BANGALORE, INDIA: Microsoft today unveiled set of customized language computing solutions to the Indian market to overcome the language barrier in computing.

The solution, Language Interface Packs (LIPs) aimed at end users, enables user to access Microsoft's Office and Windows in 12 Indian languages. A total of 45 additional soft (virtual) keyboards, which are free to download, are also available in these 12 languages.

In Microsoft’s most significant initiative to reach out to Indian developers, the Captions Language Interface Pack (CLIP) has been launched for Hindi, Malayalam, Oriya, and Tamil. CLIP is a tool that uses a tooltip caption to display translations for user interface items in Visual Studio 2008. This is the first time Microsoft has released a tool specifically to help students and beginner developers in India use the product in their own language.

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Windows Live, which includes e-mail, Instant Messenger, online storage, photo gallery, social networking, calendar, online storage, personal home page, and more, in seven Indian languages.

The Microsoft India Development Centre demonstrated an alpha version of a tool that helps the user to enter text in nine Indian languages in any text box on most websites.

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A highlight of the showcase was a peek at the beta version of Windows 7 in Hindi, one of the eight global languages the Operating System (Beta) was released in recently.

Commenting on the need for language computing to enable mass IT usage in India, Ravi Venkatesan, chairman, Microsoft India, said, “Each one of us knows of at least a few people who would benefit from ICT if language wasn’t a barrier, our parents, the neighborhood grocery store owner, the policeman at the local station, the farmer you see when you travel to the villages, the list is endless. The language barrier is an added challenge towards providing access to information to a huge number of Indians, and thereby having them participate in India’s growth curve."

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"Microsoft, under its global Unlimited Potential effort, aims to deliver computing through accessible, relevant and affordable solutions. Localization issues are a huge factor where accessibility is concerned, and as a global industry leader, we believe Microsoft has a responsibility and the resources to make some difference,” he added.

Prof U N Singh, director, Central Institute of Indian Languages, chalked out the challenges in localizing computing, and compelling imperatives for doing so. “By 2016, India will have a population of 500 million with less than five years of schooling, and another 300 million not passing out of high school. A knowledge society will be impossible unless we find innovative means of reaching these people. Localizing a mass-based and mass-use software could be a positive step forward that will have a far-reaching effect and impact”, he said.

The collection of tools and solutions introduced by Microsoft India today are an attempt to cater to and enable the 95 percent Indians who still prefer their local language more than English in their work and personal life.