This presentation will deal with the role of the translator and the changes it has undergone in professional translation with a focus in software localisation. Throughout the last 20 years, the role of the translator has undergone a radical change. Translators have had to adapt themselves to meet the requirements and needs of their clients, which has meant that they have had to include computer skills to their linguistic and cultural abilities. Nowadays, the translator learns computer assisted translation tools (CAT Tools) such as translation memory and machine translation tools, alignment tools, and terminology management among others. In the same way, the client may ask the translator to hand in their translation using a desktop publishing tool (DTP) such as Adobe or Framemaker. Translation agencies include quality control departments, desktop publishing departments, linguistic reviewers, document and terminology managers, and technical writers, to name a few. All these jobs are done by the translators. Software localisation is a specific case. A software localiser is a translator who, apart from a need to master everything stated above, must have knowledge of the field as well as other localisation tools required for the translation of software applications, on-line help or web pages.