Microsoft to launch language software

BOLIVIA: Bolivia's President has a new ally in his quest to promote Indian languages — Microsoft Corp.

President Evo Morales and executives from the world's largest software company will gather in the colonial city of Sucre for the local launch of Windows and Office software in the Andean tongue of Quechua.

"The translation of these technologies into Quechua helps to re-value the language so that it will not be lost over time," Javier Medrano, spokesman for Microsoft's Bolivia operations, said Wednesday.

First launched in Peru in June and now available for download online, the software is a simple patch that translates the familiar Microsoft menus and commands into Quechua.

For example, "file" becomes "quipu" — the name of an ancient Incan practice of recording information in an intricate system of knotted strings.

Quechua is spoken by 2.6 million Bolivians — nearly 30 percent of the population — and 10 million people throughout South America.

Morales was elected in December as the country's first Indian president.