Vista Rant #1 - Spell checking on Windows Mail "This language is no longer available!"

Well, at first I was skeptical about Windows Vista because I didn't really see any significant technological benefits versus Windows Xp based on my particular needs. However, being the good corporate citizen I installed Vista at work, and soon afterwards installed it at home as well. I was immediately wow'ed by Vista. The interface is quite slick, and some of the features are wicked cool! All in all I like it.

But, I must admit, while I haven't found anything seriously blocking my work, there are some silly little things that make me want to scream at the wall sometimes. So, I will start sharing some of the things that irritate me from time to time.

Yesterday, I took Windows Mail client for a spin and before sending an email I decided to perform a spell check and pressed the F7 function key. Windows Mail presented me with one of those wonderful Windows messages that states "This language is no longer available for spell checking. Please select another in the spelling options dialog."  WHAT!!!! Did someone abolish the English language and not tell us? Or perhaps the correct spelling of English words is not really important anymore (since so many politicians are just making up words anyway). Am I supposed to select Spanish (International Sort) to spell check my mail, or will any random language (other than English of course) suffice?

The reported cause of this defect is that the default language for Windows Mail spell check is not set in the registry. Hmm...honestly I think that if the installed language is English then the default spell checker should be set to English. I really don't think that is a bad assumption. 

The fix is relatively simple. Launch WIndows Mail. Select Tools -> Options menu item. Click on the Spelling property sheet. Click the Always check spelling before sending checkbox. (Alternatively select a different langauage other than English, click Apply, then reselect English and click OK.)

Simple enough....but, I SHOULDN"T HAVE TO DO IT!!!

Of all the features in Windows Mail, I really think spell checking functionality would be something near the top of the priority list in terms of priority 1 tests and features that must work. It's a common user scenario, and I think many users would expect that level of functionality; especially since it worked in Outlook Express!