MacOffice2008 - Word User Interface is in Chinese

[gst]

I just bought the macbook (in Taiwan), using Leopard OSX. Selected English as the language. Then i installed MacOffice2008 (English version). Excel, Entourage, Powerpoint are fine and User Interface is in English. However, Word user interface is in Chinese. The menu at the top of the page is in Chinese, but some of the toolbars appear in English.

I've tried everything, but can't find out how to change to English. Is there something I can do?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[CyberTaz]

Have you tried AppleMenu> System Preferences> International & moving English
to the top of the list?

 

[XBBRQ]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, i've already set the language under AppleMenu>system preferences>International> English is at the top of the list.

Everything else (Excel, Entourage, Powerpoint) is in English. Only having problem with Word. There was no prompt when i was installing MacOffice to set languages, so not sure if there's anything else i can do??

The system is running on Leopard. Is there a default language issue there?

 

[John McGhie]

Did that computer have a copy of the Office 2004 Test Drive version in
Chinese on it?

Did you select to "Remove" it when you installed 2008? If not, run Remove
Office and remove it now.

The copy of Office 2008 you bought: Is that from Microsoft, or is it a
bootleg?

The reason I ask is that the English version of the DVD does not contain the
Chinese dialog boxes you are seeing, but the Chinese version does

Hope this helps

Thanks for your reply. Yes, i've already set the language under
AppleMenu>system preferences>International> English is at the top of the list.

Everything else (Excel, Entourage, Powerpoint) is in English. Only having
problem with Word. There was no prompt when i was installing MacOffice to set
languages, so not sure if there's anything else i can do??

The system is running on Leopard. Is there a default language issue there?

--
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Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Matt Centurión [MSFT]]

When changing the System language on MacOS X you need to Log Out and Log
Back In for the changes to apply completely. Word still shows some Chinese
User Interface items because these are coming from the OS. Such as items in
the Apple Menu and Application Menu. Restarting usually fixes everything.

Also make sure you change your other settings to English in the "Formats"
tab of the International Preferences. Again, restart after doing this.

If you are still seeing Chinese elements after doing this please send us
more details.

Thanks,

Matt
MacOffice Testing
Microsoft

 

[gst]

Hello Matt. Thanks for your email. Yes, at the time I wrote the post below, I had already reset and restarted the language under Intl Preferences.

The problem is resolved, but not without a lot of pain. I had to take the computer back to Apple dealer and they explained that the problem is that in Taiwan, they install a component under MacOffice to enable the UserInterface in Chinese language. (Just FYI: Along with the computer, i purchased MacOffice Home and Student Edition (not a bootleg copy), which looks like its only in English, no chinese language anywhere on the box). They had to remove the MacOffice Chinese language component from the computer. They did this, which fixed the User Interface problem, but then subsequently all the information I had on my computer was gone. (Note: although the UI issue was resolved, there were still components under Word which were in Chinese.) Apparently they were unable to restore it b/c the information was written over (vs being erased). For some reason, whatever component they removed was connected with my data.

When I got my computer back after 24 hours, Entourage kept freezing and asking me if I wanted to report the error to microsoft (which I did, many times). Then entourage refused to start up, saying my database was corrupted. I followed all the instructions and tried to rebuild my database, which kept failing. I finally gave up and brought it back again to the apple dealer. They took out everything, and then re-installed everything. I asked them to use English for everything from the very start, and not to monkey around with installing the chinese component like they do for other buyers in Taiwan.

I have been a user of pc my entire life, and now switching to Apple after hearing rave reviews from all my family and friends, I've been quite let down by the experience.

 

[gst]

Thanks vm for the help. you are probably right. the explanation apple taiwan gave me is on an earlier post. apple taiwan installs some sort of chinese language component to enable the macoffice chinese user interface. i have a real copy of officemac2008. ended up re-installing everything.

tks again! ;-)

Did that computer have a copy of the Office 2004 Test Drive version in

 

[John McGhie]

English, no chinese language anywhere on the box). They had to remove the
MacOffice Chinese language component from the computer. They did this, which
fixed the User Interface problem, but then subsequently all the information I
had on my computer was gone.

That's nothing to do with Microsoft Office. That's laziness on the Dealer's
part.

Rather than spend the 30 minutes it takes to do a full Remove and Replace of
the Operating System and Mac Office, they hit your computer with a standard
"Disk Image".

This replaces all the data on the entire hard disk, track-for-track. It
wipes all existing data on the hard disk. But it saves them 20 minutes...

Very unprofessional: if I were you I would have a chat to Apple about that.
Apple will not be very impressed with dealers who cause customer data loss!

Cheers

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]