Microsoft released the Multilingual User Interface Packs for Windows 7 RTM on August 25th 2009 via Windows Update. At the end of the past week, the direct download links for the Windows 7 RTM MUI Packs were also made public, allowing all users to grab the releases. Of course that not all Windows 7 users will in fact be able to take advantage of the MUI Packs. When it comes down to Windows 7, Microsoft went with the same strategy as for Windows Vista.
In this regard, only the Ultimate and Enterprise editions of Windows 7 are capable of integrating the Multilingual User Interface packs, just as it was the case with Vista’s Enterprise and Ultimate SKUs. Windows 7 Enterprise is of course available only to volume licensing customers with Software Assurance, while Ultimate is the high-end edition of Windows 7, and the most costly.
The MUI Packs allow end users to install more languages than just one in Windows 7 and to have the operating system’s graphical user interface be tailored for each specific additional language. The general strategy for Microsoft is to serve the MUI Packs as optional updates via WU to just Enterprise and ultimate users of Windows 7. But for those who want to grab the Windows 7 MUI Packs themselves, the direct download links are now available both for the 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) flavors of the operating system. Read More»
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Microsoft released the Multilingual User Interface (MUI) Packs for Windows 7 RTM on August 25th, 2009 and started serving them to users via Windows Update. I just want to clarify exactly what goes into downloading and installing the MUI packs for Windows 7. First off all, no, the Windows 7 Multilingual User Interface packs are not available as standalone downloads. Microsoft is only offering the MUI packs to customers running Windows 7 Enterprise and Ultimate editions of the latest Windows client release.
“Windows 7 language packs are available for computers that are running Windows 7 Ultimate. The Windows 7 language packs can be installed only from the Optional Updates section on the Windows Update site. These language packs are not available on the Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) Web site or through the Microsoft Download Center,” Microsoft explained.
The Enterprise SKU of Windows 7 is considered on par with the Ultimate edition but is only available to Volume Licensing customers with Software Assurance. And as you can see in the screenshot included with this article I am running Windows 7 RTM Ultimate (100% genuine and from Microsoft) and all the MUI Packs were delivered through WU. As a rule I don’t need them, I keep my GUI in English, but it’s nice to know that they’re there. Read More»
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Microsoft has made available for download the language packs for the gold development milestone of Windows 7. The Redmond-based company is attempting to help end users across the world tailor Windows 7 RTM to their specific language. According to the software giant, the language packs for Windows 7 have been released via Windows Update. In this regard, Windows 7 users will have to turn to WU in order to install extra languages into their copy of Windows 7 in addition to the default language.
By offering the language packs through Windows Update, Microsoft is following the same strategy that it did with Windows Vista. In this context, the company is restricting access to the language packs. And, of course, the limitations also survived from Vista. Microsoft permitted only users of the two high-end editions of Windows Vista to install additional languages, Enterprise and Ultimate. The same is the case for Windows 7.
“These language packs are available to our enterprise customers running Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate RTM versions only. Customers on the Windows 7 Release Candidate are not eligible for these language packs,” revealed Microsoft’s Stephen L. Rose. Read More»
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