Just like 4.8, 5.0 should be translated in different languages by the community, thus improving its popularity.
I’m in for Romanian.
For sure it will be.
I just want to know the Alwil plans:
- Release the beta and start translations.
- Release the final gold, wait a little, start translations.
The traslators should be chosen now, so, at the time of english/international version release, the translated versions would appear also.
The translators aren’t chosen, they just volunteer to do it.
Of course. My mistake. That’s what I meant to say.
I was always curious about how avast was available in so many languages given that the Alwil staff is so small.
That’s going to one tough job. Best of luck. ;D
Yes, I know.
I already translated another antivirus software into Romanian a couple of months ago.
I don’t think it’s going to happen. The initial release will certainly contain less languages than the current 4.8 version; more will come later.
The thing is that the program interface is still changing/under development. So, the schedule will be quite tight and the translators will probably have to react rather quickly (to changes). We can do an in-house translation (into language we have our local staff for), but the volunteers are usually not that fast (which is understandable, since they most likely have their own job) and the communication is generally harder/slower (OK, there some exceptions, Tech ;))
So, the most important or “quickly translatable” languages will come first (together with the English release), and the other ones will be filled later. I cannot even promisse that all the languages supported in avast! 4.x will be done eventually; it’s possible that the original translators already lost interest, or making a brand new translation is simply too much work for them now (compared to occassional small update in avast! 4.x) - and for some “exotic” language, it might be hard to find a replacement.
Doing translation with constant changes isn’t easy and probably homogeneity is lost in between.
But of course, small changes are always possible. I think the translation with Passolo will allow small changes. The program keeps the old text and the new one. It’s easy to translate. The same thing does not apply, imho, to help files, I mean, there are much more manual work (mark the text with a different color, edit the html code, etc.).
I think that when the in-house translation begins, we, the outsiders, can do the same.
It will give us more time to translate.
Of course, the interaction time should be short, i.e., the Passolo files can’t take that much to be translated. Otherwise, Igor will have a huge work waiting for the Passolo files. Explaining to the non-translators: the Passolo file is unique, can’t be changed by the translator and by the Alwil team at the same time. The more time it stays with the translator, the more Alwil need to wait to make changes.
Maybe Igor could estimate which translators could do a job with short time interaction and which can’t.
Maybe the idea for a convocation of translators in avast website (or a dedicated sub-forum) could help too (change experiences).
Anyway, if the developers decide to open the volunteer list for the translations it should be posted as a sticky.
A problem that I could see: if there is many people involved in translation you have problems with homogeneity. Besides, the Passolo translation file is unique, can’t be worked by more than one at a time.
I know I night be wrong about this but why would you not use a simple word file?
You could give one to each group of Translators and allow them to work on it together (say break down the file so that each member does an equal amount of translation and then there is a follow up with proof reading to ensure quality)
I apologize if I’m being a bit ignorant. I really have no idea how the process works, but since I’m curious might as well ask. 
I think the things aren’t that easy to just translate text files.
We’re changing the interface, text must fit, must have homogeneity among different parts of it.
Maybe I’m complicating things that should be easier… I’ll wait for Igor’s opinion.
well, actually no… Your explanation makes sense… I do believe that there is a limited number of characters that you fit in each line. Let me explain.
Say you have :
“Current version of virus database”
Then when you translate that in Romanian you could put it as:
“Versiunea curenta a bazei de date de virusi”
As you can tell, the translation is much longer. So it would go out of the bounds set by the interface right?
Is this what you meant.
Apologies for the translation. It might be way off.
With Passolo you can see the final work, i.e., the translated text into the windows of the application, so, yes, you can see that some text does not fit in buttons or dialogs.
Well, I’m afraid it won’t be the case for avast! 5 - there will be just a list of texts there, possibly with some comments, but no preview.
It’s not something we are happy about, but given the way avast! 5 GUI is implemented, there isn’t much we can do about it.
So, no Passolo anymore? 
It will difficult to test the “final” result and see how it looks like.
No, it will be in (new version of) Passolo - just that basically everything will be as a “string table”, no “dialog templates”.
Well, not that worse. We can have the “old” text when any of them change and then we can keep trace back.
Seems that I won’t be able to test the beta, translate, be at forums and live at the same time ;D
Most probably, I’ll be out of forums during the translation work.
Igor, I was thinking…
Maybe it will be too difficult to translate correctly if we don’t “see” the interface. Consider releasing “anything” (better if it is the beta) to be installed by the translators and allow navigate, browse, right clicking, etc.
Translation is not only language to language, but meaning and visual impact are involved.
You could see that avast translations have - in all languages - very few complains. Translator got the idea of how avast (and an antivirus in general) work and just let it flow in his own language.