According to Microsoft,
To provide users with more up-to-date terminology, Microsoft has replaced the glossary content that was previously posted to the Microsoft ftp site with a more concise document that is easier to use.The new document is definitely more concise than those available before: 9000 lines instead of hundreds of thousands (the old XP glossary alone contained more than 100,000 lines).
I doubt that the new glossary is as complete as the previous ones, but I hope it will be at least more consistent. On the plus side, for those that have to manage multilingual projects, this glossary contains translations of the English terms into up to 45 different languages (not all English terms are translated into all available languages).
(Hat tip: Christof)
The old Microsoft translation glossaries were, for practical purposes, the translation memories of the various programs and OSs released by Microsoft. Unfortunately, they also contain inconsistencies, even errors, and they are of uneven quality even within a single language.
ReplyDeleteEspecially "nuke" for "delete." Nice one.
DeleteBut even if there are inconsistencies or errors, you can see the overall phrasing and language "policies" enforced by MS.
>It would be better if Microsoft were to release the translation memories of their operating systems, mail/web utilities and word processing suite<
ReplyDeleteFrom the horse's mouth: you're better off without. Aside from inconsistencies, a TM - just as any other tool on face of the earth - is worth only as much as the knowledge of the person using it. Several years ago, a localisation giant won a MS contract. The legend in one of the countries has it that instead of hiring the most experienced and competent in-country vendors, they figured they could rely on the large MS TMs, so they hired cheap but nary incompetent folks who, when they were unable to figure out the correct translation themselves, kept sending late at night their pleas for help to folks in charge of QC-ing their work during regular hours.