Customizing Office Language Settings

The first time a Microsoft Office 2003 application starts up, Office 2003 applies default language settings that match the language version of Office that you have installed on the computer and the language of the operating system.

Administrators can configure these language settings in advance rather than using the default settings. If you specify custom language settings when you install Office (for example, in a transform), then Office detects that language settings are already defined and does not overwrite your settings with the default settings when users start the applications.

Four primary language settings affect the way users work with Office:

• Installation language Default language for Office applications and documents

• User interface language Language used to display menus and dialog boxes

• Help language Language used in Help

• Editing languages Functionality required to edit documents in various languages

Note

If you plan to use a default language for Office that differs from the system locale of the operating system, specify this setting in a transform during the Office installation. If you switch installation languages after Office is installed, customizations—such as macros added to Normal.dot in Microsoft Office Word 2003—are lost.

Language settings in the Windows registry

The first time any Office application runs after Office 2003 is installed, Office creates the following subkey in the Microsoft Windows registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\LanguageResources

In the LanguageResources subkey, Office creates the entry InstallLanguage and sets its value to the locale ID (LCID) of the installation language of Office, which is based on the system locale of the operating system. InstallLanguage and the other value entries in the LanguageResources subkey determine default language-related behavior in all Office 2003 applications.

For example:

• Microsoft Word looks for LCID entries and turns on language auto-detection features for all languages that are enabled for editing.

• Word checks the InstallLanguage value entry to determine what language to use for the initial Normal.dot file. Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 checks the same setting to set the default spelling checker.

• Word checks the UILanguage value entry to determine what language of user interface to display.

Methods of customizing language settings

You can configure language settings on users’ computer by using one of the following methods:

• Use the Custom Installation Wizard to set language setting defaults in a transform (MST file), which is applied when you install the Office package (MSI file).

• Use the Microsoft Office Language Settings utility to specify settings on a test computer and then capture those settings in an Office profile settings file (OPS file) by using the Office Profile Wizard. You can add the OPS file to the transform or run the Office Profile Wizard separately on users’ computers after Office is installed.

• Use the Group Policy snap-in to set policies that manage language settings on users’ computers.

Specify settings in a transform

You customize most language settings on the Change Office User Settings page of the Custom Installation Wizard. These settings are applied when Office is installed and before users start up any applications.

To customize language settings in a transform

1. Start the Custom Installation Wizard

2. On the Change Office User Settings page, expand the tree under Microsoft Office (user).

3. Under Language Settings, configure the settings you want to customize.

   For example, to specify a different installation language, click Enabled Languages, double-click Installed version of Microsoft Office, and select a new language from the list.

Note

You cannot customize language settings in a transform applied to a Microsoft Office 2003 Multilingual User Interface Pack (MUI Pack) package (Mui.msi). Customizations in a transform applied to a MUI Pack are limited to installation location, feature installation states, shortcuts, backup installation servers, and Setup properties.

For more information about creating a transform, see “Methods of Customizing Office” in Chapter 4, “Customizing Office 2003.” For more information about options on each page of the Custom Installation Wizard, see the Custom Installation Wizard Help on the companion CD.

Capture settings in an OPS file

You use the Office Profile Wizard to capture user-defined settings in an OPS file. If you add the OPS file to a transform, the settings are applied when Office is installed. You can also run the Profile Wizard separately and apply the settings after Office is installed on users’ computers.

Before you create an OPS file, you must install Office 2003 and MUI Packs on the test computer. Then start each Office application and set all the language options you want to customize. You can set most language options by using the Microsoft Office Language Settings tool, which is installed with Office 2003.

To set language options on the test computer

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Office, and then point to Microsoft Office Tools.

2. Click Microsoft Office Language Settings.

3. On the Enabled Languages tab, click the Add button to specify the languages that you want to be available for editing documents.

4. In the Default version of Microsoft Office box, select the Office installation language.

   This setting is optional. If the installation language of Office is English, French, German, Norwegian, or Serbian, however, then selecting the local variety of the language makes utilities such as spelling checkers more useful.

5. Click the User Interface tab.

   Note that the User Interface tab is available only if you have installed a MUI Pack.

6. In the Display menus and dialogs in box, select the user interface language.

7. In the Display Help box, select a language for online Help.

   If you do not specify a language for Help, the online Help language defaults to the user interface language you selected.

After you have customized the language settings you want, run the Profile Wizard to capture the configuration in an OPS file.

To capture language settings in an OPS file

1. Start the Office Profile Wizard.

2. On the Save or Restore Settings page, select Save the settings from this machine, and enter the name and path for the OPS file.

3. Select the check boxes next to the Office 2003 applications you want to include in your OPS file.

   Make sure to select the Microsoft Office Shared Settings check box.

4. Click Finish.

   The Profile Wizard saves the Office application settings on your computer to the OPS file.

For more information about running the Profile Wizard or adding an OPS file to a transform, see “Customizing User-defined Settings” in Chapter 4, “Customizing Office 2003.”

Enabling languages without installing MUI Packs

The options on the User Interface tab in the Microsoft Office Language Settings dialog box include all the languages installed from MUI Packs. However, the options on the Enabled Languages tab include all the languages that Office can enable for editing, regardless of whether the user has installed any MUI Packs.

As a result, you can enable functionality for working with certain languages even if you do not install the MUI Packs for those languages. For example, if you select Korean as an editing language, you enable Asian and Korean features in Word even though the Korean proofing tools from the MUI Pack might not be available. If, however, you install proofing tools from a MUI Pack or from Microsoft Office 2003 Proofing Tools, then Office uses those proofing tools for the languages you enable for editing.

Note

Before a language can be enabled for editing, support for that language must be enabled in the operating system. You can enable support for languages in the appropriate Control Panel dialog (Regional and Language Options in Windows XP or Regional Options in Windows 2000).

Use policies to manage language settings

You can use policies to enforce default language settings for groups of users or computers in your organization. Unlike default settings distributed in a transform or an OPS file, users cannot modify settings enforced by policy.

When you load the Office 2003 administrative templates (ADM files) into the Group Policy snap-in, policies related to language settings are located under User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Office 2003\Language Settings.

The following policies help manage default language settings in Office 2003:

• Display menus and dialog boxes in policy

  Located in the User Interface folder. Determine the language of the user interface.

• Display help in policy

  Located in the User Interface folder. Determine the language of online Help.

• Installed version of Microsoft Office

  Located in the Enabled Languages folder. Specify an installation language. By default, Office uses the system locale of the operating system.

• Show controls and enable editing for policies

  Located in the Enabled Languages folder. Enable editing languages from the list of languages supported by Office.

• Do not adjust defaults to user’s locale policy

  Located in the Other folder. Prevent Office from adjusting default settings based on the user locale by setting this policy to Never run language tune-up. To run application-specific tune-up when an application starts (for example, to check for new IMEs and language scripts), set the policy to Only run language tune-up for new scripts.

For more information about using Group Policy to set policies, see “Managing Users’ Configurations by Policy” in Chapter 18, “Updating Users’ Office 2003 Configurations.”

Customizing language-specific settings related to user locale

In addition to using the installation language setting, Office 2003 also configures language-related settings, such as number format, to match the user locale of the operating system. This behavior is controlled by the LangTuneUp value entry in the LanguageResources subkey. If you do not want user locale to affect default settings, you can reset the value of LangTuneUp when you install Office.

LangTuneUp can have one of two values:

• OfficeCompleted (default) Settings based on user locale are not applied to Office as a whole; however, individual applications still check for new input method editors (IMEs) and language scripts, and still apply application settings specific to the user locale. For example, applications ensure that newly installed keyboards have the appropriate editing languages enabled, and Word sets up fonts in Normal.dot based on user locale.

• Prohibited No tuning of settings related to user locale is performed by Office as a whole or by individual Office applications.

If the LangTuneUp entry does not exist, Office creates it the first time an application starts and sets its value to OfficeCompleted.

In some scenarios, ignoring the user locale setting can help maintain a standard deployment across a multilingual organization. Setting the LangTuneUp value entry to Prohibited ensures that language settings remain consistent and macros are more compatible internationally.

For example, if your organization is based in the United States and you want to standardize settings internationally, you can deploy Office with InstallLanguage set to 1033 (U.S. English) and LangTuneUp set to Prohibited. Users get the same default settings regardless of their user locale.

Ignoring user locale is not always the best option. When LangTuneUp is set to Prohibited, users upgrading from a previous localized version of Office cannot migrate user settings from a language version that differs from the Office 2003 installation language.

In addition, users who read and enter Asian characters in Office documents might not always have the Asian fonts they need to display characters properly. If the installation language on the user’s computer does not match the language used in the document, and LangTuneUp is set to Prohibited, then Office does not display fonts in the non-default language. If your Office installations need to support multiple Asian language user locales, make sure LangTuneUp remains set to OfficeCompleted. To help ensure that users do not change the default value, set the corresponding policy.

Note

Administrators can elect to disable the Taiwanese date format in Office 2003 by customizing the Disable Taiwan Calendar setting. In the Custom Installation Wizard or Custom Maintenance Wizard, change this setting on the Change Office User Settings page. In the Group Policy snap-in, the Disallow Taiwanese Calendar policy is located under User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Office 2003\Language Settings\Other.

Resources and related information

You customize most language settings when you deploy Office 2003, whether you chain MUI Packs to the core Office installation or whether you plan to deploy MUI Packs at a later time. You can modify language settings later on by setting policies in the Group Policy snap-in or by distributing new settings through the Custom Maintenance Wizard. For more information about modifying language settings after Office is deployed, see “Updating Language Settings in Office” in Chapter 16, “Maintaining an Office 2003 Multilingual Installation.”

Each Office application uses language settings differently for making changes in user interfaces and other language-specific areas of the application. For more information, see “Effects of Customizing Language Settings on Office Applications” in the next section.