Microsoft launches Amharic Windows and Office Applications

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - After two years in research and 820,000 word translations, the Amharic Windows and Office application was officially released last April 22, at the Sheraton Addis.

We remember that On February 3, 2010 Microsoft Corporation, maker of the Windows Operating System, which dominates the market, officially released its Amharic version for Windows Vista, at a ceremony held at the Sheraton Addis.

The Amharic interface pack was released as part of Microsoft’s local language programme, which is a global initiative to proliferate local languages, regional groups and cultures, a statement released by Microsoft said. But Now both the windows and office applications are official.

Here below is the Report From Fortune Newspaper

Microsoft Corporation’s Windows Operating System, which dominates the computer market, officially realised the Amharic version of Office 2007 on April 22, 2010, at a ceremony held at the Sheraton Addis. The whole translation project was completed at a cost of 85,000 dollars.

Microsoft Corporation’s versions of its software in Amharic language interface packs for Windows Vista and Office 2007 are already available as a free download.

The Amharic interface pack was released as part of Microsoft’s local language programme, which is a global initiative for the proliferation of local languages and regional groups, aiming to preserve and promote language and culture.

“The cost of this project was entirely covered by Microsoft,” Betty Radier, leader of Business Marketing Organisation, Microsoft’s East and Southern Africa Operations, said.

The Amharic interface pack was prepared in collaboration with the Ethiopian Information Communications Technology Development Agency (EICTDA) and language and information technology experts from Addis Abeba University (AAU), Neway Beyene, Microsoft business development manager for Ethiopia, said.

“The software is free, and that has been our basic goal, which is enhancing the local information technology market, so I urge people to download this free software,” Neway said.

The Amharic version of Office 2007 includes MS Word, MS Excel and MS PowerPoint. It also includes Internet browsing in the local language. However, a transitional period is needed to adopt some of the language because it was difficult to translate the computer language into the local language.

“For instance, the word ‘character’ was translated as ‘kunefe’ by taking one word from the three different meanings of ‘character’ ‘kutir,’ ‘nedif,’ and ‘fidel,’” Bahrnegash Bellete, from ICT Development Office of the Addis Abeba University, said.

The translation took two years and involved 820,000 words for both Microsoft Vista and Office 2007. Thirty thousand words were already translated by EICTDA. Thirty language and technology experts were involved in the process, according to Debretsion Gebre Michael, director general of EICTDA.



The programme is available for download at www.microsoft.com/llp, but it only works with licensed Microsoft software, including Microsoft Vista and Office 2007. It does not work on Microsoft XP, Minasse Zewdu, citizenship manager at Microsoft Ethiopia, told Fortune.

Microsoft has already created versions of its software for obscure languages in Iceland, India, and New Zealand. Kenyan and South African web surfers can use Microsoft Internet Explorer in Kiswahili, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu, and Sesotho.

Source: Fortune