Hello, please pardon if this is mentioned somewhere else. I am in interested in running Windows 7 in English, but need to be able to type and view things in Japanese. I know there is a Japanese release available, but is it possible to download the English release and have Japanese capabilities? Thank you for any assistance.

Hi egbeg5 Yes, just like in previous versions of Windows, you can use the Input Method Editor (IME) to type and display text in a foreign language. Open Control Panel / Regional and Language Options. Select the Keyboard and Languages Tab. Select Change Keyboards. Click the Add button. Select the language you wish to use. Click OK. Click Apply / OK. You will now see an EN icon in the Taskbar. Click this icon.Click Use the Language Bar.On the Language Bar, select Help for the details about how to use the input language.Hope this helps. Ronnie Vernon MVP

Dear Ronnie Vernon,Thank you very much for the fast reply. I really appreciate it. As an unrelated corollary, is the mp3 corruption problem fixed? Thank you again for your help.

Yes, MP3 issue has been fixed. You have to download the following update to prevent corruption:KB961367Microsoft MVP - Group Policy

Thank you both very much for all the help.

Yes, MP3 issue has been fixed. You have to download the following update to prevent corruption: KB96136 Big question being: Why doesn't it show up in Windows Update?

My wife is Japanese, so I had extra incentive to get this working under Windows 7!The only thing is, Japanese IME works differently than it did under XP and Vista. Under Windows 7, it maps the entire keyboard as if it were a Japanese JIS keyboard. Under XP and Vista, it allowed romaji to kanji but preserved the U.S. keyboard layout.This can be confusing, since punctuation is laid out differently on a JIS keyboard -- so when trying to type a @ (Shift-2) instead you get a double quote ".This new behavior would be a spectacular boon to anyone who had a JIS keyboard. They'd feel right at home! I'd like to see the functionality stay, but have an option to stick with a U.S. layout too.

_jodo said: Yes, MP3 issue has been fixed. You have to download the following update to prevent corruption:KB96136Big question being: Why doesn't it show up in Windows Update? It does indeed show up in Windows Update. In fact, it was the first update Windows Updated updated Windows 7 with. (Oy... Try saying that 5 times fast..)On my system the earliest update reads:Update for Windows 7 Client Beta (KB961367)SuccessfulImportant1/18/2009View your update history in the Windows Update client and check to see if it's there or not. It should be.