In an earlier post, I mentioned I had trouble getting Word 2007 to stick to my preferred default language settings. Whenever I set the default language manually to English (U.K.), Word 2007 would insist I meant English (U.S.) and prissily put red squiggly lines under words that were spelt correctly. This is, as they say in English (U.K.), “not cricket.” I then tried changing Office 2007’s Primary Editing Language setting to English (U.K.), but this was just as ineffective. Clearly, Office 2007 had deep-seated issues. Did it perhaps still deeply resent Britain’s harsh treatment of Office 1775?
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Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, the version of the Office suite meant for noncommercial use, is currently retailing in Malaysia for RM199 (about USD55). For that remarkably low price, you get three licenses for the 2007 versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. That’s quite a bargain because the suite has a suggested retail price of USD149 in the US and is currently going for USD98 on Amazon. The catch is that remarkably low price is only for the Malaysian market and this local distribution of the suite can only be activated in Malaysia. Microsoft is clearly still trying valiantly to encourage local users to go original.

(If only Microsoft would do something similar with Xbox 360. The console is still not officially released locally so anyone importing it will have to claim they’re living in Poughkeepsie or Geylang in order to get the full Xbox Live experience.)

Now, I’d rather punch myself repeatedly in the face than even install Excel and PowerPoint. If I ever get to the point where spreadsheets and presentation software become essential, just kill me because it’s only two steps from that to wearing neckties and having earnest conversations about Getting Things Done.

(How do you GTD? Here’s the key—are you sitting down?—JUST DO IT. But what do I know? I don’t attend expensive seminars showcasing slick hucksters with lavish PowerPoint presentations about planning, prioritising, flagging, tagging, diagramming and reviewing instead of quaint ol’ timey approaches like actually doing.)

Word 2007 is overkill for my needs. My words just don’t need that much processing and Word has a nasty habit of over-processing them. Why the hell does Word 2007 insist on reverting to the U.S. English dictionary? I meant “colour,” jackass. Stop putting squiggly red lines under words that are absolutely correct, Word 2007. You’re making me feel very insecure.

My attempts to set the default language settings for Word documents to English (U.K.) have thus far been futile. Clearly, I need to flag, tag, diagram, prioritise and review the problem before finally creating a PowerPoint presentation about it. This won’t actually solve the problem but it will impress everyone and that really is the most important thing.
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