Users who want to change the language of their Windows Vista operating system will soon realize that it is not as easy as they thought it would be. Especially Vista Home users are left standing in the rain because there is no official way of changing the language of the operating system.

The Windows Vista Multi-language User Interface Hacker (via Raymond)is a third party software that was specifically designed for the purpose of changing the language of a Windows Vista operating system. It works by downloading the program files, the selected MUI language pack and a lengthy conversion in the software application that can take between 5 and 60 minutes depending on the computer’s performance.

After that is is simply a matter of selecting the installed language in the program’s interface and restarting the computer.

Download links to all available language packs are provided in the software program so that the user can simply download it right away. Switching back to the original language is not a big problem either. It is simply a matter of downloading the right MUI and applying the same procedure to the file.

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.