Rwanda : Microsoft unveils Windows 8 in Kinyarwanda

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer speaks during a press conference to officially launch Windows 8 in New York October 25, 2012. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Tech giant Microsoft on Friday (January 11) announced that the newest version of its flagship product, MS Windows 8, will also be in Rwanda’s national language Kinyarwanda.

Microsoft said in a statement that MS Windows 8 is available in 14 new languages, bringing the total number of languages supported to 109. The US software giant released Window 8 in October last year and has since been working on producing the product in different languages to cover the global market.

With a release in Kinyarwanda, it means Rwandans with minimal knowledge of either French or English will be able to use their touch-screen gadgets that support the system without having to worry about language barrier.

The new languages announced today are English UK, Punjabi (Pakistan), Sindhi (Pakistan), Central Kurdish (Iraq), Uyghur (People’s Republic of China), Belarusian (Belarus), Kinyarwanda (Rwanda), Tigrinya (Ethiopia), Tajik (Tajikistan), Wolof (Senegal), K’iche’ (Guatemala), Scottish Gaelic (United Kingdom), Cherokee (United States) and Valencian (Spain). Urdu is already available in Windows.

The application now can support any of the languages with language interface packs (LIPs) as long as it supports one of 12 application certification languages, said Microsoft in the statement.