If you are a local language developer, you would find it easy to work with Windows Vista. However, if you are a local language user, the OS may sound a tad complex and demanding then its predecessors. The OS offers both, new features and new challenges for localization.

As far as developers are concerned, some areas worth considering include its language-neutral binary files which are designed to work with interchangeable multilingual user interface (.mui) files containing language resources. They can also take advantage of expanded locale settings and API functions, particularly for sorting. They might like to explore the use of the Vista multilingual user interface (MUI) features with localized operating system text for localization testing.

Even though Windows Vista has introduced innovative features with regard to localization, its space requirements are much more than expected. Earlier versions of Windows required much less resources to carry out same tasks. Windows 2000 required little disk space, and many localization professionals kept multiple OSes on separate partitions or virtual machines. Windows XP required more space compared to Windows 2000, but was still manageable.

Windows Vista, on the other hand, has significant space requirements as far as localization is concerned. Some language packs require more than 800 MB of disk space. Many professionals also feel that localized virtual Vista machines run slower than they expected. Microsoft should handle these issues to make Vista popular among the localization community.