Note: This can also be read on IT-Lah! blog
At last, Microsoft managed to learn that Malaysians are not using comma ( , ) as a decimal symbol, we don’t group our digits using periods ( . ), and our currency symbol is RM, not R. Our currency also do not use a single decimal digit, but 2 decimal places instead. It seems, since Windows 98 (if I’m not mistaken), only now after 6 (or more) releases, they managed to update their regional settings to the correct one.
They assume we write 1 thousand Ringgit as R 1.000,0
It’s actually RM 1,000.00
Many do not realise this problem, but for those who does accountings and database, and rely on automatic settings of their number and date format, this is a boon. When they settle for US settings, they have the dollar ( $ ) sign instead of RM. And they use Month / Day /Year date display settings, rather than our Day / Month / Year arrangement.
No other choice, but to change the settings manually, and lucky for us, Windows allows that.
And so, with the new Vista, they had sobered up and corrected this mistake. After all, we’re just a tiny spot on the map, known to them as “the country between Singapore and Thailand”. Even when Michael Crichton wrote 2 novels using Malaysia as one of the locations, he had mistaken Puduraya as a district, instead of an aging bus terminal.
Or with piracy still alive and kicking here, maybe they’re just punishing us? (:p)