Languages available on Japanese Vista

[Guest]

I went to buy an OEM copy of Home Premium Vista in Japan today, only to be
told that I would be unable to change the user interface to English.

After some research, I now believe this may be possible if I buy the
Ultimate Edition of Vista, however, I cannot find anywhere a list of MUI
languages that are included (and even if they are, whether any licensing
restrictions will prohibit their use).

It would be even nicer if I could achieve an English interface by installing
a LIP for English on the Japanese system. However, I can't find any
information about this either.

Can anyone tell me how I can (with certainty) have an English user
interface, on a Japanese version of Vista, preferably the cheaper Home
Premium Edition? Or is my best bet to try to import a version from the US?

I can probably get through the installation process in Japanese if Vista is
unable to allow me to choose the language for the installation process.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Guest]

It looks like i have the same problem as you i have a Japanese sony vaio and
its in Japanese language, i would like it to be in English but it looks like
we can only get the ultimate vista upgrade or get a full copy of windows home
premium and do a clean install. But the problem I think I would have is that
some devices will not work on a English installation.

Please let me know if you manage to get windows working ok in English

Danieru

 

[Guest]

Hi,

Well, I bought an OEM (called DSP here) copy of Vista Ultimate, in spite of
the addtional expense. The good new is that you can get a full English user
interface. You get Windows Update to download, then install the English
language pack (MUI) [it's in Windows Ultimate Extras], after that you can
easily switch the user interface from the control panel. Of course you'll
have to manage to do all this in Japanese.

Amusingly when you install Vista, ir gives you a drop down list from which
to select the language you want to install with. I was so pleased to see this
until I clicked it and found only Japanese in the 'list'. Someone at
Microsoft has a (twisted) sense of humour.

Oh, I don't think any version we can buy in the shops other than Ultimate
will support these MUI (multi user interface packs). I also don't think
you'll have driver issues because the OS binaries are language neutral. All
the stuff on my machine so far is happy with the drivers vista has provided.

Hope this helps you and good luck!

Andy

 

[Guest]

After using Vista for a few hours it's clear that although most of the user
interface has changed to English, there still remain parts of the system that
are still in Japanese. These parts tend to the all the system critical stuff
too, for example the when Vista crashes it presents you with the "Safe Mode"
choosing menu in Japanese. When an application crashed, the applicatiion
itself issued a warning in English, underneath that dialog box was another,
presumably from the system that was in Japanese telling me about some DLL.

The problem is that when things really go wrong, you don't want the OS to
suddenly stop speaking your language!

 

[Jon]

After using Vista for a few hours it's clear that although most of the
user
interface has changed to English, there still remain parts of the system
that
are still in Japanese. These parts tend to the all the system critical
stuff
too, for example the when Vista crashes it presents you with the "Safe
Mode"
choosing menu in Japanese. When an application crashed, the applicatiion
itself issued a warning in English, underneath that dialog box was
another,
presumably from the system that was in Japanese telling me about some DLL.

The problem is that when things really go wrong, you don't want the OS to
suddenly stop speaking your language!

Interesting. Not quite the complete switch we'd hoped for.

 

[Guest]

I have the same problem.
I bought Sony VAIO type-S and OS is Vista Home Premium. Its in a Japanese
language. But i want to change it in English. I called to sony service center
and customer supporter told that I can get my laptop in English language, for
that I have to buy Vista Ultimate Full version OS disk and he told that it
will support all my Laptop devices.
If anybody changed OS to Vista Ultimate English and all the devices are
working properly, then please reply soon.
Thanks...

 

[Guest]

Hi,
I bought Sony VAIO laptop and I am using Vista Home Premium(Japanese).
Can I change this OS language in English?
As you told that we can change the language in Ultimate.
After changing language to english, will it support my Sony VAIO drivers?
If yes, then which Vista Ultimate (Japanese or English) pack I have to buy?
Please solve my problem......
Thanks...

 

[churin]

What Andy is saying is that he could change Japanese UI of his Japanese
language version of Windows Vista Ultimate to English UI by applying the
MUI pack which is available through Windows Update.

Since your VAIO comes with Vista Home Premium, you have to replace it
with English or Japanese version of Vista Ultimate. Then you can switch
the UI from English to Japanese or other way around.

As Andy says there should be no drivers issue related to the OS version
change as above.

Hi,
I bought Sony VAIO laptop and I am using Vista Home Premium(Japanese).
Can I change this OS language in English?
As you told that we can change the language in Ultimate.
After changing language to english, will it support my Sony VAIO drivers?
If yes, then which Vista Ultimate (Japanese or English) pack I have to buy?
Please solve my problem......
Thanks...

Hi,

Well, I bought an OEM (called DSP here) copy of Vista Ultimate, in spite of
the addtional expense. The good new is that you can get a full English user
interface. You get Windows Update to download, then install the English
language pack (MUI) [it's in Windows Ultimate Extras], after that you can
easily switch the user interface from the control panel. Of course you'll
have to manage to do all this in Japanese.

Amusingly when you install Vista, ir gives you a drop down list from which
to select the language you want to install with. I was so pleased to see this
until I clicked it and found only Japanese in the 'list'. Someone at
Microsoft has a (twisted) sense of humour.

Oh, I don't think any version we can buy in the shops other than Ultimate
will support these MUI (multi user interface packs). I also don't think
you'll have driver issues because the OS binaries are language neutral. All
the stuff on my machine so far is happy with the drivers vista has provided.

Hope this helps you and good luck!

Andy