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Internationalization features

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Internationalization features

This topic contains a brief overview of the internationalization features in the Windows Server 2003 family of products. It is divided into two sections: New and updated features since Windows NT 4.0 and New and updated features since Windows 2000.

For links to more information about the features in this release, see New Features.

New and updated features since Windows NT 4.0

The Windows Server 2003 family offers the following improvements (in comparison to Windows NT 4.0) that help provide increased levels of support for internationalization:

  • Multilingual support
    The Windows Server 2003 family provides support for multiple languages on a single system. As a result of the system architecture, the operating system, utilities, and properly written applications can be translated and modified into local versions for hundreds of languages. Local administrators therefore do not need to be fluent in technical English.
  • Multiregional support
    Support for additional locales and regional and language options is also included in this release, which makes it even easier to access relevant content.

New and updated features since Windows 2000

Many products in the Windows Server 2003 family offer the following improvements (in comparison to Windows 2000) that help provide increased support for internationalization. Some of these languages may not be available on certain products:

  • New Phonetic Input Method Editor for Traditional Chinese
    The new Phonetic Input Method Editor (IME) is a new design, based on the latest state-of-the-art Chinese keyboard input technology. It is an update of the Microsoft Phonetic IME 98a CHT edition.
  • Improved Japanese Input Method Editor
    The Japanese IME Version 8 receives alphabetical keyboard characters, converts them to Japanese characters, and then enters the result in the application. This new feature also supports the use of Japanese IME dictionaries over a network. IME saves user-defined words and conversion rules in a user dictionary, which can be edited on the user's local computer. (This dictionary was read-only in Windows 2000).
  • Improved Korean Input Method Editor
    The Korean IME maps key sequences to Korean Jamo and then converts them into Korean syllables. The new Korean IME supports handwriting input for Hangul and Hanja.
  • Improved Simplified Chinese Input Method Editor
    The MSPY3.0 IME provides an enlarged IME lexicon (approximately 100,000 words and phrases) and updated IME rules, an improved language model with higher IME accuracy and performance, and modeless typing (Chinese/English mixed input).