Microsoft Windows XP Professional Resource Kit 2003
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2005
Pages: 338
Pages: 338
To deploy the appropriate language versions of Windows XP Professional and configure regional support based on your organization s current geographic and IT infrastructure, you need to determine your language and regional requirements, as well as your hardware requirements and limitations. You also need to take into account the needs of roaming users in your organization, and whether you are upgrading an earlier localized language version of Windows. Also, consider whether your organization requires a single global image, and whether you will require specific regional builds for different offices in your organization.
If you do business in multiple languages or have multilingual office environments, you need to know which languages or dialects your organization must support, and whether these languages require IMEs or alternative keyboards or input devices.
If you do business internationally, you need to know which countries/regions your organization must support, and which languages or dialects are used in each. You must determine whether currency, time zone, or calendar formats vary between the different countries and regions. Additionally, you must determine which line-of-business applications you have that must accommodate such regional differences.
A four-column planning table can help you determine your language and regional needs. You can organize the table as follows:
In column one, list your offices or divisions.
In column two, list the languages or dialects used in those offices or divisions.
In column three, note the corresponding Windows XP Professional language collections and locales that support those languages or dialects. For tables listing Windows XP Professional language collections and locales, see the Global Software Development List of Locale IDs and Language Groups link on the Web Resources page at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/reskits/webresources
In column four, note any special standards and formats settings, input language support, or default languages for non-Unicode programs required for your offices or divisions.
| Tip | You can use the resulting worksheet to plan your physical deployment and complete the [RegionalSettings] section of your answer files. For more information about completing your answer file, see Using Unattended Installations and Silent Configurations later in this chapter. |
Supporting multiple languages can impact your hardware requirements in two areas:
Hard disk space. Some languages require more hard-disk storage space than others. The more languages installed on a computer, the more hard-disk space consumed. In addition, the Windows XP Professional MUI Pack requires more disk space for each user interface language installed or supported.
Specialized hardware devices. Some languages or users require special keyboards, IMEs, or alternative input devices.
| Note | Installing a language collection enables you to view text in those languages in a document, on a Web page, and so on. However, to input text in a given language, you must also add that language as an input language. For more information about adding input languages, see Configuring Desktops later in this chapter. |
If a workstation needs to support users who speak multiple languages, that workstation must have enough space on the hard disk for the appropriate language resources. The amount of disk space that you need depends, in part, on the Windows XP Professional language version that you deploy.
Every language version of Windows XP Professional comes with support for all of the languages in the Basic Language Collection, which is installed by default. Table 3-4 lists the estimated hard drive space that you need to install additional language support.
| Language Collection | Installation Status | Space Required in Megabytes (MB) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Always installed on every language version. | N/A |
| Complex Script and Right-to-Left | Always installed on the Arabic language version and the Hebrew language version; optionally installed on all other language versions. | 10 |
| East Asian | Always installed on the Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language versions; optionally installed on all other language versions. | 230 |
The Windows XP Professional MUI Pack contains Windows Installer packages that allow users to install the user interface languages on demand. Because they are compressed, Windows Installer packages require less storage space on a network server or CD image.
| Tip | If your organization uses regional or customized builds or a CD-based deployment, include the appropriate Windows Installer packages on the custom image or CD to ensure that support for those user interface languages is available. This ensures that the specific user interface languages that each office needs are available either for unattended installations during deployment, or for on-demand installations by users post-deployment. |
Providing on-demand installation also saves storage space on desktops, because users can install only the user interface languages that they need, when they need them. For a list of the storage space required on a client computer for each user interface language that is installed, see the Locales and Language link on the Web Resources page at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/reskits/webresources
For more detailed information about using Windows Installer packages with the Windows XP Professional MUI Pack, see Using Windows Installer Packages for On-Demand Installations (MUI Pack Only) later in this chapter.
If your language requirements require you to use special keyboards, IMEs, or alternative input devices your hardware must meet minimum hardware compatibility requirements. You can find the minimum hardware compatibility requirements on the Hardware Compatibility List link on the Web Resources page at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/reskits/webresources
If you have many roaming users who need to log on from different locations and edit documents in several languages, you must ensure that the appropriate language files are either installed or installable on demand on those users workstations. You can also install Terminal Services so that users can sign on to unique Terminal Services sessions in different languages.
If your roaming users need to log on from different locations in their native language user interface version of the operating system, you must install the Windows XP Professional MUI Pack as appropriate.
| Tip | If you have deployed a Windows 2000 Server MultiLanguage Version, you can extend the lifecycles of old desktops and functionality of thin clients for use as multilingual workstations. By installing Terminal Services on clients connected to a computer running Windows 2000 Server MultiLanguage Version, you effectively permit the client to function as a Windows XP Professional MUI Pack based workstation that allows users to change user interface languages easily. |
A localized language version of a Windows based client cannot be upgraded to a different language version of Windows XP Professional, or to the Windows XP Professional MUI Pack. For example, you cannot upgrade a Japanese localized language version of Windows 2000 Professional to either the International English language version or MUI Pack of Windows XP Professional.
| Warning | To replace any other language versions of Windows with the Windows XP Professional MUI Pack, you must remove the previous Windows version and perform a clean installation of the Windows XP Professional MUI Pack. |
You can only upgrade to the Windows XP Professional MUI Pack from an International English language version of Windows, or from the Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional MultiLanguage Version. Table 3-5 shows which of these earlier versions of Windows clients can be upgraded to the Windows XP Professional MUI Pack.
| International English or MultiLanguage Version of Windows | Windows XP Professional MUI Pack |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 3.51 | |
| Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0 | X |
| Windows 98 | X |
| Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me) | X |
| Windows 2000 Professional | X |
| Windows 2000 Professional MultiLanguage Version | X |
| Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition |
The Windows XP Professional MUI Pack enables a global organization s IT department to deploy and maintain a single global desktop image. In this way, your company can create a single build that includes user interface language support for all of the languages in which you do business. The build can also include world-ready applications such as Office XP.
For example, if your company supports user interfaces in English, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese, you can create a single global image that includes user interface support for those seven languages. You can also make support for those languages available for on-demand installation after deployment by using Windows Installer packages.
| Tip | Deploying and maintaining a single global image can significantly improve IT efficiency and help lower many costs. It enables single-code-base application development and testing, simplifies releasing hotfixes and service patches, and reduces end-user support calls. |
You can further customize Windows XP Professional deployments by creating specific regional builds tailored to each office s multilingual and international needs. For each office or site, you can create a regional build that specifies the appropriate language version of the operating system, the default input language, and the standards and formats appropriate to that region. You can also include the appropriate localized language versions of third-party applications, such as virus checking utilities, as well as other specialized drivers and applications required by that office.
For example, you might create the following four unique regional builds for North America:
Two Canadian builds for the Vancouver, B.C., and Montreal offices to deploy the International English version of Windows XP Professional, with English and French (Canada) set as the default input languages, and Canada set as the default for standards and formats. English is the default input language in Vancouver, and French is the default input language in Montreal.
A U.S. English build so that users in Seattle and other U.S. locations can install the International English version of Windows XP Professional, with English (U.S.) set as the default input language, and optional support for the East Asian Language Collection, which includes the font files, font linking, and registry settings needed for Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language support.
A Boston regional build that installs the U.S. English build along with optional support for the East Asian Language Collection.
The regional build for the Tokyo office, by contrast, might install the Japanese localized language version of Windows XP Professional, as well as the Japanese localized language versions of virus checking and accounting applications.
Using the Windows XP Professional MUI Pack, global organizations can also take a hybrid approach combining a single global core image, which contains the baseline operating system and applications, with additional regional core images that include localized language applications, settings, and so on. The global IT department develops and maintains the global core; individual countries/regions are responsible for building and maintaining their own regional cores. Local offices can also add a third-tier customization core image for custom stationery or templates, printer drivers, and so on.