diff --git a/lib/translate.cpp b/lib/translate.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..761c8b3506
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/translate.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,309 @@
+// This file is part of BOINC.
+// http://boinc.berkeley.edu
+// Copyright (C) 2013 University of California
+//
+// BOINC is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+// under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// as published by the Free Software Foundation,
+// either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// BOINC is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+// See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with BOINC.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+// Simplified string localization code adapted from
+// wxWidgets src/common/intl.cpp.
+// Assumes all catalogs are encoded UTF-8
+//
+// For sample code to get preferred system language, see
+// wxLocale::GetSystemLanguage() in wxWidgets src/common/intl.cpp
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <cstring>
+#include <cstdio>
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <sys/param.h>  // for MAXPATHLEN
+#include <sys/stat.h>   // For stat()
+
+#include "translate.h"
+
+static static const uint32_t MSGCATALOG_MAGIC    = 0x950412de;
+const uint32_t MSGCATALOG_MAGIC_SW = 0xde120495;
+
+#define MAXCATALOGS 5
+
+// an entry in the string table
+struct MsgTableEntry {
+    uint32_t    nLen;           // length of the string
+    uint32_t    ofsString;      // pointer to the string
+};
+
+// header of a .mo file
+struct MsgCatalogHeader {
+    uint32_t    magic,          // offset +00:  magic id
+                revision,       //        +04:  revision
+                numStrings;     //        +08:  number of strings in the file
+    uint32_t    ofsOrigTable,   //        +0C:  start of original string table
+                ofsTransTable;  //        +10:  start of translated string table
+    uint32_t    nHashSize,      //        +14:  hash table size
+                ofsHashTable;   //        +18:  offset of hash table start
+};
+
+
+struct MsgCatalogData {
+    uint8_t         *pData;         // Pointer to catalog data
+    uint32_t        nSize;          // Amount of memory pointed to by pData.
+    uint32_t        NumStrings;     // number of strings in this domain
+    bool            bSwapped;       // wrong endianness?
+    MsgTableEntry   *pOrigTable;    // pointer to original strings
+    MsgTableEntry   *pTransTable;   // pointer to translated strings
+    bool            bIsEnglish;     // true if language code == "en"
+};
+
+static struct MsgCatalogData theCatalogData[MAXCATALOGS];
+
+static uint32_t     numLoadedCatalogs = 0;
+
+// swap the 2 halves of 32 bit integer if needed
+static uint32_t Swap(uint32_t ui, bool bSwapped) {
+      return bSwapped ? (ui << 24) | ((ui & 0xff00) << 8) |
+                          ((ui >> 8) & 0xff00) | (ui >> 24)
+                        : ui;
+}
+
+
+// load a catalog from disk
+// open disk file and read in it's contents
+//
+// catalogsDir is the path to the locale directory in
+// the BOINC Data directory (ending in "locale/").
+//
+// language code is the standad language code such
+// as "fr" or "zh_CN".
+//
+// catalogName is the domain (the file name of the
+// *.mo file without the .mo such as "BOINC-Manager").
+//
+// Returns true if successful.
+//
+bool LoadCatalog(const char * catalogsDir,
+                const char *languageCode,
+                const char *catalogName
+                ) {
+    char searchPath[MAXPATHLEN];
+    struct stat sbuf;
+    char temp[32];
+    char *underscore;
+    FILE * f;
+    uint8_t *pData;
+    uint32_t nSize;
+    uint32_t NumStrings;
+    bool  bSwapped;
+    MsgTableEntry *pOrigTable;
+    MsgTableEntry *pTransTable;
+    MsgCatalogData *pCatalog;
+
+    if (!strcmp("en", languageCode)) {
+        theCatalogData[numLoadedCatalogs++].bIsEnglish = true;
+        return true;
+    }
+  
+    strlcpy(searchPath, catalogsDir, sizeof(searchPath));
+    strlcat(searchPath, languageCode, sizeof(searchPath));
+    strlcat(searchPath, "/", sizeof(searchPath));
+    strlcat(searchPath, catalogName, sizeof(searchPath));
+    strlcat(searchPath, ".mo", sizeof(searchPath));
+    if (stat(searchPath, &sbuf) != 0) {
+        // Try just base locale name: for things like "fr_BE" (belgium
+        // french) we should use "fr" if no belgium specific message 
+        // catalogs exist
+        strlcpy(temp, languageCode, sizeof(temp));
+        underscore = strchr(temp, (int)'_');
+        if (underscore == NULL) return false;
+        *underscore = '\0';
+        strlcpy(searchPath, catalogsDir, sizeof(searchPath));
+        strlcat(searchPath, temp, sizeof(searchPath));
+        strlcat(searchPath, "/", sizeof(searchPath));
+        strlcat(searchPath, catalogName, sizeof(searchPath));
+        strlcat(searchPath, ".mo", sizeof(searchPath));
+        if (stat(searchPath, &sbuf) != 0) return false;
+    }
+    
+
+    pData = (uint8_t*)malloc(sbuf.st_size);
+    if (pData == NULL) return false;
+    f = fopen(searchPath, "r");
+    if (f == NULL) {
+        free(pData);
+        pData = NULL;
+        return false;
+    }
+    nSize = fread(pData, 1, sbuf.st_size, f);
+    fclose(f);
+    if (nSize != sbuf.st_size) {
+        free(pData);
+        pData = NULL;
+        return false;
+    }
+    
+    // examine header
+    bool bValid = nSize + (size_t)0 > sizeof(MsgCatalogHeader);
+
+    MsgCatalogHeader *pHeader = (MsgCatalogHeader *)pData;
+    if ( bValid ) {
+    // we'll have to swap all the integers if it's true
+    bSwapped = pHeader->magic == MSGCATALOG_MAGIC_SW;
+
+    // check the magic number
+    bValid = bSwapped || pHeader->magic == MSGCATALOG_MAGIC;
+    }
+
+    if ( !bValid ) {
+        // it's either too short or has incorrect magic number
+        free(pData);
+        pData = NULL;
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    // initialize
+    NumStrings  = Swap(pHeader->numStrings, bSwapped);
+    pOrigTable  = (MsgTableEntry *)(pData +
+                   Swap(pHeader->ofsOrigTable, bSwapped));
+    pTransTable = (MsgTableEntry *)(pData +
+                   Swap(pHeader->ofsTransTable, bSwapped));
+
+
+    // now parse catalog's header and try to extract catalog charset
+    uint32_t ofsString = Swap(pOrigTable->ofsString, bSwapped);
+    // this check could fail for a corrupt message catalog
+    if ( ofsString + Swap(pOrigTable->nLen, bSwapped) <= nSize) {
+        char *begin = strstr((char *)pTransTable,
+                            "Content-Type: text/plain; charset="
+                            );
+        if (begin != NULL) {
+            if (strncasecmp(begin, "utf-8", 5)) {
+                fprintf(stderr, "File %s is not utf-8!\n", searchPath);
+                free(pData);
+                pData = NULL;
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    pCatalog = &(theCatalogData[numLoadedCatalogs++]);
+    pCatalog->pData = pData;
+    pCatalog->nSize = nSize;
+    pCatalog->NumStrings = NumStrings;
+    pCatalog->bSwapped = bSwapped;
+    pCatalog->pOrigTable = pOrigTable;
+    pCatalog->pTransTable = pTransTable;
+    pCatalog->bIsEnglish = false;
+    
+    return true;
+}
+
+
+// Searches through the catalogs in the order they were added
+// until it finds a translation for the src string, and
+// returns a ponter to the UTF-8 encoded localized string.
+// Returns a pointer to the original string if no translation
+// was found.
+//
+uint8_t * _(char *src) {
+    int i, j;
+    MsgCatalogData *pCatalog;
+    
+    for (j=0; j<numLoadedCatalogs; ++j) {
+        pCatalog = &(theCatalogData[j]);
+        
+        // Since the original strings are English, no 
+        // translation is needed for language en.
+        if (pCatalog->bIsEnglish) {
+            return (uint8_t *)src;
+        }
+        
+        if (pCatalog->pData == NULL) continue;    // Should never happen
+        for (i=0; i< pCatalog->NumStrings; ++i) {
+            if (!strcmp((char *)pCatalog->pData + pCatalog->pOrigTable[i].ofsString, src)) {
+                return (pCatalog->pData + pCatalog->pTransTable[i].ofsString);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    return (uint8_t *)src;
+}
+
+
+// catalogsDir is the path to the locale directory in
+// the BOINC Data directory (ending in "locale/").
+//
+// language code is the standad language code such
+// as "fr" or "zh_CN".
+//
+// catalogName is the domain (the file name of the
+// *.mo file without the .mo such as "BOINC-Manager").
+//
+// Returns true if successful.
+//
+bool BOINCTranslationAddCatalog(const char * catalogsDir,
+                                const char *languageCode,
+                                const char * catalogName
+                                ) {
+    if (numLoadedCatalogs >= (MAXCATALOGS)) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Trying to load too many catalogs\n");
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    if (!LoadCatalog(catalogsDir, languageCode, catalogName)) {
+        fprintf(stderr,
+                "could not load catalog %s for langage %s\n",
+                catalogName, languageCode
+                );
+        return false;
+    }
+    
+    return true;
+}
+
+
+void BOINCTranslationInit() {
+    int i;
+    MsgCatalogData *pCatalog;
+    
+    numLoadedCatalogs = 0;
+    
+    for (i=0; i<MAXCATALOGS; ++i) {
+        pCatalog = &(theCatalogData[i]);
+        pCatalog->pData = NULL;
+        pCatalog->nSize = 0;
+        pCatalog->NumStrings = 0;
+        pCatalog->bSwapped = false;
+        pCatalog->pOrigTable = NULL;
+        pCatalog->pTransTable = NULL;
+        pCatalog->bIsEnglish = false;
+    }
+}
+
+
+void BOINCTranslationCleanup() {
+    int i;
+    MsgCatalogData *pCatalog;
+    
+    for (i=0; i<MAXCATALOGS; ++i) {
+        pCatalog = &(theCatalogData[i]);
+        if (pCatalog->pData) free(pCatalog->pData);
+        pCatalog->pData = NULL;
+        pCatalog->nSize = 0;
+        pCatalog->NumStrings = 0;
+        pCatalog->bSwapped = false;
+        pCatalog->pOrigTable = NULL;
+        pCatalog->pTransTable = NULL;
+        pCatalog->bIsEnglish = false;
+    }
+
+    numLoadedCatalogs = 0;
+}
diff --git a/lib/translate.h b/lib/translate.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d866b76edc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/translate.h
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+// This file is part of BOINC.
+// http://boinc.berkeley.edu
+// Copyright (C) 2013 University of California
+//
+// BOINC is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+// under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// as published by the Free Software Foundation,
+// either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// BOINC is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+// See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with BOINC.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+// Simplified string localization code adapted from
+// wxWidgets src/common/intl.cpp.
+// Assumes all catalogs are encoded UTF-8
+//
+// For sample code to get preferred system language, see
+// wxLocale::GetSystemLanguage() in wxWidgets src/common/intl.cpp
+
+#ifndef _BOINC_TRANSLATE_H
+#define _BOINC_TRANSLATE_H
+
+// We use only C APIs for maximum portability
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+void BOINCTranslationInit();
+
+// catalogsDir is the path to the locale directory in
+// the BOINC Data directory (ending in "locale/").
+//
+// language code is the standad language code such
+// as "fr" or "zh_CN".
+//
+// catalogName is the domain (the file name of the
+// *.mo file without the .mo such as "BOINC-Manager").
+//
+// Returns true if successful.
+//
+bool BOINCTranslationAddCatalog(const char * catalogsDir,
+                                const char *languageCode,
+                                const char * catalogName
+                                );
+
+// Searches through the catalogs in the order they were added
+// until it finds a translation for the src string, and
+// returns a ponter to the UTF-8 encoded localized string.
+// Returns a pointer to the original string if no translation
+// was found.
+//
+uint8_t * _(char *src);
+
+void BOINCTranslationCleanup();
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+} // extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+#endif  // _BOINC_TRANSLATE_H