Rating: 
Summary: the worst interface ever to grace a software product...
Review: ... and that's just the start of its woes. i purchased the 1.x version of the oed cdrom from amazon about a year and a half ago. it has a clunky interface but is otherwise pretty functional. not its replacement. because i'd dropped $400 on v1.x, i wrote the oup for their upgrade policy. without even checking back, they sent me a copy of version 2.0. that was the high point of this experience. installing v2.0 was easy. running it was less so. to get to the point where you could query the dictionary about a word took at least three clicks through its attractive but otherwise unusable interface. that was annoying. it also had curious ideas about how much screen real estate it was allowed to occupy. but the killer from my point of view was its so-called 'data disk'. they've used some clever encryption technology to defeat cd burners, which is fine, but the startup process took a good 2 minutes plus just to read and authorize the data disk before i could even start using the dictionary. this on a fairly quick pentium3 system. the kicker was their software is so paranoid that it insists on reading that damned encrypted disk every time the app starts, even if the computer hasn't been restarted.i uninstalled v2.0 and reinstalled 1.x. i'll stick with that old clunker, thanks. the best part is i started getting demand notices from oup for $431.71, which makes the amazon price a tad better... it also bespeaks a bit of a lie regarding their upgrade policy - ie: what upgrade policy? the oed second edition is a great dictionary. their v1.x cdrom a reasonable kick at making it accessible to the modern age. however version 2.0 should be avoided at all costs! excessive paranoia should never be rewarded, especially when it's so unjustified.
Rating: 
Summary: OUP Listened.
Review: At least in my experience--the support at OUP was great. There were a few things I did to help:
*Practice good tech support practices as a consumer.*
1. I noticed and reported via telephone any snags I encountered so that support would have a record of it.
2. I used telephone instead of e-mail. They sent me an unencrypted set (so I didn't need any CDs or controversial software) when they couldn't solve the OED's incompatibility with my very strange confidentiality/personal encryption software. (PGP--99.9% of you do not use such things.) A word, though: For the majority of users, the OED will work just fine. OED v.3 is much improved.. it is actually a wonderful piece of software that acts exactly like M-W's software except with full-text search and wild cards, and excellent online help. Double-clicking on words is now supported, and you can press ENTER and get right to a definition--two of my pet peeves are now fixed. The ability to run it off the hard drive means that it is fast and responsive. If anything, C-dilla needs to clean up their act.. and provide better documentation to innocent engineers and support teams. As long as you follow these instructions, you should be fine. 1. After installing and before launching the OED, insert your *data* CD (2.0 for the upgrade version, 3.0 otherwise.)
2. There will be a "Wait screen" telling you C-dilla is being installed.. it should go away automatically, and it will ask you again within 90 days. It's really that simple. And with world class support, how can you go wrong? 45 minutes of my time on the telephone gave me years worth of pleasure.. and as I said, I am a minority. --Sam
Rating:
Summary: Warning! Minimum System Requirements!
Review: Before you buy the CD-ROM version you should be aware of the MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: I copied the following from the attractive box in which the CD-ROM is packaged: *PC with minimum 200 MHz Pentium-class processor *32 MB RAM (64 recommended) *750 MB hard disk space *16-speed CD-ROM drive (32-speed recommended) *Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0 *SVGA monitor: 800x600 pixels, 16 bit (64k, high color) setting recommended Otherwise, you'll be sitting there with a 400 dollar useless piece of plastic like I am until I upgrade my system.
Rating:
Summary: CDROM v3.0: Five star content - ZERO star software
Review: BEWARE! I used the title from another review for the title of my review since it so totally appropriate. I have been using this product since May, 2003 so I am obviously familiar with it. BEWARE OF THIS PRODUCT! (Because of CD-Zilla or whatever lousy software this is) For a long time I have been noticing strange performance problems loading programs: sometimes they would load quickly (this would be after a boot followed by a load/exit of the program then a load again of the program for this load timing test) and sometimes they would be continually loading 2.5-3x more slowly. I finally traced this to the usage of OED CDROM v3.0. Specifically, once I use the OED and EVEN AFTER I EXIT IT, my program loading performance is seriously degraded until I reboot. Sorry folks, this software is a loser. I did not buy a high performance computer so that OED could degrade it to an arthritic turtle. Vote with your mouse and go somewhere else. Note:
This refers to LOADING a program NOT running it in case you misunderstand me. The loading time goes from an nice, interactive two seconds to a bogged down six seconds. I might be doing these loads several times a minute so this degradation is totally unacceptable. I want to work, not wait.
Rating:
Summary: Computer 'rape' (for lack of a better term)
Review: Excuse the title, but I can't think of a better description of what this does to a modern computer... I have experimented further about performance and security problems with this implementational abomination: 1) I tried running it from one Windows XP Pro account (it seriously degraded subsequent program loading of the program I use most) and then logging on to a different account on the same machine (obviously) But NOT running OED from this second account). It is not enough that this thing messes up the first account but, it degrades the entire computer so that I have to reboot after each time I use it, if I want my computer to be usable. Hence the title: Computer 'rape'. 2) But there is more. This is from the OED website as of 2003-12-30: Is the CD-ROM compatible with Windows XP? Yes, version 3.0 of the CD-ROM is fully compatible with Windows® XP, although you will need LOCAL ADMINISTRATOR RIGHTS to install and run the OED on this platform. Note the final clause - 'RUN'. It will not run in a non-priveleged account (ie a 'limited account')(I just tried it and I got a nastygram). Being logged on as an administrator (to use this thing) is probably about the best possible way to guarantee that sooner or later your computer will be infected with a virus, trojan, worm or whatever else is lurking out there on the Internet and to lose everything on your computer. After using good Anti-Virus and Firewall software, absolutely the single most important thing that you can do is to be logged in on a non-privileged account. Of course, now, you can't use the OED and if you want to use it, it needs to be run in a privileged account and you are exposing yourself to total disaster. Hence the title: Computer 'rape'. 3) I went today to the OED website hoping (wishful thinking) that this problem would be finally addressed. No way. Since to use this program requires me to expose my computer to every pest on the Internet I have decided to no longer use it. It just isn't worth the (very real) risk of losing everything on my computer (or worse). Now, obviously, if you don't connect to the Internet (or any other Network, for that matter) and you are not concerned about the usefullness of your computer for performing any other tasks, then the OED is a useful and usable resource.
Rating: 
Summary: Copy protection makes this too inconvenient to use
Review: For years I wanted to own this wonderful dictionary and when I had saved up my pennies, I jumped at the chance to order it. What's most striking about it is how often I DO NOT use it, rather than use it. The copy protection scheme is so awful that it takes 60 seconds for the software to come up on my 266 mhz thinkpad. Furthermore, because the CD costs so much, and because I can't back it up due to the copy proection, I fear to take it with me in my laptop bag in case of loss or damage. Hence I rarely use the dictionary unless I am at home, and instead use my simple hard-disk-resident American Heritage dictionary. Just today I saw the word "putsch" while I was reading something online. American Heritage gave a simple definition but I would have loved to look it up in the OED. Alas, I can't. So I wouldn't recommend this software until they get rid of the most horrible copy protection scheme I have ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: BUGS with FATAL ERRORS
Review: For [the price], it's not worth the money. It's not worth half that. It doesn't matter how good the content is - if the software doesn't work or has adverse effects on the system, it's not worth the plastic in the jewel case. And once you've bought it, you don't get your money back. The OED Version 3.0 software (full version) was not thoroughly tested and is underdeveloped (again!!). I had it loaded for a mere 10 minutes when I found fatal errors. For example: look up "CHIP (n1)". Select pronunciation, spellings, etymology, quotations, and date chart, deselect additions, then try to print or save. The software crashes and you need to exit. Also try: look up " CHIP (n1)". Select all listing options except etymology and additions, then try to print or save. Again, the software crashes. To compare, try: look up " CHIP (n1)". Deselect any combination of listing options except for the above, then try to print or save. No crashes. Also, this software somehow interferes with MS Word files (in my tests, Word 2000 SR-1a on Win 98SE only). Opening some Word files produces the "Run-Time error '5'" error message, which is fatal and requires A COMPLETE SYSTEM REBOOT!! - probably because of "ghosts" left in the system. If you continue to work on anything, the computer locks up and, of couse, unsaved work is lost. The C-dilla security software that OED uses stops responding and holds the machine hostage.
Further, the Entry History and Search History are not persistent across sessions. If you leave the dictionary (or get thrown out because of crashes!), the history is lost. One would think that coding software to write the history to a text file would not be too much trouble! System date changes: well, if you change the system date backwards, even if the changed date is later than the install date, OED requests authentication. Then, the authentication does not work. Software must be uninstalled and reloaded. NOTE: the C-dilla security software must be removed separately. There's no "back button" feature, so you cannot back-up through your searches using intellimouse buttons. So, if you use the "auto-search from clipboard", you can't easily get back to where you were (except through Entry History and Search History). Lookup and redisplay after changing the listing options can be sluggish - with no apparent reason or pattern. The "auto-search from clipboard" is useless - in fact, counter-productive. Anything you copy or cut from any application is automatically entered into the OED search window - words, phases, sentences. I believe that there's a limit to the buffer but given all the other problems, why bother finding out. As I said, for [the price], it's not worth the money. Use Microsoft Bookshelf - MS at least gives you a money-back guarantee. (TEST SYSTEM: Win98 SE and Win2K with all available updates on P3 1Gb.)
Rating: 
Summary: CDROM v3.0: Five star content - one star software
Review: Great tool for authors, readers and the curious. Too bad the product is spoiled by the employment of intrusive heavy-handed copy protection. OED uses the controversial Cdilla copy protect software, which installs a very intrusive and tenacious presence on your computer. After installing OED on my computer, there appeared ten separate Cdilla related files and programs. I discovered that Cdilla is incompatible with many printer drivers. My HP LaserJet 4100 would not work after Cdilla got through with my computer. OED support is not very helpful when it comes to Cdilla related problems. To me they seemed unconcerned and a bit aloof. It appeared they knew of the problems with Cdilla and were told to stonewall the issue. Because Cdilla must run every time you start OED, there is an annoying lag before the OED screen comes up. Frequently error messages appear when starting and stopping OED but the product seems to work anyway. Also the installed product, from time to time, wants to authenticate your computer to the original CD. Too bad if you have misplaced the CD or are using a remote laptop. For the price one pays for this product, Oxford University Press should do a better job on the software engineering side of the OED. They have protected their product well but at the expense of the customer and end user.
Rating: 
Summary: OED: love the words, offended by the greed
Review: I have lusted after the OED since I was 14. I finally got it on CD-ROM. It's great; the format means no leafing through hundreds of pages or using a magnifying glass (for the Compact Edition) and it's quick and simple. But for $400, with the new edition coming out momentarily, did they have to create their own font, which can't be read by people who don't have it already, and which the owner cannot change? I thought, for the cost, that I'd be able to quote it freely -- but no. As a doctoral student I'm required to use certain fonts, and (not surprisingly) theirs isn't one. What happened to the sportsmanlike English? I guess they got as money-grubbing as everyone else. What a shame.
Rating:
Summary: OUP will not help you with C-Dilla software
Review: I have to recommend that NO ONE buy this product until the OUP solves the C-Dilla license management problem. Like other reviewers I bought the product in good faith only to find that the C-dilla copy protection simply doesn't work. It fails to authenticate the disc and when you try and get help from the OUP they ignore you. I even wrote to the Managing Director, Ivon Asquith, who fobbed me off back to the technicians, who then did nothing. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT, you'll be wasting your money.
| 
