So there's a petition before the Prime Minister to ask him to get Microsoft to offer a British English version of Vista. The thinking is that Swedes, of whom there are fewer than there are speakers of British English, get their own language edition, as do several other smaller ethnic groups. But we Brits are stuck with 'Favorites' and similar heinous misspellings.

Is it a good idea? Opinion here in the office is divided, with one wizened editor claiming that, because many current American spellings are actually old-British-English in origin, the American language Vista is actually British anyway. Hmmm... not sure about that one.

In general, the petitioner certainly has a fair point, however, and the petition specifically refers to schools, where it's possible that kids might become confused by the two spellings.