Re: inputbox

Again with the random snipping, making your post sound like complete
rubbish, so I have to paste in the appropriate quotes from the previous post
so it makes sense..

"Mike Williams" <Mike@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:er3R6dMAKHA.4376@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Eric" <someone@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Oayv3iJAKHA.1340@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I don't care how many languages or dialects it handles. That's not my
concern. But I do expect it to be in the language of the person they are
selling it to, especially if they charge a premium for it as they most
certainly do here in England.

British English is not a different language from American
English. It's a different dialect.

Well actually I'd say that American is a different dialect of English.

You just agreed with me and contradicted yourself.

No I didn't. Perhaps my statement was a little bit too subtle for you?
English is the language (British English as you might call it over there)
and American English is the dialect.

Are you talking about yourself or someone from another country? You say "I
do expect it to be in the language of the person they are selling it to".
Then you say "American is a different dialect of English". You say they're
selling you an American version, so they're selling you an English version,
so if you're not contradicting yourself then you're complaining that they're
doing what you expect them to do (or talking about someone else looking for
it in a different language?).
The fact they don't make a version in your dialect is beside the point,
though I don't know much about the BBC English (and you refuse to point out
what major differences there are between the dialects which would directly
relate to the OS), it sounds like you're arguing they don't use the goofy
old spelling (color instead of colour).

Odd that you "quoted" me but snipped out half of my message.

That's because some of what you said was rubbish.

Most of what you're saying sounds like rubbish but I'm still attempting to
understand and provide an answer.

I'll repeat one of the questions you ignored. What major
differences are there between American English and BBC
English which would pertain to Windows?

The spelling of many of the words is incorrect. For example "Windows Color
and Appearance" is not English.

Color/Colour? What else is wrong with that? Is it hard to interpret or
just frustrating you to see it spelled the simpler American way?

What language are you forced to buy?

I'm not forced to buy and language version of Windows. I can buy whichever
version I choose, or I can buy none at all. It is up to me.

"forced to buy" was just a reference to your previous assertion that you
"expect it to be in the language of the person they are selling it to". I
was assuming you were referring to yourself as the "person they are selling
it to" and to English as your language and wondering what language(s) are
available for you to buy if not English, since we've already established
that American and British/BBC are just different dialects of the English
language.

Are you expecting their OS to be in the language of the
person they're selling it to, or in the dialect of the person
they're selling it to?

That depends on how much they are charging me for it and on what excuses
they are using for overcharging. Micro$oft have used many excuses for
their habit of grossly overcharging people living in countries other than
America and one of the excuses that they have rolled out regularly is the
cost of converting the standard American version into local languages.
Since my own language, English, is very similar to the native language of
America then if they were not overcharging me on those grounds I would
happily accept an American English version. However, they ARE overcharging
me on those grounds and so I expect what I paid all that extra money for,
a version converted into real English!

Do you have a link to a statement from Microsoft saying they charge more for
an American English language OS in England than in America because they're
"converting it to your local language"? England is part of Europe. I
always heard they charge more for all of their products in all of Europe to
cover the cost of the antitrust lawsuits they get over there.

There are various dialects of German as well, and I would
expect software to normally only handle the most widely
used one.

That's fine, as long as you don't charge extra for a dialect you are not
supporting!

This doesn't make any sense.

Yes it does.

How can they charge extra for something they're not selling? I'd like to
see a reference to where you heard that. It sounds like you're saying MS is
like a car company that makes cars with the steering wheel on the left side
and you would like one on the right side instead so they're going to charge
you extra for one with the wheel on the left side. Either that or you're
saying they are providing a British dialect version and they won't help you
if you have any problems with it? I thought you established that they're
only offering an American dialect version.

Are they selling you a BBC English version and not supporting it?

Of course not. They are not selling me an English version at all. But they
ARE attempting to charge me extra for an American version and they are
pretending that the reason they need to charge me extra is to cover the
cost of producing local versions, which as far as English people is
concerned is a lie because in our case they are NOT producing a local
version! All I am asking for is what they are telling me they are charging
me for! If they want to sell me the American version then that's fine, and
I would happily accept it for what it is, were it not for the fact that I
am being overcharged and lied to.

By the way, I used the word "selling" very loosely because Micro$oft have
not actually sold anything to me for a great many years, and they will not
sell anything to me in the future. The last version of Windows I bought
was the copy of Win98 that was installed in a PC I purchased many years
ago, and it is the last Microsoft product I will ever buy.

Why are you bothering to complain about software you're running without a
license?

Why are cigarettes $4/pack in the USA and $9/pack in Europe?

Actually they are /not/ $9 per pack in many European countries, although
they are the equivalent of about $8 or $9 per pack in England. But you
obviously alreayd know the reason why such price differences exist and so
I can only assume that you are asking the question in your attempt to
cloud the issue. In America the tax on cigarettes is about $1 per pack
whereas in England the tax is more than $6.50 per pack. But the similar
reasons cannot possibly account for the huge amount we are being
overcharged for Micro$oft products over here. The tax on software here is
17.5 per cent, which I think is not massively different than the total of
the various taxes on software in America and which in any case cannot
account for more than a tiny fraction of the huge amount that Micro$oft
are overcharging!

You're the one attempting to cloud issues. I'm trying to make sense of it.
17.5% tax would explain the difference. The only "software tax" I'm aware
of in the USA is our sales tax which varies by state. In my state that's
6%. Our tax is not applied to the base price. Is yours? If not, if you're
saying the base price is higher in England, that would be from MS passing on
the fees on their end, such as legal fees (to include the antitrust suits)
and production fees (such as a property tax on their Ireland factory).

Perhaps I should think about moving to Nigeria, where the corporate
gangsters not only provide cheap copies of Windows but in fact more than
give them away, and 'make you an offer you can't refuse' by stealing the
non-microsoft OS that you have already paid for so that they can forcibly
and illegally foist a copy of Windows on you whether you want it or not!

http://www.computerworlduk.com/management/government-law/public-sector/news/index.cfm?newsid=6124&pn=1

Mike

Maybe you should move to China. They have plenty of pirates who can get you
any software super cheap. I hear they sell pirated copies of DVD movies for
$1 before the movies are even in theaters. Of course if you want overall
cheap living move someplace like Iraq where I hear the cost of living is
about $500USD/year.


.

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