Microsoft India has announced the availability of the fully localized Hindi version of 2007 Microsoft Office.
Initially, the Hindi edition will be available with Microsoft Office Professional 2007 and Microsoft Office Standard 2007 versions. The launch is an outcome of the commitment Microsoft made under Project Bhasha, a program it launched in September 2003 to promote local language computing in India. Microsoft will also be launching Language Interface Packs (LIPs) for 2007 Microsoft Office in thirteen Indian languages including Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Punjabi, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada, Nepali, Konkani, Telugu, Urdu, Assamese and Oriya before the end of 2007.
Pankaj Ukey, Office System Product Lead, Microsoft Corporation India, said, "The need for local language software is crucial to deliver the benefits of IT at the grass-root level in a multilingual country like India. So it was our endeavor to bring in the fully localized version of 2007 Microsoft Office in Hindi immediately after the launch of 2007 Microsoft Office. This is a break through product which will enable people work faster and better and be more productive both at home and at work. The Hindi version will help us extend these benefits to over 3372 million Hindi speaking population in the country. So far, 2007 Microsoft Office has received an overwhelming response with customer adoption crossing over 1.5 million licenses in the country. The release of Office Hindi and Local Language Interface Packs later this year will help us reach out to even more customers in India."
Project Bhasha, by Microsoft aims to bring IT to the Indian masses. Representatives say this is a comprehensive program focused on localizing and providing local interfaces for Windows and Office in 14 Indian languages. Under the program, Microsoft is committed to focus its efforts along four key areas primarily; Product Localization, Government Collaboration, Academia/Developer Integration and building a Local Language IT ecosystem through Community/Industry Participation.
What is the cost of Microsoft Office Professional 2007 software in Indian currency. 
