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GOODBYE LANGUAGE PORTAL, HELLO MICROSOFT LANGUAGE RESOURCES

By GeaSpeak Team | 2023-07-28
GOODBYE LANGUAGE PORTAL, HELLO MICROSOFT LANGUAGE RESOURCES

As a standardizing force of much of the terminology used in the IT sector, Microsoft has historically laid the foundation for IT terminology in Spanish and other languages. As an example, a widely used tool in the field of IT translation was the web-based platform Microsoft Language Portal.

Microsoft Language Portal

The Importance of the Microsoft Language Portal

Developed by Microsoft, the portal used to provide language resources and tools for developers and translators in almost 100 languages. Moreover, it offered a range of services to support the localization and translation of Microsoft products and services. For example, it provided access to a vast repository of language resources, including glossaries, style guides, and linguistic guidelines specific to various Microsoft products.

When translating any material related to the performance of a task on a PC, it is crucial to know how to translate the UI strings accurately. This helps to appropriately guide individuals through the operating system to carry out the intended task. In this sense, the importance of the Microsoft Language Portal laid in its contribution to ensuring accurate and consistent translations across Microsoft’s software and services. By providing language resources and tools, it facilitated the localization process, allowing Microsoft to deliver its products and services in multiple languages to a global audience.

An End of an Era in the IT Industry

Despite being a go-to reference for translators and developers, Microsoft announced in 2023 the end of the Microsoft Language Portal. However, after many concerns expressed by the translation community, Microsoft made available on June 29, 2023, a set of language resources powered by Power BI. Even though the new landing page is not the same as its predecessor, due to its less user-friendly design, it is still better than no feature at all.

Microsoft Power BI

Similar Goals, New Interface

The new Microsoft Language Resources hub has a similar aim than its predecessor: ensuring consistency in terminology, style, and user interface (UI) translations, making it easier for customers to use Microsoft products.

These are the four language resources offered in this new hub:

Microsoft Terminology

IT terminology can be queried in an IT glossary in nearly 100 languages in the Microsoft Terminology Search page. The terminology is also provided in .tbx format. Searches can be conducted by source term or translated term, and definitions are provided in English.

Terminology

UI Strings

UI string translations can be looked up in the Microsoft UI String Search page to query UI strings to help maintain consistency across translations. Searches can be filtered by product and string category.

UI Strings

Localization Style Guides

Localization Style Guides provide language and style conventions for specific languages, e.g., general localization guidelines, language style and usage in technical publications. The style guides are available in .pdf format in numerous languages, from Quechua and Punjabi through Spanish and Portuguese to Latvian, Lithuanian and Luxembourgish.

Regional Formats

In this page, regional formats can be searched and filtered by Windows version and language.

Regional Formats

Keeping up with the Developments

Language Service Providers heavily rely on resources like Microsoft when translating IT material because of its wealth of standardized basic terminology. In addition to working with glossaries provided by their IT clients, Microsoft’s language resources are of great help to search for terminology not included in clients’ materials.

It is highly important that IT LSPs stay up-to-date with any new developments in sector-specific terminology or industry changes that impact localization tasks. At GeaSpeak, we specialize in this sector and ensure our professionals are trained and our resources are kept up-to-date to carry out IT translations accurately and effectively.