It's not by chance that such giants of the computer market as Microsoft, Sun, Oracle, and Sybase localize their products into a great variety of languages. And it is our company they have entrusted with the localization of their software and documentation for Russia. This is because we have translators specializing on the translation of the software and experienced engineers for its assembly and testing.

Software localization is not a luxury but a survival prerequisite in the software market. Rapid expansion of computer technologies brings more and more software developing companies into the market, which implies growing competition. Volume and complexity of the software are constantly increasing, so that more and more knowledge and skills are required to operate these programs. It is obvious that comprehending information in a foreign language can be difficult — if at all possible.

Software or network resource localization is a sophisticated multi-step technological process with the purpose of translating every element of the user interface into the user's native language.

Thus, localization is a process of adapting a software product to the national requirements. Technically speaking, localization means creation of individual localization objects in compliance with the requirements of the target language.

Localization comprises a number of steps:

Translation of the user interface: dialogs, menus, program lines, etc. (resource files).
Resource file correction (resizing controls in dialogs and menus, because the length of the text is often different in the target language).
Adaptation and localization of the program source code based on country-specific requirements (date and time formats, etc.).
Translation, assembly and testing of help files (online help): text, links, keywords with the original links preserved, referential integrity checks.
Translation of the text in graphics files with the general style of the graphics and their details preserved.
Translation and pre-print preparation of accompanying documentation, as well as printed ads (labels, stickers, etc.).
Linguistic and functional testing of the localized software version.
Quality control.

This localization scheme in no way conveys its complexity. Each localization phase can generate issues requiring both standard and unique solutions. We know how to solve problems!