He said the foreign ministry was following-up with Microsoft Corporation through correspondence and telephone via Bhutan's permanent mission to UN in Geneva, but for the moment it was difficult to speculate on the outcome.

Microsoft Vista's first beta version was still being tested and the second version was slated to be released soon.

In 1998 the government signed a project with a UK-based Orient Foundation to develop the Unicode tool for Dzongkha and incorporate it in Microsoft Vista. The project authority was the finance ministry with DDA as counterpart Dzongkha professionals.

While initially it was agreed that the two parties would share the cost equally, the government, with assistance from the Sustainable Development Agreement and Swiss Development Corporation bore most of cost that amounted to US$ 523,000.

The foundation represented by its president Mr. Graham P. Coleman paid US$ 14,000.

However, when Microsoft Vista released its beta version late last year, the support for local Dzongkha appeared in Tibetan script of 'Tibetan-Bhutan', where Dzongkha was not localised, and had only limited support for Dzongkha, according to officials at the Department of Information Technology.

This beta version did not reach the country, and as a result it had not been tried.

It was learned that the Orient Foundation, which was the government's liaison to Microsoft, was not able to incorporate Dzongkha in Microsoft Vista and that it had no formal dealing with Microsoft Corporation. Its relation existed only on a personal level with the Microsoft people, said DDA officials.

After developing about six Unicode tools for Dzongkha support, with major work carried out by counterpart Dzongkha Development Authority, the Orient Foundation wrapped up the project and signed the handing over of the project with the government in September 2004. About 12 different works, including incorporating Dzongkha in Microsoft Vista, were not delivered as laid down in the Memorandum of Understanding.

“We believed him, with high hopes,” says director general Dasho Sangay Dorji. Thereafter, the relation with the Orient Foundation was estranged.

“We were asked to pursue thereafter but nothing could be done because the MoU was weak and shallow,” said DIT's director Tenzin Chhoeda.

The DIT was roped in later, only when the project was not turning out as expected.

In the MoU, it is specifically mentioned that the Orient Foundation would 'recommend' to Microsoft that Dzongkha be listed in the language list of Windows OS as 'Dzongkha: the national language of the Kingdom of Bhutan. Further, in other areas it is stated that the foundation would 'assist' in the process.

With the authority's hand tied, there was nothing to dig or pursue though the foundation did not meet most of the commitment, according to a DIT official.

Making no headway, the Council of Ministers (CCM)had directed the DDA to register the Unicode tools with ministry of information and communication and close the chapter with Orient Foundation.

“It was also our own weakness. We had no experience financially and technically,” says Dasho Sangay Dorji adding that the Dzongkhalinux, today, was made by Bhutanese and at a cheaper price.

The funds that went into Dzongkhalinux is 10 times less than the cost government invested in the Dzongkha Microsoft project. And the Dzongkha Unicode was not compatible with Macintosh operating system while PC users say it is not user-friendly.