I left Romania a looooong time ago and my Romanian is now rather poor, so please excuse the English post. Feel free to reply in Romanian if it is more convenient, though. I can understand Romanian, but I have difficulty expressing myself in Romanian.

My parents are still in Romania and are currently Windows users. Their PC has been playing up for the last few months and all my attempts to diagnose and fix the problems remotely have failed to improve things. My parents are not very computer literate and are rather old now (in their 70s). They have recently upgraded their Internet connection from dial-up to cable and now, that they have a fast permanent connection to the Internet, they have started to explore the WWW. I shudder to think of all the malware and spyware that may have found its way on my parents’ PC – since they probably respond Yes to every message that comes up while they browse the Web. Did I mention they use Internet Explorer?

Anyway, I would like to buy my parents a new computer and I thought a Mac may be a better option for them. It is going to be difficult for them to make the transition, and I would like to make it as easy as possible. One aspect of this is the language of the operating system. As far as I can tell there is no Romanian version of Mac OS X – but I could be wrong (I hope I am). Romanian is certainly not in the list of available languages in my version of Mac OS X (Leopard – purchased in Australia).

Do Mac computers sold in Romania come with a Romanian version of Leopard pre-installed?
Is there a language pack of some sort available to be installed on top of the English version of Leopard to convert it to Romanian?
If there is a Romanian version of Leopard available, are all applications bundled with the OS translated into Romanian? Is anyone familiar enough with the Romanian version to be able to comment on how good (i.e. complete and intuitive) the translation is?
Are there Romanian versions of iWork and iLife?
Do the Apple shops in Romania sell Apple keyboards with Romanian layouts?
Do you have any other thoughts or comments on the topic?

Thank you for your help,
Radu
Sydney – Australia

Radu Carlan - 30 Octombrie 2007 11:31 AM

Do Mac computers sold in Romania come with a Romanian version of Leopard pre-installed?

No.

Radu Carlan - 30 Octombrie 2007 11:31 AM

If there is a Romanian version of Leopard available, are all applications bundled with the OS translated into Romanian?

No.

Radu Carlan - 30 Octombrie 2007 11:31 AM

Are there Romanian versions of iWork and iLife?

No.

Radu Carlan - 30 Octombrie 2007 11:31 AM

Do the Apple shops in Romania sell Apple keyboards with Romanian layouts?

Yes.

Radu Carlan - 30 Octombrie 2007 11:31 AM

I left Romania a looooong time ago and my Romanian is now rather poor, so please excuse the English post. Feel free to reply in Romanian if it is more convenient, though. I can understand Romanian, but I have difficulty expressing myself in Romanian.

[...]
Radu
Sydney – Australia

Radu, I sent you a quite long answer via PM. If need be, am ready to develop on this topic, even if there is little to develop here!

No matter how much I like Mac OS X, and I dislike Windows, I guess it would be easier for your parents to stick with Windows; but get rid of IE.
Maybe you can remotely conenct to your parents computer, and do all needed settings, scan for viruses, repair registers etc., and let them just enjoy the toy? I think it would be difficult for them to learn a new OS, especially because it’s not in Romanian.

Another alternative could be Ubuntu Linux, which is – at least partially – localized in Romanian.

Debian is fully localized in Romanian.
The easy thing to do: stick with WinXP (there is a RO language pack pr XP, Office in Romanian, many applications with RO translation, etc.). Remotely connect from time to time to your parents computer and repair what they’ve been doing wrong in the meantime.
Succes!