Richard Dobson wrote:
> 
> Localized string tables are a natural component of Windows, for just
> this task (don't know about other platforms, but I imagine a similar
> system is used). It may be easy, but probably somewhat tedious and
> time-consuming to do!
> 

If you use "gettext", it can do much of the work for you. It is easier
to use than the string resources in windows, since the original text
is used as a lookup for the translated text. Typically you just have
to use a macros like:

#define _(String) gettext (String)

Thus the programmer doesn't have to deal with resource IDs. It is 
also portable between unix and windows (using cygwin, see http://sourceware.cygnus.com/cygwin/). 

For a good introduction to using gettext and other i18n issues see http://i44www.info.uni-karlsruhe.de/~drepper/conf96/paper.html