Woronowycz of the Kyiv Press Bureau of The Ukrainian Weekly.
"This is not a Ukrainian software version of Windows XP," explained Valeria Kazban, "It is the interface pack. This is an effort to determine whether there is market interest among Ukrainian users."
In an exclusive interview with The Ukrainian Weekly recently, Ms. Kazban emphasized that the Ukrainian interface pack can be downloaded free from Microsoft's website and that the company made it available for public consumption to test demand.
However, she did not explain why this was not spelled out in the press release issued by Microsoft when the new product came online. In a press release, Microsoft Director of Product for the CIS Oleksii Badayev merely stated that the Ukrainian interface pack "was produced to meet the needs of Ukrainian buyers and to develop the variety of software programs with a Ukrainian interface."
Ms. Kazban explained to The Ukrainian Weekly that this is not the first time that Microsoft efforts have been misinterpreted. "I want it to be known that there are always a variety of points of view on any new Microsoft products," said Ms. Kazban.
The Microsoft marketing director for Ukraine explained that only Microsoft's Office XP software is currently available in Ukrainian, and is limited to the Word and Excel programs. Regardless of the intermediary nature of the interface pack, some visitors to the website www.maidan.org.ua went so far as to call it a "surzhyk," or mixed Ukrainian-Russian anomaly.
The basic problem, as contributors to the open discussion on the website suggested, is that the Ukrainian interface pack can be installed only on Russian-language Windows XP software. If you are an English interface user, or Polish, or German, or Chinese, you're out of luck, for now anyway.
In addition, as Andrii Shevchuk, one contributor to the discussion, pointed out in detail, there are several places where the program inexplicably reverts to the Russian language, particularly in Outlook Express and the print mode of Word.
While Microsoft has translated the full line of its software into many languages over the years, Ukraine has had to fight for any Ukrainian-language version of Microsoft programming, even though Polish- and Russian-language software has been available for around a decade, Roman Woronowycz wrote in his article.
Ukrainian software appeared only last March, and that came only after a concerted effort by Ukraine's Ministry of Education and the Shevchenko Scientific Society of America, which is based in New York, according to The Ukrainian Weekly article of January 19. Microsoft eventually signed an agreement with Ukraine's Ministry of Education to produce Office XP in the Ukrainian language for the benefit of Ukrainian schools, many of which are computerized today.
Ms. Kazban underscored that the latest Microsoft initiative to explore a Ukrainian version of the more popular Windows version is not prompted by outside forces, but this time came from within the company itself. Ms. Kazban said that a decision on future Microsoft software in the Ukrainian language will be made after marketing tests are completed.
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The Ukrainian Weekly is an English-language weekly newspaper published by The Ukrainian National Association and is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, USA. Roman Woronowycz is the editor of The Ukrainian Weekly's Kyiv Press Bureau. (ArtUkraine.com)
From: ArtUkraine.com Information Service
Microsoft responds to criticisms that new software uses "surzhyk."
KYIV, UKRAINE...Responding to assertions being made on some Internet websites that Microsoft has developed a laughable, mixed-language Ukrainian version of its popular Windows XP software, the marketing director of its Kyiv office said that a huge misunderstanding has taken place and pointed out that no full Ukrainian Windows XP software package currently exists, according to a recent article by Roman Woronowycz of the Kyiv Press Bureau of The Ukrainian Weekly.
"This is not a Ukrainian software version of Windows XP," explained Valeria Kazban, "It is the interface pack. This is an effort to determine whether there is market interest among Ukrainian users."
In an exclusive interview with The Ukrainian Weekly recently, Ms. Kazban emphasized that the Ukrainian interface pack can be downloaded free from Microsoft's website and that the company made it available for public consumption to test demand.
However, she did not explain why this was not spelled out in the press release issued by Microsoft when the new product came online. In a press release, Microsoft Director of Product for the CIS Oleksii Badayev merely stated that the Ukrainian interface pack "was produced to meet the needs of Ukrainian buyers and to develop the variety of software programs with a Ukrainian interface."
Ms. Kazban explained to The Ukrainian Weekly that this is not the first time that Microsoft efforts have been misinterpreted. "I want it to be known that there are always a variety of points of view on any new Microsoft products," said Ms. Kazban.
The Microsoft marketing director for Ukraine explained that only Microsoft's Office XP software is currently available in Ukrainian, and is limited to the Word and Excel programs. Regardless of the intermediary nature of the interface pack, some visitors to the website www.maidan.org.ua went so far as to call it a "surzhyk," or mixed Ukrainian-Russian anomaly.
The basic problem, as contributors to the open discussion on the website suggested, is that the Ukrainian interface pack can be installed only on Russian-language Windows XP software. If you are an English interface user, or Polish, or German, or Chinese, you're out of luck, for now anyway.
In addition, as Andrii Shevchuk, one contributor to the discussion, pointed out in detail, there are several places where the program inexplicably reverts to the Russian language, particularly in Outlook Express and the print mode of Word.
While Microsoft has translated the full line of its software into many languages over the years, Ukraine has had to fight for any Ukrainian-language version of Microsoft programming, even though Polish- and Russian-language software has been available for around a decade, Roman Woronowycz wrote in his article.
Ukrainian software appeared only last March, and that came only after a concerted effort by Ukraine's Ministry of Education and the Shevchenko Scientific Society of America, which is based in New York, according to The Ukrainian Weekly article of January 19. Microsoft eventually signed an agreement with Ukraine's Ministry of Education to produce Office XP in the Ukrainian language for the benefit of Ukrainian schools, many of which are computerized today.
Ms. Kazban underscored that the latest Microsoft initiative to explore a Ukrainian version of the more popular Windows version is not prompted by outside forces, but this time came from within the company itself. Ms. Kazban said that a decision on future Microsoft software in the Ukrainian language will be made after marketing tests are completed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Ukrainian Weekly is an English-language weekly newspaper published by The Ukrainian National Association and is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, USA. Roman Woronowycz is the editor of The Ukrainian Weekly's Kyiv Press Bureau. (ArtUkraine.com)