ENCARTA REF LIBRARY 2005 MINI BOX DVD PREM
1 My order was also canceled :-(
This is also a rating for amazon. The price was listed as $24.99 for 3 days and I happened to order the item then. Well, I noticed a charge on my credit card for that amount and 2 days later, a refund and an e-mail apologizing for the canceleation of my order. I would have though that in the interest of fairness, amazon would have honored their words. This I beleive is cheating and it stinks! I will surely reconsider my loyality to amazon since they do not care about the customers that sustain their being.
2 The rating is for Amazon
Amazon accidently (according to them) posted the wrong price on this item on April 28, 2005. I ordered the item (at what I thought was a fair price $24.99). Amazon emailed me and told me thay they made a pricing error and were not going to honor the price and would not ship the item. Ive been an avid supporter and customer of Amazon but with a policy like that....I may have to reconsider.
3 Battle of the Titans - Encarta vs. the Britannica
The Encarta Encyclopedia - and even more so, the Encarta Reference Library Premium 2005 - is an impressive reference library. It caters effectively (and, at $70, cheaply) to the educational needs of everyone in the family, from children as young as 7 or 8 years old to adults who seek concise answers to their queries. It is fun-filled, interactive, colorful, replete with tens of thousands of images, video clips, and audio snippets.
The Encarta is extremely user-friendly, with its search bar and novel Visual Browser. It comes equipped with a dictionary, thesaurus, chart maker, searchable index of quotations, games, and an Encarta Kids interface. Installation is easy. The Encarta is augmented by weekly or bi-weekly updates and the feature-rich online MSN Encarta Premium with its Homework Help offerings.
The Encyclopedia Britannica (established in 1768) sports Student and Elementary versions of its venerable flagship product - but it is far better geared to tackle the information needs of adults and, even more so, professionals. Its 100,000 articles are long and deep, supported by impressive bibliographies, and written by the best scholars in their respective fields.
The Britannica, too, come bundled with an atlas (less detailed than the Encarta's), dictionary, thesaurus, classic articles from previous editions, an Interactive Timeline, a Research Organizer, and a Knowledge Navigator (a Brain Stormer). It is as user-friendly as the Encarta. The Britannica, though, is updated only 2-4 times a year, a serious drawback, only partially compensated for by 3 months of free access to the its unequalled powerhouse online Web site.
It seems that the Britannica and the Encarta cater to different market segments and that the Britannica provides more in-depth coverage of its topics while the Encarta is a more complete, PC-orientated reference experience. The market positioning of the Britannica's Elementary and Student Encyclopedias is, therefore, problematic. Encarta has an all-pervasive hold on and ubiquitous penetration of the child-to-young adult markets.
Both encyclopedias offer an embarrassment of riches. Users of both find the wealth and breadth of information daunting and data mining is fast becoming an art form. Encarta introduced the Visual (Virtual) Browser and Britannica incorporated the Brain Stormer to cope with this predicament. But few know how to deploy them effectively.
Encarta actively encourages fun-filled browsing and Britannica fully supports serious research. These preferences are reflected in the design of the two products. The Encarta is a riot of colors, sidebars, videos, audio clips, photos, embedded links, literature, Web resources, and quizzes. It is a product of the age of mass communication, a desktop extension of television and the Internet.
The Britannica is a sober assemblage of first-rate texts, up to date bibliographies, and minimal multimedia. It is a desktop university library: thorough, well-researched, comprehensive, trustworthy.
Indeed, the Encarta and the Britannica offer competing models for interacting with the Internet. Both provide content updates - the Encarta weekly or bi-weekly and the Britannica 2-4 times a year. Both offer additional and timely content and revisions on dedicated Web sites. But the Encarta conditions some of its functions - notably its research tools and updates - on registration with its Plus Club. The Britannica doesn't.
The Encarta incorporates numerous third-party texts and visuals (including dozens of Discovery Channel videos, hundreds of newspaper articles, and a plethora of Scientific American features). The Encarta's multimedia offerings are also impressive with thousands of video and audio clips, maps, tables, and animations. The Britannica provides considerably more text - though it has noticeably enhanced it non-textual content over the year (the 1994-7 editions had nothing or very little but text).
Both reference products would do well to integrate with new desktop search tools from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others. A seamless experience is in the cards. Users must and will be able to ferret content from all over - their desktop, their encyclopedias, and the Web - using a single, intuitive interface.
The new Encarta Search Bar, which was integrated into the product this past year, enables users to search any part of the Encarta application (encyclopedia, dictionary, thesaurus, etc) without having the application open. Definitely a step in the right direction.
Having used both products extensively in the last few months, I found myself entertaining some minor gripes:
The Encarta offers 3-D tours which gobble up computer resources and are essentially non-interactive a limited. Is it worth the investment and the risk to the stability and performance of the user's computer?
The editorial process is not transparent. It is not clear how both products cope with contemporary and recent developments, minority-sensitive issues, and controversial topics (such as abortion and gay rights).
The Encarta tries to cater to the needs of challenged users, such as the visually-impaired - but is still far from doing a good job of it. The Britannica doesn't even bother.
The atlas, dictionary, and thesaurus incorporated in both products are surprisingly outdated. Why not use a more current - and dynamically updated - offering? What about dictionaries for specialty terms (medical or computer glossaries, for instance)? The Encarta's New English Dictionary dropped a glossary of computer terms it used to include back in 2001. All's the pity.
Both encyclopedias consume (not to say) hog computer resource far in excess of the official specifications. This makes them less suitable for installation on older PCs and on many laptops. Despite the hype, relatively few users possess DVD drives (but those who do find, in both products, the entire encyclopedia available on one DVD).
But that's it. Don't think twice. Run to the closest retail outlet (or surf the relevant Web sites) and purchase both products now. Combined, these reference suites offer the best value for money around and significantly enhance you access to knowledge and wisdom accumulated over centuries all over the world. Sam Vaknin, author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited"
4 Fun to use, great for kids, worth the money
I had several free versions of encylopedias loaded. They were generally abbreviated and becoming out of date, Encarta 2002 for example. But they were really the best kid friendly research tool out there and my kids actually used these encyclopedias on a regular basis, so I decided to upgrade.
Likes:
Love the new search bar in my desktop tray and the fact that I can search the dictionary or the thesaurus or the encyclopedia without hunting for each application's icon. Love that I can run it from my hard drive without searching for the DVD.
The interactive pictures such as 360 degree views and virtual tours are done well and you can just go through those types of files if you want to see them all without having to wade into specific topics. And the kids like the extra visual browser index rather than the standard text index (which can still be used.)The links to external web sites for more information are very useful.
Dislikes:
The install was painful. Although I have all of the latest Windows updates, the load process took a long while only to error out repeatedly. I finally learned that my Ad-watch spyware blocker was interfering and was able to get past the MICROSOFT.MSXML2,publickeyToken= ...etc. error message that Microsoft has yet to post on their site. Alternatively, it would be nice to be warned of possible conflicts before beginning or have the process handle conflicts in a more friendly fashion.
The update process was also overly complicated as well. And after finally getting it to work I was disappointed to learn that included updates end in October regardless of when you purchase the product.
And as neat as some of the interactive pictures are - sometimes I just need to print an embedded image or some simple text to take with me - wish that was easier.
Conclusion:
Very satisfied and I finally feel that I have found some software that does something useful and gives my computer a purpose beyond running all the software I need just to keep my computer protected. If you have kids 8 and up - and don't already have a full version of an encyclopedia - go for it!
5 Good stuff
This is an awesome program. They have virtual tours of places most people will never see and excellent info on just about everything.
6 Updates cannot be continued.... PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE
My real complaint with this fresh, good encyclopedia [my version was that for 2004] is that after "31 October" the "free content updates" stop. I had assumed that after that point I could subscribe to monthly updates at what I thought would be a modest annual fee. But the fact is that when the updates stop, often a few months after you buy the Encarta, you must purchase a whole new Encarta at full price and "toss" or rather delete the old Encarta. And the new Encarta runs out in another year. Then another full purchase, and then another. At a going and and rising price of say $70 for the DVD, that is a high cost over time for an encyclopdiea that has little of the real depth of a hard-copy Britannica or other established book-format encyclopedias. The whole benefit of the internet is that things can be updated (and, yes, for a reasonable annual fee), but Encarta provides us with throwaway "computer books" purely to get top dollar out of us once a year, or so it seems. Even the old Encyclopedia Britannica books provided a rudimentary update, for a much smaller fee than full re-purchase, of annual yearbooks. I'll be checking around to see what the DVD Britannica's update policy is (perhaps similar, perhaps not). In any case, I'm unhappy with the planned obsolescence of the Encarta encyclopedias, unhappy that such obsolescene was not made explicit from the start on the box (others I know had assumed there would be some system for continuing updates beyond "31 October"; when Encarta says updates will be "free" until that date, I think one is justified in assuming that they won't be free after, but that then you must begin to pay. The wording does not suggest that the updates will stop completely.) This situation will probably send me (and others) back to my old research tool---Google, which keeps on coming updated even as I type these lines. I had recommended this encyclopedia to many students and a few friends: I will no longer recommend it without full disclosure of the update policy. Until this month I had been one of Encarta's real fans and I bet I've "sold" a bunch of copies for them. Now I'll get in the habit of doing my research elsewhere. (Also, Encarta does not really encourage feedback on such matters. They give a mailing address for stamped letter, but do not provide any on-line or either tolled or toll-free telephone access to anyone who might want to bring up such a complaint. Surely they understand that this is no longer a letter-writing world, and that makes their customer service job easier for them, and less satisfactory for customers.)
7 Let's wait for a better Encarta software
This is the conclusion after reading all the reviews of previous products of Encarta and Encyclopaedia Britannica and of my own experience. Content wise, the EB is superior than Encarta. Yet EB software needs to be improved.The best way to get Encarta to produce better software: (1) Boycott their products untill better ones are produced.(2) Make public statements regarding their bad products.(3) Direct complaints to the producer by phone and e-mail.IF Encarta, EB and other Encyclopaedias (at least the software editions) merge it would be great. That would create the sole SUPERENCYCLOPAEDIA. Another Internet/Super-Information-Highway! Please make this matter public.
8 Encarta offers a lot
I bought Encarta at the beginning of the school year. I had read the other reviews and it seemed like Encarta was much better than the Encyclopedia Brittanica and World Book's offerings. It is extremely fast and I am very impressed with the interface and updates. My 10-year-old son loves it. I find him reading at length in Encarta because the articles are so interesting and the pictures and info is so intriguing. I haven't bought the other two programs because we are very happy with Encarta. If the reviews of the other two get better, however, I may buy them to get more in depth articles.
9 Not Much of change really.
I thought that the 2004, edition of Encarta Reference Library was the ultimate refernce resource and I still think it is. Encarta Reference Library is a winner for every new user, especially if you are running 2003 and older versions. For the 2004 user of Encarta, not much has changed, except for the kids corner, and thats the big target of this edition, if you have kids they are more likely to benefit from it more. Its more tutor oriented and aims to keep them organized and ready for the class room with a sort of activity center approach to getting school work and home work done.
This Digital Encyclopedia is a must for students, who want concise and accurate information relating to what they are learning in school. But the fun does not stop on DVD's, users are able to expand their searching capabilities and knowledge to the Internet, through MSN Encarta. That why if you recently purchased 2004, I would recommend you stick with it and update it until the subscription is done then you can purchase version 2005.
There has been no major improvement in video quality but they do give a visual concept of life in countries whether it may be about people or animals. Whether its technology, science or history Encarta Reference Library 2005 gives you the information you need and expands the knowledge resource even further with the Internet. The program still lacks up to date images, but comparing the DVD to the 5 disk Set, you get more content on DVD. Its faster and certainly reduces disk swapping.
I have always admired Encarta for its approach to presenting information in a visual stunning and easy to understand way. Comparing this to a set of books would be a dishonour, because Encarta keeps current and more efficient.
Who Should Upgrade?
Well, it depends, if you need to get the latest and most up to date reference information on topics relating to our world, Encarta 2005 is must upgrade especially if you want to reduce disk swapping and go for the DVD Edition, but if you recently purchased 2004, just update it until subscription runs out then purchase the new version.
2000, 2001, 2002 and even 2003 users will find this update a necessary change to their reference collection. But students and teachers are the ones who will benefit the most from magnitude of information.
I can't wait to see whats in Encarta Reference Library 2006, I hope to see better DVD quality video footage and updated images!
10 SIMPLY THE BEST
In these days of "Bill Gates is the Antichrist," it's not popular to support a Microsoft product. Still, Encarta is simply the best all-around electronic encyclopedia extant. Enough said. . . .
11 The biggest problem is that it is Microsoft
I tell you the truth, the product is ok, I do prefer the Britanica, better info, less glossy nonsense.
But the biggest issue is that after reading and realizing what Microsoft as a corporation is about and how they are using their billions to exploit people and put an end to the free enterprise system with unethical, immoral practices, I am going to see about getting rid of Encarta.
If you want innovation, more companies producing quality encyclopedias, then do not buy this product. How much do you want Microsoft to control.
If oyu do not care aboout that type of thing, then that is said, but look up Monopoly in the encyclopedia, then look up anti-trust laws and how they are not being enforced.
Jon
12 scientific data on polonium
I have not purchased this yet but I felt it was important to inform Encarta that their data on polonium on the Encarta web-site is incorrect and could prove very misleading to young scientists looking for information.
There are so many errors that I do not wish to list them - suffice to say that they should urgently get a nuclear scientist to review this data and make the necessary corrections. Perhaps they have already done so in this premium version but if they have they should also correct it on the Encarta web-site.
Best wishes.
Savio Sequeira PhD Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland
Scientific Officer 3 Clonskeagh Square
Clonskeagh Road
Phone: (personal) -353-1-206-6914 Dublin 14
(switchboard) -353-1-269-7766
Fax: -353-1-269-7437 Ireland
e-mail: ssequeira@rpii.ie
13 Encarta versus Britannica
I have bought both Encarta and Britannica for years (EB in printed edition too: 32 volumes, 32.000 pages). This is my opinion in brief: Encarta is excellent in all aspects, but Britannica's authoritative text (sometimes outdated) makes interesting to buy both.
TEXT: Britannica is a superb encyclopedia of text (not in visual aid) since 1768 (you know: an article by Einstein and so on...). Contents in electronic version differs from printed encyclopedia (very large articles have been shortened). Britannica claims that it has more entries that Encarta, but this is a joke: articles like "Mexico" are only one (with a lot of subdivisions) in Encarta, while in Britannica subdivisions are unconnected, and you must "jump" from one subdivision to another, which is slow and very annoying, especially if you want to copy it in "WORD". Very often, the text is not updated.
In the other hand, Encarta's text is not bad at all. Most articles have the name of their contributors and their professions, works...: They are not "John Doe". You can find large fragments of literary works, literature guides, a lot of sidebars and thousands of quotations. "Encarta Africana" is included. The Pop-Up (double clicking a word) Dictionary and Thesaurus has sound for correct pronunciation (by the way, it can read aloud, with a robotic and ugly voice, a whole article). The "Translation Dictionaries" to Spanish, French, German and Italian must be improved, because they are minimal. It gives you a lot of "Internet links", even if you are not connected. With Britannica you must be "on-line" and it searches in an EB Web page.
In theory you can update Britannica over the Internet free for a year quarterly (4 times), but this does not work. Encarta can be updated free EVERY WEEK with new articles and additions or corrections to the old ones (until October 2005). With Encarta updating really works. Technologically is amazing to see the changes in old items.
ATLAS Britannica has not a real atlas; only a worlds map whose maximum detail are the States of USA. Statistics are very poor. Encarta's Atlas is like another encyclopedia, with a great detail (1 inch = 10 miles all over the world) and 20 varieties of atlas presentations (statistical ones can be counted by dozens). If you look at a geographical article (city, river...) you can see in a corner where it is placed and, with only a click, open the Atlas. In articles of cities, if you are on-line, you can see in another corner the weather of this place in that moment. If it is a USA place, you can read the latest news.
MULTIMEDIA: They say that "serious" or "adult" readers do not care about "pictures"; that multimedia is only for kids. I do not agree, because I think that, sometimes, "A picture is worth a thousand words". Works of art, anatomy, historical maps, diagrams... Encarta devastates Britannica with a lot of photos, paintings, drawings, charts & tables, animations, interactivities, videos, music and sounds, pictures, 2-D and 3-D virtual tours, 360-degrees views, timeline, games... It is not only the quantity and quality. It is the easy access you have to all the multimedia, and that text and multimedia are fully integrated. Britannica is not really multimedia. It has photos and videos, but they make the program slow and sluggish. They should edit an alternative version with only text, as they did with the first edition in 1995. It performed fast and easy in old computers.
INTERFACE AND PERFORMANCE: This is the worst side of Britannica. With Encarta you only have to type a word or the beginning of a word to see all the articles and multimedia that contain it. If Encarta does not find anything, it gives you automatically alternative spellings. Even if you write the name of a small village lost in any country, you see it in the atlas. If you need to copy text or pictures, the integration with Microsoft WORD is perfect. It has additional ways to find content, including subject or multimedia browsing, "related articles" and the standard A-Z method. The "Research Organizer" is very helpful too. Encarta's TEXT FONT is very clear (Britannica's...) and you can choose 3 sizes.
Navigating with Britannica is disappointing. I will only give you an example: if you do not know the exact and correct spelling of a name or word, it does not help you with similar spellings (unless you open a window and "battle" with it). As I said before, the program's performance speed is very slow and sluggish, and it must be dramatically improved. To go "back and forward" you do not find any icon and you need to open a "menu".... One "pro" for Britannica: they say it works with Macintosh.
INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS: Encarta has a lot in different languages. The four I utilize (United Kingdom, Spanish, French and Italian ones) are adaptations of USA version, which is necessary talking about History, Geography, Literature and other topics. The MISERABLE thing is that articles that equally concern any human being (Health, Mathematics and the rest of Sciences) are a VERY RESUMED translation of USA edition that is, of course, the best of all. Why Microsoft follows such a policy? I think this is MISERABLE in all the meanings of the word.
I repeat my modest piece of advice: Encarta is excellent in all aspects, but Britannica's authoritative text (sometimes outdated) make interesting to buy both.
