Ever wonder what is taking Zune such a long time to make a move off the North American continent? One reason is localization (or localisation for those across the pond). I was reading up on Windows 7 and came across this bit about users complaining about improper regional settings in Vista.

"I've bought a UK version," stated Nick. "So why is everything spelt wrong then? Favorites, Center... durrh!"

"Whoever suggested Windows 7 should be properly localised is a winner in my opinion," said Loz... "Quite unacceptable that a company the size of Microsoft can't speak English. As far as I know, Welsh is a language option in Office 2007, but Microsoft shouldn't be bothering until it's finished learning English!"

PCPro's original article

I remember talking with Sianlee about regional settings during the Zune 3.0 launch. PCPro is a UK site. To me, being from the US, certain words are spelled funny. I can deal. However, it got me thinking, what if Zune released an international product using American English? To our international readers, would you be happy you had the product or pissed that certain words were spelled wrong or that the software was not in your native language?

Former MVP Robert Moir noted a few things about Vista's language settings as well.

...The first thing many users will see next is the Windows Welcome Center (yes my UK English version of Windows insists on calling it a 'center')...

I don't have a problem with American English spelling, I don't see myself as the great defender of the British way of life and of spelling or any nonsense like that, but I do find being slapped around the face like this the moment I log into Vista to be an example of a sloppy lack of attention to detail...

Windows Mail, the replacement for Outlook Express simply does not include any English spelling modules besides US English. This is 'by design' apparently, as I raised a bug about this during the beta and was told that this was just how things were going to be.

Robert's original Post

For the record, Windows Live Mail does have support for other language dictionaries. Overall, I know I am working with incomplete knowledge (I haven't used an international version of Vista), and small sample sizes (I'm only looking at UK English, no other languages). However, as a student of International Relations, I think it would be insensitive to release a product in such a manner as to ignore the linguistic preferences of the region in which one intends to do business. Though, from a business perspective, withholding a product the magnitude of Vista, any longer than the time it took to release Vista is unwise. From a certain position of privilege, Zune is not of the same magnitude as Vista. Considering this I would rather put my best foot forward, ensuring everything is done right the first time. First impressions are everything. To me, quality (i.e. attention to detail) speaks louder than quantity. It's one of the reasons I make the transgressions posts; in building a reputation, the small things are important (sweat them). I don't know what the Zune Team is working on right now but I do know quality takes time to create.

Thinking about this a little more, if Zune were released outside of North America, I would suppose a plus would be that the location would have legitimate, language appropriate, tech support, as opposed to Skyping U.S. Zune support or simply being S.O.L. Then there is the question of the Marketplace. Canada is still without a Marketplace and I wish our neighbors to the north did not have to fake U.S. addresses to get into the party. Considering this fact, it seems conceivable that an international region could have regionalized software and devices without a regional Marketplace. My understanding on Marketplace availability is that it depends on contract negotiations with music distributors. That brings me to my second set of questions. Again, international readers, would you want to be like Canada and have the software and device without a local Marketplace? Or would you rather wait (potentially longer) for the whole Zune package (Social + Marketplace + Device/Software) to be released as one?

Inside the Circle is a global community. Speak up and post a comment with your response.