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I am purchasing a laptop for home use, and most laptops that I see in my price range come with Windows 8 Single Language Edition.

I'm trying to find a feature matrix which will tell me what all features I get in this edition, and which features are missing when compared to the Windows 8 Pro Edition.

I have not be able to find an authoritative source for these details. Can you please point me to some documentation which details this information?

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The Single Language Edition has the same features like the Core/Basic edition. The only difference is that only 1 language can be used. By default MS now allows all editions (this is changed compared to Vista/7) to change the display language.

<sl:policyInt name="Kernel-MUI-Number-Allowed" attributes="reboot-required, override-only">1</sl:policyInt>

The return code of GetProductInfo on the Single Edition is PRODUCT_CORE_SINGLELANGUAGE, this also shows that it is the Core edition.

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  • Can you please provide a source for this information? Jul 31, 2013 at 3:59
  • I posted a link to the Win32 API call. I took the sl:policyInt value from a Single Language Image and compared the license values with the normal Core. Jul 31, 2013 at 4:12
  • So, If I understand you correctly, you have actually run the code yourself? If so, that's great. Jul 31, 2013 at 4:38
  • yes, I used the code in a test app to show the correct Windows version: dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5749744/Bilder/superuser/… Jul 31, 2013 at 18:23
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According to my research it is Windows 8 only. This article, although not explicit, does seem to confirm this.

Additional: the Single Language (also referred to as SL) was designed to help reduce piracy, spurred on by the level of piracy in China although aimed at 'emerging markets' but only allowing 1 language to be used (and no ability add other languages) but reducing the price of the OS. This would obviously make shipping to other languages more difficult.

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    Your research is correct. I found a Volume Licensing Guide For Partners document. Within the document it describes "Local language-only edition of Windows 8 (Windows 8 Single Language) will be available in select emerging markets." which is an * description on Windows 8 Core. Its not clear if there is any upgrade to Windows 8 Professional or Windows 8 Professional with Media Center. Here is the document I discovered https%253a%252f%252fpartner.microsoft.com%252fdownload%252fglobal%252f40188813&id=42377
    – Ramhound
    Jul 30, 2013 at 13:23
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Windows 8 single language will not have the Hyper-V package, which is only available in Windows 8 Pro and Enterprise Editions. Hyper-V can be used for Windows Phone 8 app development, i.e. running the Windows Phone emulator. It can also be used for virtualization and a lot of other stuff.

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