I am trying to figure out if there is a difference between the following: 1. The Japanese version of Windows 2008 R2 and 2. The English version of Windows 2008 R2 with the Japanese language pack If someone can point out the difference or confirm that both would result in the same user experience, I would much appreciate it. This MSDN page shows that the Japanese pack is a full language pack: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744369%28v=WS.10%29.aspx. As per this blog post from Raymond Chen: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2011/07/11/10185024.aspx: In Windows Vista, fully-localized versions of Windows were dropped. From Windows Vista onwards, all versions of Windows consist of a base language-neutral version with a language pack installed on top. Thank you.

There is nothing Difference. You can use Japanese edition or English with Japanese edition.Regards Suman B. Singh