What can you do to remedy the situation? You could upgrade to Ultimate using the Windows 7 Anytime upgrade. But there is another option, one that does not cost money: Vistalizator.

The software was initially designed to provide Windows Vista users with the option to install additional language packs but has since been updated to support the Windows 7 operating system as well.

Vistalizator displays the installed languages of the operating system upon startup. It displays the name of the language, the type (MUI or LIP) and the mode. The official Microsoft Windows 7 language packs are supported by the program. The developer links to all of them from the website.

The difference between MUI and LIP language packs is the following. MUI, which stands for Multilingual User Interface Packs, offer complete translation while LIP, Language Interface Packs, only partial translation. MUI language packs can only be installed in Ultimate or Enterprise while LIP language packs are usually available for all editions of the operating system (they do require one MUI language for the parts that are not translated).

Vistalizator basically overrides the MUI language installation protection that Microsoft added to the Windows operating system. Windows Ultimate or Enterprise users can simply download the language packs from Windows Update.

Windows users who are thinking about installing an additional language pack using Vistalizator should consider backing up their operating system first to be able to restore it if something goes wrong in the process.

The process of installing a new Windows 7 language pack is simple. All that needs to be done is to click on the Add languages button in the program’s interface to pick and install another MUI pack. The software supports two installation modes: internal and express.

Internal installation mode is experimental at this point. It is however the only mode that will update the full operating system. Express mode is safer as it does not overwrite system files but does not update the complete operating system with the new language. It will install faster but is not compatible with Windows Updates.

Windows users who want to give Vistalizator a try can download the application and the language packs from the developer’s website. It is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Every other version of Windows Vista is left with Windows Vista Language Interface Packs (LIPs) that only translate the interface partially. I’m not sure why Microsoft has decided to provide different solutions depending on the edition of Windows Vista but that is the case.

There is no official way to install a MUI on a Vista edition other than Vista Enterprise and Vista Ultimate. Vistalizator (via Techtrends) has been developed to provide a way to change the language in every edition of Windows Vista with MUIs. The author provides links to the language pack and the download of the software on his homepage.

This can be very useful for users who bought a notebook or computer abroad that is using a default language that they do not understand or prefer not to use.

Here is how you use Vistalizator to change the language in Windows Vista. Download the program from the developers homepage and pick on the language packs for 32-bit or 64-bit Windows Vista (either with or without SP1). Start Vistalizator and pick the language pack that you have downloaded. A click on Install starts the process and Vista will be started with the new language from then on.

The big advantage of this method is that it uses the official language packs provided by Microsoft and that the change of the language in Windows Vista only takes about five minutes.