Microsoft active in developing local language software

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI, APRIL 14. Having successfully launched the Hindi version of Office 2000 last month, the software giant Microsoft is now working closely with State governments to develop versions in various languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

This initiative would not create revenues immediately because the affluent sections of the population use English but it will make a major difference at the district and block levels especially in promoting electronic governance, feel company officials. ``The launch of the Hindi edition has given a fillip to this activity. Local language computing has become a key focal area and we are taking to it in a big way. But we are not looking at this as a revenue opportunity in the short-term,''' says the Microsoft marketing manager, Mr. Karthik Padmanabhan.

This kind of activity is not central to Microsoft's activity which is to commercially distribute its software. From a pure statistical point of view, the company is well positioned to reap the whirlwind in the local language arena. Only six per cent of the population speaks English while as many as 40 per cent of remaining literate Indians are more at ease with local languages.

``The numbers point to a huge potential but there are several problems. Indian languages are complex scripts as it is difficult to render a number of fonts on the screen. However, with the initial hardwork in Hindi behind us, the speed of execution in other languages has gone up,'' adds Mr. Padmanabhan.

As a result, Word 2000 now has the compatibility to support Hindi and Tamil making the former the world's 31st language on the Microsoft platform. The company is some way away from ensuring that the Tamil version supports various applications such as the speller. The faster development cycle due to Microsoft's breakthrough in Hindi has resulted in Marathi being developed more fully than Tamil because like Hindi it is also based on the Devnagari script.

``We are taking a long term view. There was no demand for the Hindi version during the one and a half years we spent developing it. But its launch has given a fillip to this activity,'' points out the company's marketing manager. Company officials feel the popularity of local language content is hotting up and with the increasing penetration of PCs among the masses, the momentum is building up in the market place.

The company believes the driving force behind the spread of local language software will be State governments which want to take to electronic governance in a big way. Though there are doubts whether it makes sense to develop local language computing because English is the business language, Microsoft officials have no doubt that their collaboration with State governments will begin to pay in the long run.

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