Differences between British and American English

As you are probably aware, Americans and Britons speak the same language, but there are many small yet significant differences between British and American English. One of the most visible differences is spelling, which is often different due to the influences of early American dictionary publishers. A nice list of spelling differences by type is here.

Differences in word usage sometimes requires "translation" or the creation of local versions for British and American software, books, and other materials. Note this list by the Ubuntu (Linux operating system) team.

You may enjoy reading the British English Glossary or this (course) outline of differences. An interesting quote from that outline is:

American and British English are both variants of World English.