As a native speaker of English—as distinct from its transatlantic cousin, American—Windows has long been the source of considerable emotional trauma for me. Though the operating system has always let us use a UK keyboard layout, it has insisted on offending our sensibilities with such non-words as "favorites" and "colors."

Thankfully this will soon be no longer, as Windows 8 will treat British English as a first-class citizen. This is no mere language pack, either: Microsoft will sell boxed and preinstalled copies of the British English operating system that preferentially use and default to the Queen's English, with no colonial fallback.

Windows 8 will also include 13 new language packs, primarily for languages used in emerging markets. The process for installing new languages has also been considerably streamlined and simplified.