T he Register has published a fine report concerning Hebrew support in Microsoftis Mac offerings. According to The Register, Microsoft doesnit support Hebrew in either Office (2001, or v. X), or Internet Explorer. This, despite the offer of subsidizing the costs of developing such support. Now, the CEO of Yeda, the company that represents Apple in Israel, has called for a user campaign to pressure Microsoft for this support. From The Register:
Itzik Radishkovitz, CEO of Appleis Israel representative Yeda, called for a worldwide user campaign to pressure Microsoft to add localization support for Hebrew in its Mac products, in an interview with The Register today.
As we reported earlier this week, Microsoft refuses to support Hebrew, Arabic, and Korean languages in Macintosh versions of its Office suite, or its Internet Explorer browser, obliging institutional buyers in these markets to opt for Windows instead.
Radishkovitz said that Yeda had first approached Microsoft in 1998 to add Hebrew support for the Mac. After several rebuffs, Yeda offered to pay for the cost of localization:
"iJust tell us how much will it cost usi, we asked. iHow much money do you want - because we are ready to pay!i" he said. But Microsoft Israel refused to listen.
"We are very dependent on this - because you canit sell into large institutions, academic institutions, without Office."
"Even in the United States and Canada there are a lot of Jewish communities, and people who would be happy to use Office in Hebrew."
The report is penned by Andrew Orlowski, and is a very good read.