bobby12 0 Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I am upgrading my PC to Windows 7, but I see that M$ are forcing people to pay extra to use multiple languages and the 'Ultimate' version of Win7 is required. I wonder if there is anyone on here who has got non-ultimate version of Windows 7 and is able to read/write Japanese characters? I think it should be possible to input Japanese by using an online text converter that simulates the Japanese IME, then just copy/paste the text into Outlook/Word etc. But I imagine that it will then not be able to display any Japanese characters at all without the language pack installed. My other idea is to install Win7 with Japanese as the locale / default language. I would expect that to allow both Japanese/English to work fully, with the possible drawback that the OS language changes to Japanese. (please no comments like 'buy Mac OS' as I require windows for various reasons) Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 How dare they charge more money for more features!!! Time for the Daily Mail! Seriously though, I honestly thought you could download different languages for nothing. But you obviously have looked into it, perhaps that is because I have Ultimate. I would think the Japanese OS idea is better if you don't want to pay for Ultimate. (Is it that much more?) Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 The problem is I always buy Dell, but they seem not to let you customize the laptops these days. So it comes with Win7 Home or Professional and you cant upgrade it to ultimate at the point of purchase. After purchase, you can use Anytime Upgrade to upgrade to Ultimate but it costs 100 quid. Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 How do you know what version it is? The sticker on my machine just says "Windows 7." It is the Japanese-localized version -- and it handles English just fine, as you can see here. As for displaying Japanese, I think any version will display any language. It is the input method (and Japanese system menus) that would be missing. I'd just get the Japanese version if you need the input method. It will also handle English for "free." (System menus would all be in Japanese -- assume that would not be an issue.) Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 If you go into Control Panel and then System, it will show you what version of Windows you have. Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 You can do one of two things: 1) Buy the Business ultimate version and suck up the cost. 2) Buy the Home premium version and get vistalizator and install English over the top, which saves you money to buy me beers in appreciation. I recommend the second option, especially the cost savings. Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 I have a Japanese operating system on my comp but of course English software as well as Japanese software all work fine on it as does the language. If you have an English operating system you can simply download the Japanese character set, which will then allow you to type and read Japanese. I dont use this option abviously as I have a Japanese operating system, but I know some who have used this and it works, saves needing to shell out more dosh! Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 If you go into Control Panel and then System, it will show you what version of Windows you have. Thanks. Ok, I don't have the Ultimate version, just a Japanese-localized version. Another thought: one could run Ubuntu Linux inside VirtualBox under Windows for free, depending on one's needs. Link to post Share on other sites
onehunga 26 Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 The problem is I always buy Dell, but they seem not to let you customize the laptops these days. So it comes with Win7 Home or Professional and you cant upgrade it to ultimate at the point of purchase. After purchase, you can use Anytime Upgrade to upgrade to Ultimate but it costs 100 quid. If you buy the professional version you should have no problem, just make sure you get the OS DVD.. I have three laptops here, all Windows professional, two in English, with English keyboard and one in Japanese, with Japanese keyboard. The two with English OS can input Japanese charactors no problem. Note, all three laptops had the OS installed using the same DVD, just different peoduct keys and options at start. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 I went with Windows 7 Home in the end, you can install the Japanese IME no problem and it seems to display/input Japanese text fine so far. The only problem I had was installing a driver for a Japanese-bought webcam, the installer software was in Japanese but it displayed garbled. I managed to install the drivers though. Link to post Share on other sites
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