Te reo Māori choice for Windows 8, Office 2013, and the Internet

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In preparation for Maori Language Week 2013, Microsoft has announced that the choice to use te reo Maori in Windows 8, Office 2013, Outlook.com, and Internet Explorer 10 is available now.

"We are thrilled to continue our support for te reo Maori," says Paul Muckleston, Managing Director of Microsoft New Zealand Limited. "We are grateful for the hard work that so many people have done to make it possible to weave this taonga into the very latest of tablet, smartphone, PC, and cloud technologies."

"We are also announcing our support for a new initiative that can bring free te reo Maori translations to the Internet with the Microsoft Translator Hub in the future," says Muckleston.

Glenis Philip-Barbara, Chief Executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori, adds that support for te reo Maori in technology is essential for investing in tamariki by offering an interface from their school years. This allows youth to be immersed in te reo for life. 

New support for te reo Maori in Microsoft products includes the following:

  • In Windows 8, te reo Maori can be applied to the desktop and the modern touch-friendly interface, as well as the included apps for Mail, Calendar, People, Weather, Maps, Games, Music, Finance, News, Defender (the included free anti-virus software) and more. 
  • The new Internet Explorer 10 web browser for Windows 7 and Windows 8 can also be used with te reo Maori menus and options. 
  • With Office 2013, te reo Maori can be applied to Outlook 2013, Word 2013, Excel 2013, PowerPoint 2013, and OneNote 2013. The free online email service Outlook.com also has the option to be used in te reo Maori.
  • Windows Phone 8 now offers te reo Maori support for the Regional Settings (this will display things like the time and date in te reo Maori).

All of these te reo Maori options are available today at no extra cost, through a simple change in the Language Settings (Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10, Outlook.com, and Windows Phone 8), or with a free download (Office 2013 from https://aka.ms/Office2013inTeReo). You can see screenshots of how it looks once the language packs are installed here: https://sdrv.ms/14aZVLE.

Read Waldo Kuipers’, Corporate Affairs Manager at Microsoft New Zealand Limited, full article about the te reo Maori choice for Windows 8, Office 2013, and the Internet here.