Windows 98 is available in several local versions, including:
| Arabic | Czech | French | Hungarian | Norwegian | Spanish |
| Basque | Danish | German | Italian | Polish | Swedish |
| Catalan | Dutch | Greek | Japanese | Portuguese-Brazilian | Turkish |
| English | Japanese (NEC PC-9800 Series Version) |
Portuguese-Iberian | Slovak | Slovenian | Thai |
| Chinese S.C. | Finnish | Hebrew | Korean | Russian | Vietnamese |
| Chinese T.C. |
A single installation of Windows 98 will not support more than one Windows code page. As with earlier versions of Windows, all single-byte international versions of Windows 98 are based on a single Windows code page of 256 code points. The following international versions of Windows 98 are available.
United States.
The United States version of Windows 98 is based on the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Windows code page (1252). This is the code page used for most of the single-byte language versions in North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Scandinavia, South Pacific, Africa, and Asia. This version also forms the base for all other versions.
This version also allows users to select a Windows code page for their particular language needs during setup. Choices include Cyrillic (1251), Central Europe (1250), Turkish (1254), Greek (1253), and Baltic (1257). After it is installed, the Windows code page cannot be changed. The United States release version is available in English, German, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Greek, Turkish, and other languages.
Far East.
Windows 98 is available in Japanese (932), Simplified Chinese (936), Traditional (Taiwan) Chinese (950), and Korean (949). These are the only versions of Windows 98 that support the large character sets and input methods these languages require. They also support a vast array of the unique hardware used in these locales.
Middle East.
Windows 98 is available in Arabic (1256) and Hebrew (1255). These are the only versions of Windows 98 that support mixed right-to-left and left-to-right text processing. The Arabic version also includes support for Farsi (Persian).
Thai.
Windows 98 is based on the Thai code page (876).
For information about ordering a local edition of Windows 98, contact your software vendor or your local Microsoft office.
The Win32 Software Development Kit for Windows 98 and Windows NT and the Microsoft Developer Network provide complete information about the architecture, application programming interfaces (APIs), and other needs for developers who are creating or modifying applications to run on local editions of Windows 98. For information about joining the Microsoft Developer Network, see Appendix I, "Windows 98 Resource Directory."
The Microsoft Windows 98 Resource Kit is being made available in at least the following local versions: Bahasa, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Croatian, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, and Thai. For information about ordering a local edition of the Microsoft Windows 98 Resource Kit, contact your local bookseller or your local Microsoft office.
Developing International Software for Windows 95 and Windows NT, a Microsoft Press book by Nadine Kano, provides details about using the Windows 95 national language support (NLS) API and other information about developing software for use in multiple locales. To order this publication (ISBN 1-55615-840-8), contact your local bookseller. You can also order it directly in the United States by calling (800 ) 677-7377.