I have Vista Home Premium; it's got the IME. Even the Basic and (I think) Starter editions include language input functionality for all the languages Windows supports.

Have you tried enabling it via something like this?

It's essentially enabled the same way it was in XP.

This forum is great.  When I first bought my laptop, I read somewhere that Ultimate was required for IME.  For a year I've been limited in using it since I only had Premium.  I was misinformed.  With the help of this forum, today I easily installed the IME feature.  Thanks all for your help.  This is worth another donation.

Jarvik7 wrote:

You were probably thinking of the MUI, which is still stupid to limit to only the highest end version.

I agree, but it's nice to have. What exactly made them limit it remains a mystery to me, though.

Jarvik7 wrote:

You were probably thinking of the MUI, which is still stupid to limit to only the highest end version.

That's one of the things i LOVED  about Ubuntu (have it installed via virtual machine), setting the Japanese interface was SO easy...

Anyway, if you use that parody of XP called Vista, check this: Vistalizator

Did you buy a Vista laptop from abroad and want it to talk to you in your mother tongue?

Try Vistalizator - this tool allows you to change display language in Vista editions other than (officially supported) Ultimate, like Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium and Business.

Vistalizator overrides the limit of one MUI language on non-Ultimate Vista editions.
See details about using multiple languages in Vista.
Features

    * Change Vista display language in less than 5 minutes! (Express installation mode)
    * Uses official Microsoft Vista language packs
    * You can install all 36 MUI languages and switch between them easily
    * You can install 41 LIP languages on top of specific MUI languages
    * Works in 32-bit and 64-bit Vista
    * Compatible with Vista Service Pack 1
    * User Account Control (UAC) compliant - prompts for administrative privileges
    * Vista Speech Recognition works with all supported languages:
      Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish
    * Languages can be installed either in Internal or in Express mode, see details

Beware, though, that there could be some minor problems. For example, for some reason since I installed the Japanese interface, I can't see the "size" column when using windows explorer. Besides that, having my pc in Japanese has been pretty cool.

Yeah I'd have to agree; it's pointless to limit their market because they make you pay mucho moolah just to get the ability to have it localized. It should have been a preinstalled option in every version.

I use Vistalizator when I use Windows. I'm so glad this program was made. I spent so much time trying another program and trying to hack in the language pack -- almost file by file in some cases (yes I am that hardcore )

I've not had any problems with it except the annoying little bits of text here and there that don't get translated (update screens come to mind).

Gotta love Ubuntu's language flexibility.

bombpersons wrote:

Does anyone know of a way to change the language in XP? I know I could find a Japanese ISO somewhere, but I'd rather not reinstall windows again (for like the second time this year...)

Well, I can think of two ways:

1) If you have Professional (maybe Home too), do some online "shopping" and nab the MUI for XP. It's like a separate CD (set?) for businesses and corporations that includes all the language packs. I'm pretty sure I've seen places to get it before.

2) I tried a method a while back that was really cool and I was surprised it worked. Uninstall your latest service pack and reinstall the Japanese version of it (Or just install a newer one). I believe you'll also need to change a value or two in the Registry Editor. The best link I can find at the moment is here. Scroll down to the comment by iGuest left on May 1st.

I don't remember having to change the settings to be able to install the service pack in another language, but you do need to change it so Windows boots with the new language.

Unfortunately this doesn't lend itself very well to "quick-switching" between more than one language. I'm not sure if you can just change the registry settings back, or if you have to completely remove the service pack.

It's also not the cleanest install ever. It works, but I don't think everything's translated and I ended up with some text showing up garbled.

I had to uninstall it though. I wish Vista had a Start button instead of that orb. Something about seeing スタート down there makes me feel all awesome heh.

Hope it might help