Although U.S. English is the default language for all English versions of
Windows and Office, this is easily changed; see
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister/LangFmt.htm

Note that this has no effect on text pasted into a document (which brings
its own language formatting with it) or documents that have been created in
U.S. English.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
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"Cathal" wrote in message
...
As a fairly adept Word user, I feel extremely frustrated at the approach
by
Microsoft to this genuine problem. Suggestions have been made on this and
other sites about dealing on a document by document basis with the
appearance
of English (U.S.) as a language option for text in a document. However,
the
fundamental problem is not being addressed as far as I can see, with
English
(U.S.) still being provided as a default language option for new documents
being opened. I almost feel as if there's some conspiracy out there to
thwart
the removal of this language from my software!!!