Testing on foreign Windows, is this possible?

views:

answers:

+2 Q:

Testing on foreign Windows, is this possible?

I have a need to test an app (.Net) on a Taiwanese version of Windows.

Problems:

I can't read or speak Taiwanese
I don't know if it would be the same if I installed a version of Windows from MSDN on my computer and said I'm from Taiwan

Does anyone have any experience with this? How would I go about setting up an appropriate environment to test on?

+4 A:

VMs are ideal for i18n testing. Create a VM for each OS languauge you need, and you're sorted. There is an "all languages" version of Windows, but since that isn't what your client is going to be using it isn't a true test.

To get the true experience, you do need to have the right OS language - for example, .NET error messages can be wildly different (let's hope nothing is coded to the exact strings ;-p). However, not knowing the text (to see what is right/wrong) could be a big problem.

Marc Gravell 2010-02-23 19:54:30

Your fingers are approximately 10% faster than mine.

Adam Crossland 2010-02-23 19:55:21

I was thinking that creating a VM was the right way to go, but would not having a foriegn IP (or something like that) be a big deal? I have a ClickOnce deployment and I'm wondering if going from a U.S. server to a Taiwanese one would cause a problem.

isorfir 2010-02-23 19:59:42

For a free VM tool, have a look at Sun's VirtualBox - http://www.virtualbox.org/

Scott Smith 2010-02-23 20:03:55

Not sure about the IP thing - it could be an issue if you are testing edge servers, so it all depends. VMWare Player is also free, btw.

Marc Gravell 2010-02-23 20:13:16

I find it hard to believe that the geolocation of your IP address has anything to do with the ability to use Windows 7 or an application in the language of your choice. That just doesn't make sense. After all, Taiwanese people travel and bring their laptops with them, right?

Adam Crossland 2010-02-23 20:23:55

@Adam - a lot of the web cares about your location. So if your app relies on web-services it could matter. For example, is "google.com" available? BBC? etc.

Marc Gravell 2010-02-23 20:27:23

Probably not an issue with the IP address, just trying to think of anything that could be different. They get an error (What error? I don't know, this has been passed to me) and I'm guessing it may be the language conversion from English to (I'm assuming) Chinese. Right now I'm trying to find a Chinese version of Vista on MSDN and I'm not finding it...

isorfir 2010-02-23 20:28:45

@Marc That's what I was thinking, maybe a possible blacklist for some reason. Never know.

isorfir 2010-02-23 20:29:36

Marc, clearly what you say is true, but I think that it is a separate issue from what it seems like the OP is asking. The IP address that a VM gets should **not** affect its ability to host Win 7 in any given language.

Adam Crossland 2010-02-23 20:52:51

I can't read or speak Taiwanese

Fortunately, menu items etc are on the same relative position as on English windows, so e.g. to exit an application, just select the last item in the first menu ;-)

I don't know if it would be the same if I installed a version of Windows from MSDN on my computer and said I'm from Taiwan

If you have an MDSN Operating System license (or more), you can just download any language version.

Also, if you have Windows 7 Ultimate, you can switch languages on the fly.

oefe 2010-02-23 19:55:13

I am working in Windows 7 Ultimate...but should I be worried about finding my way back to English?

isorfir 2010-02-23 19:56:51

Use virtual machines and don't worry about finding your way back to English. Moreover, never test on your development system.

Adam Crossland 2010-02-23 19:58:28

@isofir You just have to remember the location of the command used to switch languages.

oefe 2010-02-23 20:15:33

ansaurus

tags:

views:

answers:

Testing on foreign Windows, is this possible?

related questions