METHOD AND COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM FOR
CONSISTENT CONFIGURATION OF LANGUAGE SUPPORT ACROSS
OPERATING SYSTEM AND APPLICATION PROGRAMS
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Modern desktop computer systems allow users to operate the computer using many different languages For instance, modern computer systems can display their user interface m English, Chinese, Hebrew, and many other languages Additionally, keyboard layouts and input mechanisms can be configured to provide support for inputting text in the supported languages Language support is typically implemented by both the computer operating system and by applications executing on the operating system, such as word processing programs and World Wide Web ("web") browsers
Language support provided by an operating system typically includes displaying system messages in the selected language, configuring keyboard layouts for input, setting number, time, currency, and other formats appropriate for use with the selected language, installing fonts needed to support the selected language, and other functions Language support provided by application programs includes support for rendering web pages in a specified language, utilizing a spell check dictionary appropriate for the specified language, and other similar functions
In order to configure language support m an operating system and in various application programs, a user may have to be familiar with many different. control panels, options menus, and all of the possible configuration options This process can be very confusing for a user In fact, in many cases a user may be unaware that they need to configure language support in both the operating system and the application programs This may result in language support that is properly configured for only the operating system or the application program Moreover, it may be difficult for a user to understand all of the settings offered by the various control panels and settings dialogs required to configure language support m both the operating system and
application programs It can therefore be extremely diincuu ror a user ra c configure their computer system for operation using the language of their choice
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the various embodiments of the present invention have been made
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
la accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, the above and other problems are solved by a method and computer-readable medium for consistently configuring language support across an operating system and one of more application programs By providing an integrated process for configuring language settings, users can quickly and consistently specify language settings for both an operating system and application programs Moreover^ because the integrated process may be executed in response to determining that language settings are not consistently configured, the settings can be consistently configured even when a user is unaware that the settings are incorrect
According to one aspect of the invention, a method is provided for consistently configuring language support across an operating system and one or more application programs According to the method, an integrated process is provided for receiving and implementing one or more language settings for an operating system and one or more language settings for application programs The integrated process may be executed in response to determining that a user is working in a language for which language support is not consistently deployed This may occur, for instance, if a user is utilizing a word processing application program to type a document in a language for which support has not been configured The integrated process may also be executed in response to determining that language support is not consistently configured for both the operating system and the application programs This may occur, for instance, if the user configures language support in only either the operating system or the application programs The integrated process may also be launched in response to a user request
According to other aspects of the invention, the integrated process includes displaying to a user one or more current language settings for the operating
system and one or more current language settings for the application programs The user may then be prompted for new language settings for both the operating system and the application programs The language settings for the operating system may include language group support, keyboard layout, preferences for standards and formats, and other settings The language settings for the application programs may include preferences for a default language for use in the application programs Language settings may also be specified that apply both to the operating system and to the application programs, such as a setting for a user interface language Once the language settings have been received from the user, the new settings may be applied and utilized in future operations of the computer system
The invention may be implemented as a computer process, a computing system, or as an article of manufacture such as a computer program product or computer readable media The computer program product may be a computer storage media readable by a computer system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process The computer program product may also be a propagated signal on a earner readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process
These and various other features, as well as advantages, which characterize the present invention, will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGURE 1 is a computer system architecture diagram illustrating a
computer system utilized in and provided by the various embodiments of the invention, FIGURE 2 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative process for
implementing consistent language support across an operating system and application
programs in one embodiment of die invention,
FIGURE 3 is a flow diagram showing an illustrative process for
implementing a language settings wizard according to one embodiment of the
invention, and
FIGURES 4-8 are screen diagrams showing illustrative screen displays utilized in the various embodiments of the invention
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements, various aspects of the present invention will be described In particular, FIGURE 1 and the corresponding discussion are intended to provide a bnef, general description of a suitable computing environment in which embodiments of the invention may be implemented and to illustrate several aspects of the embodiments of the invention While the invention will be described in the general context of program modules that execute m conjunction with program modules that run on an operating system on a personal computer, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may also be implemented in combination with other types of computer systems and program modules
Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including handheld devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices
Referring now to FIGURE 1, an illustrative computer architecture for a computer 2 utilized in the various embodiments of the invention will be described The computer architecture shown in FIGURE 1 illustrates a conventional desktop or laptop computer, including a central processing unit 5 ("CPU"), a system memory 7, including a random access memory 9 ("RAM") and a read-only memory ("ROM") 11, and a system bus 12 that couples the memory to the CPU 5 A basic input/output system
containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the computer, such as during startup, is stored in the ROM 11 The computer 2 further includes a mass storage device 14 for storing an operating system 16, application programs, and other program modules, which will be described m greater detail below
The mass storage device 14 is connected to the CPU 5 through a mass storage controller (not shown) connected to the bus 12 The mass storage device 14 and its associated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage for the computer 2 Although the description of computer-readable media contained herein refers to a mass storage device, such as a hard disk or CD-ROM drive, it should be appreciated by those , skilled m the art that computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by the computer 2
By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media Computer storage media includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks ("DVD"), or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computer 2
According to various embodiments of the invention, the computer 2 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to remote computers through a network 18, such as the Internet The computer 2 may connect to the network 18 through a network interface unit 20 connected to the bus 12 It should be appreciated that the network interface unit 20 may also be utilized to connect to other types of networks and remote computer systems The computer 2 may also include an input/output controller 22 for receiving and processing input from a number of other devices, including a keyboard, mouse, or electronic stylus (not shown m FIGURE I)
Similarly, an input/output controller 22 may provide output to a display screen, a printer, or other type of output device
As mentioned briefly above, a number of program modules and data files may be stored in the mass storage device 14 and RAM 9 of the computer 2, including an operating system 16 suitable for controlling the operation of a networked personal computer, such as the WINDOWS XP operating system from MICROSOFT CORPORATION of Redmond, Washington As known to those skilled m the art, the operating system 16 may support various language related features For instance, the operating system 16 may be able to display messages and system information m any language selected by a user In order to enable the operating system related language features, a user typically utilizes a control panel provided by the operating system to specify one OT more operating system language settings 28A As will be described in greater detail below,, the embodiments of the present invention provide a language settings wizard 30 for quickly and easily setting both the operating system language settings 28A and also one or more application program language settings 28B and 28C
The mass storage device 14 and RAM 9 may also store one or more program modules In particular, the mass storage device 14 and the RAM 9 may store one or more application programs 24 According to embodiments of the invention, the application programs 24 comprise the OFFICE productivity application suite from MICROSOFT CORPORATION As shown in FIGURE 1, the application programs 24 utilize language settings 28B to provide language-specific features to a user For instance, the language settings 28B specify languages enabled for use with the application programs 24 and a default language In order to set the application program language settings 28B, a user typically has to utilize menus and other interfaces provided by the application programs 24 As will be described in greater detail below, aspects of the invention provide a language settings wizard 30 for setting both the application program language settings 28B and the operating system language settings 28A It should be appreciated that although the embodiments of the invention are described in the context of the OFFICE productivity application suite, the application

programs 24 may comprise any type of computer programs that utilize language settings to provide custom language functionality to a user
According to aspects of the invention, the mass storage device 14 and RAM 9 may also store a web browser application 26, such as the INTERNET EXPLORER web browser application from MICROSOFT CORPORATION The web browser application 26 also allows a user to set one or more language settings 28C that define the language in which menus and dialog boxes will be displayed The web browser application 26 also allows a user to specify one or more languages for use with web sites that display content in more than one language hi order to specify the web browser language settings 28C, a user must utilize menus provided by the web browser 26 As will be descnbed m greater detail below, the language settings wizard 30 provides an integrated process for setting the web browser language settings 28C along with the operating system language settings 28A and the application program language settings 28B Additional details regarding the operation of the language settings wizard are provided below with respect to FIGURES 2-8
Refemng now to FIGURE 2, an illustrative routine 200 will be descnbed illustrating a process performed by the language settings wizard 30 for consistently configuring language support across an operating system and one or more application programs When reading the discussion of the routines presented herein, it should be appreciated that the logical operations of various embodiments of the present invention are implemented (1) as a sequence of computer implemented acts or program modules running on a computing system and/or (2) as mterconnected machine logic circuits or circuit modules within the computing system The implementation is a matter of choice dependent on the performance requirements of the computing system implementing the invention Accordingly, the logical operations illustrated in FIGURES 2-3, and making up the embodiments of the present invention descnbed herein are referred to variously as operations, structural devices, acts or modules It will be recognized by one skilled in the art that these operations, structural devices, acts and modules may be implemented in software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic, and any

combination thereof without deviating from the spmt and scope of the present invention as recited within the claims set forth herein
Refemng now to FIGURE 2, an illustrative routine 200 will be described for implementing consistent language support for an operating system and one or more application programs As will be descnbed in greater detail below, the routine 200 illustrates a process for launching the language settings wizard 30 in response to the detection of certain conditions By launching the language settings wizard 30 m response to these conditions, a user may be directed to the language settings wizard 30 when a determination is made that the language settings for the operating system 16 and the application programs 24 have been made in an inconsistent manner The user may also manually launch the wizard 30
One path for the execution of the routine 200 begins at operation 202, where a determination is made as to whether a user is working within the application programs 24 in a language for which support is not currently configured For language writing systems (sometimes called "scripts") that have no languages currently enabled for use with the application programs 24, the detection process examines whether characters from the script are present in the user's document If characters are present, the user may be prompted to configure the application programs 24 for use with the language at operation 206 If the user desires to change the language, the routine 200 will branch to operation 210, where the language settings wizard 30 will be executed An illustrative routine 300 descnbing the operation of the language settings wizard 30 is descnbed below with respect to FIGURE 3
For languages that are not currently configured, but that share the writing system with other configured languages (for example, Spanish is not enabled, but French is enabled), then the detection process requires a more complicated system than just looking at individual characters For these cases, program code is executed that searches for the presence of certain words The words are chosen to be indicators of a certain language being used In particular, for each language a list is created that contains a collection of somewhat-common words for that language, which do not appear to exist in any other known languages
The list of indicator words for each language is constructed in a manner to minimize the possibility of accidentally including a word that exists in other languages The number of words chosen for the list is also selected carefully For example, making the list too small could make it difficult to detect a language, since the user might never use those particular words Some words are used in place names, which are then used in other languages, so it might be a poor idea to include such words in the indicator list for their language of ongin
Accordingly, in view of the above, if it appears at operation 204 that the user is working in an inconsistently deployed language (e g a user is typing in German when the application programs have been configured for use in English), the routine 200 will continue from operation 204 to operation 206 It should also be appreciated that the routine 200 may continue from operation 204 to operation 206 in response to determining that the user is working m a language that is consistently not deployed For instance, if the user is working with German text and the operating settings are inconsistent with the application settings for German, then the language is inconsistently deployed However, if the operating system and the application programs are in consistent agreement that the support for German is not deployed, then the user will still be prompted to add support for the German language It should be appreciated that the term "inconsistently deployed" encompasses both scenarios
At operation 206, the user may be prompted to enable the language mat appears to be mis-configured An illustrative user interface for providing such a prompt is shown in FIGURE 4 As shown in FIGURE 4, a dialog box 40 may be displayed to the user with an indication that the application programs 24, operating system, or web browser have not been configured or have been mis-configured for use with the language or language group The dialog box 40 may also ask the user if they would like to be directed to the language settings wizard 30 to enable the language If the user chooses the "YES" button 42, the routine 200 branches to operation 210, where the language settings wizard 30 is executed If the user chooses the "NO" button 44. the routine 200 branches to operation 212, where it ends According to one embodiment of the invention, the dialog box 40 also includes a puli-down menu 46 that allows a user to

specify a period of time within which they are not to be bothered with a request to install support for the specified language A user may also specify that they not be bothered about any languages whatsoever within a specified period of tune
Another path for execution of the routine 200 begins at operation 216, where a determination is made as to whether the user has configured language support for the operating system 16 but not for the application programs 24 or vice versa This determination may be made m response to the user utilizing a control panel provided by the operating system 16 to configure the operation system language settings 28A In such a case, the user may be prompted to utilize the language settings wizard 30 to also configure the application program language settings 2SB Alternatively, the determination may be made in response to the user utilizing a menu provided by the application programs 24 to configure the application program language settings 2SB In such a case, the user may be prompted to utilize the language settings wizard 30 to also configure the operating system language settings 28A If only the operating system or application program language settings have been configured, the routine 200 continues to operation 210 where the language settings wizard 30 is executed It should also be appreciated that the language settings wizard 30 may also be started in response to a user request at operation 214
Turning now to FIGURE 3, an illustrative process 300 will be described showing the operation of the language settings wizard 30 according to one embodiment of the invention The routine 300 begins at operation 302, where the current language settings for the operating system 16 and the application programs 24 are displayed to the user An illustrative user interface for providing such a display is shown in FIGURE 5 As shown in FIGURE 5, a dialog box 50 may be displayed to the user with a text field identifying the current language settings for the operating system 16 and the application programs 24 The dialog box 50 may also include a text field 52 that identifies to the user the next steps to be taken m the wizard If the user selects the "NEXT" button 56, the routine 300 continues to operation 303 If the user selects the "CANCEL" button 58, the operation of the language settings wizard 30 is ended
At operation 303, the user may be permitted to select a language to work with in regard to the settings in the rest of the wizard According to one embodiment, a drop-down list may be presented that identifies the languages that the wizard can set things up for If the wizard was launched in response to a language detection, the detected language may be initially selected in the list If the user manually launched the wizard, then the user must manually select the language to be configured This step allows the user to specify the language they want to set up, and/or to correct if an incorrect detection was made The language selected here in this step is then the language for which all of the settings are applied in the following steps In other words, it the user chooses Polish here, then the choices in the keyboard step described below will be about the Polish keyboard, not some other language keyboard From operation 303, the routine 300 continues to operation 304
At operation 304, the user is prompted to enable language group support within the operating system 16 Group support refers to installing and enabling the necessary components within the operating system 16 to enable support for groups of languages According to one embodiment of the invention, the language groups include a complex scripts group that includes the languages of India, Thailand, Vietnam, Arabic, and Hebrew, an east Asian ideographic group that includes Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, and an alphabetic group that includes the western European, Greek, Cyrillic, and other alphabetic types of languages By enabling support for a group of languages, the fonts and other necessary items to support the language are installed and configured It should be appreciated that the operation 304 may be skipped if the language group in question is already supported by the operating system
From operation 304, the routine 300 continues to operation 306, where preferences are received from the user regarding the operating system keyboard layout An illustrative user interface' for receiving such input is shown in FIGURE 6 As shown in FIGURE 6, a dialog box 60 may be display through which the user can add a keyboard layout for a language and select whether the keyboard layout should be the default keyboard layout In particular, a check box 62 is provided for indicating whether a keyboard layout for the selected language should be added for use with the
operating system 16 A check box 64 is also provided for indicating that the identified keyboard layout should be the default keyboard layout As shown in FIGURE 6, the dialog box 60 also includes the text regions 68 and 52 for indicating the previous and next steps of the wizard, respectively If the user selects the "NEXT" button 56, the routine 300 continues to operation 308 If the user selects the "BACK" button 66, the routine returns to the operation 304 If the user selects the "CANCEL" button 58, the operation of the language settings wizard 30 is ended
At operation 308, the user is prompted for preferences regarding operating system standards and formats In particular, language support may include custom date formats, time formats, currency formats, number formatting, and other standards and formats At operation 308, a dialog box is presented to the user through which they may select the appropriate standards and formats for use with the enabled language Once the user has completed specifying the standard and format preferences, the routine 300 continues to operation 310
At operation 310, preferences are received from the user regarding language support in the application programs 24 FIGURE 7 shows an illustrative user interface for receiving these preferences from a user In particular, the dialog box 70 is presented to the user The dialog box 70 indicates that the application programs 24 are not currently setup to enable the selected language The dialog box 70 also includes a check box that allows the user to specify that the language be enable for use with the application programs 24 By enabling the language for use with the application programs 24, certain language specific features will be enabled within the application programs For instance, a spell checker dictionary may be utilized that is customized for the enabled language As shown in FIGURE 7, the dialog box 70 also includes the text regions 68 and 52 for indicating the previous and next steps of the wizard, respectively If the user selects the "NEXT" button 56, the routine 300 continues to operation 312 If the user selects the "BACK" burton 66, the routine returns to the operation 308 If the user selects the "CANCEL" button 58, the operation of the language settings wizard 30 is ended
From operation 312, the routine 300 continues to operation 314 where preferences are received from the user regarding language support m the web browser 26 In particular, the user may be permitted to select the preferred language for use within the web browser application 26 and may be able to specify the installed languages for use with web sites that provide content in more than one language Once the user has set the web browser language settings 28C, the routine 300 continues to operation 316
At operation 316, the user is prompted to apply the specified operating system language settings 28A, the application program language settings 28B, and the web browser language settings 28C In particular, the dialog box 80 shown in FIGURE 80 may be displayed to the user As shown in FIGURE 8, the dialog box 80 includes a text region 68 for indicating the previous steps of the wizard If the user selects the "FINISH" button 56, the changes are applied and the routine 300 continues to operation 318, where it returns If the user selects the "BACK" button 66, the routine returns to the operation 314 If the user selects the "CANCEL" button 58, the operation of the language settings wizard 30 is ended and none of the user-specified settings are applied
It should be appreciated that, according to one embodiment of the invention, the application language settings 28C may include the identities of one or more "enabled" languages Enabled languages are those languages for which language-specific features are displayed to the user If support for a large number of languages is installed, a large number of language-specific features may also be displayed This may be confusing to a user Accordingly, the user is permitted to select the enabled languages for which the language-specific features should be displayed Language-specific features are hidden that correspond to languages that are not enabled
Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that the various embodiments of the invention include a method,, system, apparatus, and computer-readable medium for consistently configuring language support across an operating system and one or more application programs The above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the composition of the invention Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without
departing from the spmt and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the clajms hereinafter appended

We claim:
1. A method for consistently configuring language support across an operating system and at least one application program, the method
v
comprising:
determining whether characters present in the at least one application program are in a language Anting system for which language support is
!• •'
not currently enabled for the at least one application program;
determining, in response to determining that characters present in the at least one application program are in a language writing system for which language support is not currently enabled, that a user is working in a language for which language support is not consistently deployed; and
^providing, in response to determining that a user is working in:~a~ language for which language support is not consistently deployed, an integrated process for receiving and implementing at least one language setting for the operating system and at least one language setting for the at least one application program, wherein the integrated process comprises:
prompting the user?,;to enable the language support that is not currently enabled,- wherein the user is directed to a language support settings wizard to enable the language;
displaying the at Idast one language setting for the operating

system and the at least one language setting for the at least one application program, wherein the display identifies the next steps to the user;
prompting the user to specify the at least one language setting for the operating system and for the at least one application program, wherein a list of languages is displayed for the user to specify the at least one language setting; and

receiving the at least one language setting selection from the user for the operating system and the at least one application program.
2. The method of Claim, 1, wherein the at least one language setting
for the operating system ,comprise preferences for operating system language group support.
3. The method of Claim 1, wherein the at least one language setting
x. •'<$'
for the operating system comprises preferences for an operating system keyboard layout.
4. The method of Claim 1, wherein the at least one language setting
for the operating system comprises preferences for standards and
formats.
5. The method of Claim 1, wherein the at least one language setting
for the at least one application program comprises preferences for setting
a default language for use in the at least one application program.
6. The method of Claim 1, wherein the at least one language setting
for the at least one application program comprises preferences for
language support in a web Browser application program.
7. The method of Claim 1, wherein the at least one language setting
for the at least one application program comprises the selection of at
least one language for which language-specific features should be
displayed.
8. The method of Claim 1, wherein the integrated process further
comprises applying the received at least one language setting for the
operating system and the received at least one current language setting
for the at least one application program.

9. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to:
determine whether characters present in at least one application program are in a language writing system for which language support is not currently enabled for th£'at least one application program;
determine, in response to determining whether characters present in at least one application program are in a language writing system for which language support is not currently enabled for the at least one application program, that language support is inconsistently configured for both the operating system and at least one application program; and
in response to determining that language support is inconsistently configured, to execute an integrated process for receiving and
implementing at least one language setting for the operating system and at least one language setting for the at least one application program, wherein the integrated process comprises:
prompting the user to enable the language support that is not currently enabled, wherein the user is directed to a language support settings wizard to enable the language;
displaying the at least one language setting for the operating system and the at le^st one language setting for the at least one application program, wherein the display identifies the next steps to the user;
prompting the user to specify the at least one language setting for the operating system and for the at least one application program, wherein a list of languages is displayed for the user to specify the at least one language setting; and
receiving the at least one language setting selection from the user for the operating system and the at least one application program.

10. The computer-readable medium of Claim 9, wherein determining
whether language support is inconsistently configured comprises
determining whether a user is working in a language for which language
support is not consistently deployed.
The computer-readaJJle medium of Claim 9, wherein the at least
one language setting for th]| operating system comprise at least one of
the following: preferences for operating system language group support,
preferences for an operating ^system keyboard layout, and preferences for
standards and formats. .
12. The computer-readaple medium of Claim 11, wherein the at least
one language setting for the at least one application program comprises
preferences for setting a default language for use in the at least one
application program.
13. The computer-readable medium of Claim 11, wherein the at least
one language setting for the at least one application program comprises
preferences for language support in a web browser application program.
14. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable
instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will
cause the computer to:
determine whether characters present in the document are in a
& language writing system for which language support is not currently
enabled for the document;
determine, in response to determining whether characters present in
the document are in a language writing system for which language
i;'i support is not currently enabled for the document, that a user is working
in a document in a language for which support is not consistently deployed; and

execute a language settings wizard to enable language support in response to determining that the user is working in a document in a language for which support is not enabled, wherein executing a language setting wizard comprises:
prompting the user,to enable the language support that is not currently enabled, wherein the user is directed to the language settings wizard to enable the language support;
displaying the at least one language setting for the operating
;
system, and the at least one language setting for the at least one
application program, wherein the display identifies the next steps
to the user;
prompting the user to specify the at least one language setting
for the operating system and for ,the at least one application
program, wherein a list of languages is displayed for the user to
specify the at least one language setting; and
receiving the at least one language setting selection from the user for the operating system and the at least one application program.
15. The computer-readable medium of Claim 14, wherein determining whether a user is working in an application program in a language for which support is not enabled further comprises determining whether words exist in the document that are expressed in a language for which language support is not enabled.