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Microsoft Translator can translate any Web page on the fly

A new bookmarklet from Microsoft can instantly translate any Web page from one language to another with just a simple click.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer
Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.
Lance Whitney
The Korea Times home page translated into English courtesy of Microsoft Translator.
The Korea Times home page translated into English courtesy of Microsoft Translator. Screenshot by CNET

Microsoft is trying to give Google a run for its money by offering a translation tool that can display any Web page in your native language.

Available as a bookmarklet for your browser, Microsoft Translator identifies the language used on a Web page and then re-displays the page with all text translated into your own language. You can select from a variety of languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and Russian, among others.

To install Microsoft Translator from its Web page, first select your native language from the dropdown list. Then make sure your Favorites or Bookmarks toolbar is visible. Drag and drop the Translate link onto your toolbar, and you'll see an icon called Translate appear.

From there, you can surf to any Web page not in your native language and simply click on the Translate button to convert it. As one example, I opened the Korea Times home page, clicked on the Translate button, and the page reopened with all the text in English.

Google Chrome includes its own built-in feature for translating Web pages. So the Microsoft Translator bookmarklet, which is simply composed of Javascript code, is designed to work in other browsers. I was able to run it successfully in the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari.

Though I've always relied on Google Translate in the past, Microsoft Translator is a handy alternative that can translate any page with just the click of a button.