Microsoft to launch Windows in Inca (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Microsoft to launch Windows in Inca
http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1749606-6078-0,00.html
 
LIMA - Microsoft will translate its blockbuster computer software
Windows and Office into Quechua, the language of the indigenous Inca,
for Andean nations from Argentina to Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador
and Peru, where it is spoken, the company said on Thursday.

Microsoft opted to bring today's high-tech software to speakers of
Quechua as it is the most widely spoken indigenous language in Latin
America, by almost 10 million people, said Marushka Chocobar,
Microsoft's educational liaison in Lima.

The Quechua-language version of Windows XP and Office 2003, being
developed in Peru, will be available next year.

Peru was the cradle of the Inca empire which in the 16th century
stretched from modern-day Colombia down to northen Chile.

Bolivia is the only majority indigenous country in South America.

Its indigenous people speak Quechua and Aymara.

This marks the first time Microsoft has translated its software to an
indigenous language of Latin America, and is aimed at boosting literacy
programs largely among the poor.

Guatemala, in Central America, has millions of Maya language speakers
and a high illiteracy rate.

Paraguay, in South America, is the only country in Latin America to make
bilingualism official.

Students there learn both Spanish and Guarani.

AFP