"מייקרוסאפט" מיט נאצישע סימבאלס
Microsoft Swastika Apology
by Gerson Nason - Dec 29
Computer giant Microsoft has staved off a potential public relations disaster after discovering two swastika symbols had been accidentally included in its new version of Office.
The company contacted Board of Deputies president Henry Grunwald to tell him of the mistake ahead of notifying the media after being informed of the inclusion of the nazi symbol by a customer.
Microsoft also released a special on-line facility for customers to remove the offending symbols from its Microsoft office system 2003, released in October.
A spokesman said: ''The swastikas were an oversight. We have an extensive oversight review that looks for sensitive geographic issues in our products. We wanted to engage with the local Jewish community before communicating with the media."
He also explained that the situation occurred after a version of the programme used in Japan was inadvertently downloaded as part of a package of Microsoft UK 7 fonts.
Neville Nagler, director general of the Board, said: ''"It was regrettable that it was possible to insert swastikas into the programme, but we are pleased that Microsoft was alerted to this problem and have immediately provided the means to remove it."
A new version of Microsoft Office systems 2003 without the offending symbol is due for release in the next few weeks although it will take up to four months for it to replace existing stocks of the older programme.
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