Viva la france!

Si vous avez Microsoft Office Standard 2007, vous avez une probleme.

This didn't happen to me but I wanted to pass on the first person account. As you can tell by the way Associate Editor David Hubler tells the story, it is a problem he approached with good humor.

All he wanted was an upgrade. But I'll let him tell the story:

We recently paid about $400 for the new Microsoft Office Standard 2007 for my home, beaucoup d'argent that should ensure that the software is tres bon, n'est pas? But unfortunately, there is a heretofore little-known glitch that, once you discover it, will drive you nuts because, c'est domage, there is no easy way to correct it yet.

The Outlook Express spell check is a French dictionary. Mon dieu. No other language options are available. Seulement, le français pour la France! (Canadian French is not an option.) A most perplexing dilemma, especially considering the software CDs were manufactured in Puerto Rico, where hardly a soul speaks the Gaullist tongue.

My first thought was to call the Microsoft help desk and parle avec une jeune fille in India. She appeared to have no knowledge of the problem and directed me to the software retailer. Two hours of shuttling between Best Buys' customer service desk and the Geek Squad desk rewarded me with une visite pour un Geek (no French equivalent yet) chez nous. His solution: Download the English-language dictionary from the CDs I'd saved from Office 2002, and voila!

Now when we go into the OE Options and click on languages, we have plus choices, including American English, British English, Spanish and deux francaises. Mais, like the French themselves, the OE spell check constantly defaults to French and refuses to check paroles en l'anglais.

Monsieur Gates, aidez-moi, s'il vous plait.

Associate editor David Hubler can be reached at dhubler@1105govinfo.com.