The language pack, available from the company's website, is part of Microsoft's language localisation scheme, which has seen it create Windows interfaces in languages such as Mohawk, Quechua, Inuktitut and Maori.

The Mapudungún project, however, has put Microsoft in the middle of a battle over the control and preservation of Mapuche culture. Mapuche representatives attempted to sue Microsoft on human rights grounds in the city of Temuco this month, but the court ruled the case should be considered in Santiago. A judge there will decide in December whether to try the case.

Lautaro Loncon, a Mapuche activist and coordinator of the Indigenous Network, an umbrella group for several ethnic groups in Chile, told CNN the case would be taken to Chile's supreme court or an international court of human rights, if necessary.