It started back in September 2001 when Microsoft Latvia launched the first Latvian version of MS Word 2002. Then two years later MS Excel, MS Powerpoint and MS Outlook in fresh 2003 versions joined the suite and got the Latvian treatment as well. The latest version of the most popular office software for Windows, MS Office 2007, released just before Jāņi this year, has now gone all the way. Not only has the complete suite of applications (Word 2007, Excel 2007, Powerpoint 2007, Outlook 2007, Access 2007, MS Publisher 2007, MS InfoPath 2007 and MS Groove 2007) been adapted for the Latvian language, but the underlying operating system, more commonly known as Microsoft Vista, has learnt Latvian as well.

It seems like that in this latest localisation effort no stone has been left unturned. The control panel, online help, warning dialogs, informational messages—everywhere you look—using either Windows or the Office applications the local Latvian user can just about get by without knowing a single word of English. Even the printed guides and packaging are in Latvian. And no wonder, since this has been the largest localisation project in the Baltics to date and took the combined team efforts of Microsoft Latvia and the localisation company Tilde nearly 18 months to complete. The timing of the project presented challenges with work beginning as early as January 2006—more than a year before the release of Windows Vista itself. To add further pressure on the localisation teams, the effort had to be multiplied by three as Microsoft insisted that all three Baltic language versions be released at the same time this summer.

With more than 10 years of experience in localisation and technical translations Tilde was once again chosen to produce all three Baltic language versions. To deal with new concepts and terminology, Tilde also worked closely with the Latvian Academy of Sciences’ Terminology Commission. The results of that collaboration have now become available at the terminology Web sites www.termini.lv and www.eurotermbank.com.

It is welcoming to see that they have not always followed the current trends and simply adapted variations of the English terms, but have made a concerted effort to find more appropriate and easier-to-guess Latvian words and expressions. After all, what is the point of producing a Latvian version if you are only adding a Latvian ending to the English word?

Did you know that cilne refers to a window tab, starpliktuve is clipboard, vadības panelis is the control panel, iestatījumi refers to settings, darbvirsma is desktop, mapes is folders, uzdevumjosla is Windows taskbar, ekrānsaudzētājs is screensaver, izšķirtspēja is screen resolution, pievienojumprogrammas are software add-ons and noklusējuma programmas are default programs? Some terms introduced with Microsoft Vista include sānjosla (Windows Sidebar), sīkrīki (Windows gadgets), emuārs (blog), Windows sapulču telpa (Windows Meeting Space), ciparslēgs (digital locker), vecāku kontrole (parental controls), zibatmiņa (USB flash drive), RSS plūsma (RSS feed) and vilkšana un nomešana (drag-and-drop). One of the more unusual terms pikšķerēšana for phishing. Who can guess what a pikšķerēšanas filtra iestatītjums is?

To enter Latvian letters with all the garumzīmes and mīkstinājumi (also referred to as diacritics) you need to hold down the right ALT key while pressing the appropriate letter. Hit ALT and “a” to get ā, ALT SHIFT s to get Š and so on. It is interesting to note that under this arrangement the controversial palatalised r or ŗ is supported, but o-macron or ō is not. Microsoft’s implementation of the Latvian keyboard driver, also referred to as “Latviešu (QWERTY),” isn’t as convenient as the ~ or ’ dead-key approach used widely in Latvia (with the WinLogs, WinLat and Birojs Latvian software writing packages). Microsoft has decided to stick to its own universal standard for entering foreign language characters.

In terms of proofing tools, MS Office 2007 includes only the Latvian spellchecker and hyphenator modules, both of which have also been licensed from Tilde. If this is not enough and you need the multiple language dictionaries (Latvian-English, Latvian-German, Latvian-Russian, Latvian-Latvian), thesaurus, grammar-checking and a bunch of additional fonts for the Baltic languages as well, you’ll definitely want to look at the separate add-on package called Birojs 2005.

The Latvian localised versions of MS Vista and MS Office 2007 are available for purchase only in Latvia and are at the same price as the regular English versions. Although the software products have been available now for several months there hasn’t been any active marketing and they are yet to appear on store shelves of the leading computer stores. When I recently inquired both at Elkor and Technoland in Rīga I received only blank stares and the salespeople directed me to the English versions on display. Price can normally be a decider and definitely helps the spread the word, so Microsoft could possibly do well to consider discounting the Latvian version as it has with previous versions.

For those who already have invested in the English version of Office 2007 and want to give the Latvian interface a go, then for around USD 25 you can download the Microsoft Office 2007 Language Pack for Latvian. Similar packages are also available for Estonian and Lithuanian. The Windows Vista Language Pack that allows you to latvianise your English version of Windows Vista is not yet available, but is expected to be downloadable by the end of the year.

The wait is over. Companies from all around the world are releasing products that now include Latvian as a selectable language. And we’re not just talking Apple, Microsoft and other computer-related products, but everyday devices such as mobile telephones, digital cameras, MP3 players, home media players, pocket organizers, car navigation systems and even the latest blockbuster films.

For many years now we have been able to write in Latvian using Windows- and Macintosh-based computers. The introduction of the Unicode standard more than a decade ago has quashed the issue of incompatible operating and writing systems providing the ability for software developers to easily add foreign language support, including the Baltic languages, to their software products. We now have access to hundreds of Latvian language fonts (even for the Latgallian and Liv languages) as well as Latvian spelling and grammar checkers, thesauruses, dictionaries and other useful Latvian language tools. But it hasn’t stopped there. This same technology is now finding its way into home appliances and other must-have gadgets For the first time ever we are also seeing the Latvian language supported in these devices in all its glory—with all of the obligatory “mīkstinājumi“ and “garumzīmes“.

Nokia has been a pioneer is this area for many years. If you purchase a Nokia mobile telephone in Latvia it will most likely come preinstalled with the Latvian language and you will be provided with a Latvian version of the user’s manual. Nokia has also gone one step further and adapted its T9 predictive text technology for the Latvian language, allowing for fast and convenient texting in Latvian. Sony Ericsson is not far behind by also offering T9 for Latvian and there are even third party Web sites such as DaVinci Team that allow you to add Latvian language support irrespective of where the original handset was purchased. Another option for those who have purchased their mobile handset outside of the Baltics is to visit the Elkor Service Centre at Brīvības 201 in Rīga, where for a small fee your handset can be quickly converted to Latvian while you wait. But be warned, as this could void your existing warranty and may not work on all models.

As you navigate through your new Latvian-enabled mobile telephone you’ll come across terms such as “Izvēlne” (Menu),  “Īsziņas” (Text messages), “Iespējas” (Options),  “Režīmi”  (Settings) , “Palīgrīki” (Extras), “Paņemt” (Select),  “Zvanu arhīvs” (Call register), “Aktivizēt” (Activate) and others that will no doubt enhance your existing vocabulary. Since several Latvian and Polish firms have been involved in the Latvian language localisations for Nokia, Sony Ericsson, BenQ-Siemens, Motorola and Samsung, this has caused inconsistencies in translations. For example,  “Settings” is referred to as “Uzstādījumi” on Nokia phones, but “Iestatījumi” on other brand handsets.

Apple’s popular portable media player, the iPod, will perfectly display Latvian letters not only in the companion iTunes software, but on the actual iPod screen as well. Insert a new Latvian music compact disc and, after a brief query to an Internet-based music database, the track names and other details are retrieved with all the correct Latvian letters. Earlier versions of the iPod had some troubles and the accented letters would vanish altogether, for example, “ui, mana lgavia” (Čuči, mana līgaviņa), but that is now a thing of the past. Microsoft’s new Zune media player will no doubt also understand Latvian, but because Europeans won’t see this model until next year this has yet to be verified. Other media players such as the Squeezebox have also recently begun to correctly display Latvian letters on its large fluorescent display, so you can not only view what track is playing, but have live Latvian news streaming into your living room. Make sure that you have at least version 6.5 of the SlimServer software, otherwise question marks appear in place of accents, for example, “?u?i mani l?gavi?a (“Čuči, mana līgaviņa”) making it quite unreadable.

Olympus started an advertising campaign earlier in the year proclaiming its new digital cameras were the first to support the Latvian language. Both the navigational menus and image viewer software on the mju700, mju 810, mju 720SW, FE130 and FE140 models are available in Latvian. Around the same time the portable GPS car navigation system, TomTom Go, also became available. A male Latvian voice provides the friendly driving directions, and there is a interface and menus on the screen. The unit sells for about LVL 400.

Linux, which already has a significant share of the server market, is now making its way to the workstation as more organizations decide to migrate to OpenOffice.org, a free open-source alternative to Microsoft’s Office software. The Linux Centre at the University of Latvia together with the Latvian Open Source Association have developed Latvian-language support for the desktop (GNOME 2.14/2.16 and KDE) as well as a Latvian version of OpenOffice 2 with spellchecking. The software is available as a free download from their Web sites.

Even the animation blockbusters from Hollywood such as Šreks 2 (Shrek 2), Haizivs stāsts (Shark Tale),  Ledus laikmets 2: Atkusnis (Ice Age 2: Meltdown), Vāģi (Cars), Trauksme mežā (Open Season) and Aizskalotie (Flushed Away) are getting the Latvian treatment and are now professionally dubbed in Latvian using well known Latvian actors—no more monologue or dialogue as you may still encounter on Latvian television. The first such DVD, Ledus Laikmets 2: Atkusnis, fully dubbed in Latvian and with the additional option of Latvian subtitles, began appearing in stores last month.

I have not even broached the subject of application software such as the Latvian version of MS Office 2003, the Latvian hyphenation option in Adobe InDesign and many others, but the list grows on a regular basis. It is truly a pleasure to see that major companies from around the world are beginning to adapt their products for Latvians. I have started a dedicated blog called latviski.lv where you can also submit new Latvian-friendly products.

With phishing, pharming and other identity-related scams on the increase, it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell who actually sent the e-mail sitting in your inbox, whether the associated MIcrosoft Word attachment can be trusted and whether the Web link provided to resubmit your personal details actually belongs to that authority. The e-signature smart card launched by Latvia Post on Oct. 4 proposes to address some of these problems by providing a secure method for the exchange of documents and other information electronically.

No more running around the various institutions and government departments, notarising countless documents, trying to find out when and where to go and spending unproductive hours in queues—the e-signature will introduce a whole new way of working for both the individual dealing with government services and for businesses interacting with both the government and their counterparts. The impact will be huge, requiring a radical change of thinking and an entirely different mode of operation especially in Latvia’s public sector. With the e-signature service and time stamping features you will theoretically be able to track electronically how your submitted document is traversing through the various departments during the approval process.

But what is the reality today? The Rīga Municipal Council is on board, but is yet to provide any compelling applications requiring the exclusive use of the e-signature. This is expected to improve with further development of the technical infrastructure. Up until now the State Revenue Department offered its own electronic service that required that you sign a special contract, but with the new e-signature you will soon be able to submit 90 percent of the required declarations and tax reports. Parex Bank claims it will take new American Express credit card applications via the e-signature service, but Hansabank is still looking for the killer application that will include the e-signature into its next essential banking service. Although the e-signature service complies with international standards, no agreements have yet been signed outside the borders of Latvia.

To apply for your e-signature you will need to go to one of the nominated branches of Latvia Post, present your passport, complete an application form and come back two weeks later to pick up your e-signature smart card. For individuals the cost is LVL 24 for two years and an additional 35 santīms for each transaction. For small- and medium-sized businesses the cost is LVL 47, which includes a smart card USB reader and the first 100 transactions free of charge. Thereafter the cost is 25 santīms per transaction. If you are a heavy user, then choose the unlimited plan for LVL 90. Surprisingly, Latvia Post still does not accept credit cards as payment, but this facility has been promised to be introduced by the end of the year. The prices may at first seem rather steep, but as businesses begin to realise the cost and time benefits achieved it will become an essential part of their daily operations.

You can view a video clip of how to use the e-signature service at E-me.lv, the post office’s official site for the project. Even though the promotional brochures and video clip features Macintosh computers, Macintosh users will not be able to use this service until Latvia Post has produced a version for the platform. Linux users have also been left out. I would have liked to have seen a much simpler interface even for the current Windows version. Right-click with your mouse on the document or file, choose “Add signature” or “Add signature and e-mail” from the submenu and everything should just happen in the background. No doubt when third-party programmers get access to the software libraries we should see further improvements in usability.

For Latvian citizens living outside of Latvia the e-signature service will be a welcome step forward as more government services become available on the Internet and offer a new, convenient way to participate in the 10th Saeima elections in 2010.