Rating: 
Summary: Everybody should have one!!
Review: I purchased this item for my 3.5-year-old son who was very curious and also could read by himself. I tought him how to look up words with this software. He liked this software and could spend quite a while exploring it. If a 3-year-old kid can use it, it proves that it is really easy to use. It is better to give kids something great like this to kill time with rather than some violent PC games. At the mean time, they become more knowledgable also. Isn't it great!I give it a 4 stars because I think the quality of some videos can be improved a bit more. Go get it, it is worth every buck you spend.
Rating:
Summary: A Slight But Great Improvement
Review: I thought that the 2003, edition of Encarta Reference Library was the ultimate refernce resource. But I was wrong. With a restyled start center, that makes it inviting and easy to use, Encarta 2004 is truly a winner. Basically the information is so update its really the Internet on DVD. This Digital Encyclopedia is 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. And you can also get updates from which keeps your information updated and always accurate. With great videos to give a visual concept of life in countries whether it be about people or animals. Whether its technology, science or history Encarta Reference Library 2004 gives you the information you need and expands the knowledge resource to 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 2004 is must upgrade especially if you want to reduce disk swapping and go for the DVD Edition. 2000, 2001, 2002 and even 2003 users will find this update a necessary update 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 2005!
Rating: 
Summary: Same old thing
Review: I usually only write reviews when I have postive comments, but I was disappointed in this years version of Encarta. It has very few improvements or new features.
Although the content will always remains secondary to the real encyclopedia publishers. I always enjoyed seeing what new flashy features Microsoft has come up with... (and 10 new videos was not good enough for me). There is no question that this is the best functioning encyclopedia (at least if you are using Windows and other Microsoft products) but without any new flash... and considering the nature of the content I can not recommend anyone purchase this product (and will probably see if I can return mine).
Rating:
Summary: Same old, Same old.
Review: I usually only write reviews when I have postive comments, but I was disappointed in this years version of Encarta. It has very few improvements or new features. Although the content will always remains secondary to the real encyclopedia publishers. I always enjoyed seeing what new flashy features Microsoft has come up with... (and 10 new videos was not good enough for me). There is no question that this is the best functioning encyclopedia (at least if you are using Windows and other Microsoft products) but without any new flash... and considering the nature of the content I can not recommend anyone purchase this product (and will probably see if I can return mine).
Rating: 
Summary: I love this product!
Review: I've not seen Encarta before so I have no idea about previous versions. However, this version is very impressive. I'm a computer professional and I can say that very few products have a user interface that 'flows' this well. My primary reason to get this was for my 10-year-old, but I think I'll be using it a lot more than her. The maps, dictionaries, articles, and links to related content on the web are great, but how they are all tied together is what really makes this product shine. It does take a while to load and you want to install everything on your hard drive (about 2Gig). If you don't load everything to your disk then you'll wear out your arm swapping between the 5 CDs when you look at different articles.
Rating:
Summary: Invaluable
Review: I've tried both Encarta 2004 and Britannica 2004. As other reviews here pointed out, Britannica is also good, but the interface leaves a lot to be desired and program is very very sluggish. I'm on a 1.6Mhz Pentium 4 Windows XP system, with 1 gigabyte of memory. So I was a bit surprised how slow it was. I decided to go with Encarta because it's faster, has more multimedia, and I like how Microsoft updates it (and displays a list of what was updated/added). I haven't tried the older versions of Encarta so I cannot compare, but 2004 looks and works fine for me. Some have complained about the Visual Browser "carousel" on the main page of the program. This can easily be disabled in the program options if it annoys you. The Encarta interface is very clean and organized. Colorful detailed buttons on the toolbar make it very easy to access the most common tasks and the search function is very fast. It seems the more you dig into it, the more goodies you'll find. There are great interactivities, games, dynamic atlas, 3D and 2D virtual tours, thousands of quotations, an entire dictionary program, and lots more. If you're used to the Internet Explorer browser, the "Favorites" menu in Encarta is identical and a great way to bookmark and organize your favorite places in this vast program. It's very easy to get "lost" for hours just clicking around. I haven't looked through an encyclopedia on CD-ROM since the early 90's when CD-ROM technology was just starting to take off. I'm pleased to see how detailed and invaluable they've become. I'd recommend this to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Light on Content and Yet Still Biased
Review: If you are looking for great presentation, lite content, and biased history, by all means by this product. I reviewed both Encarta and Britannica and found Britannica to more in depth and less biased in its history. Many of Brittanica's articles are by people Encarta only writes snippets about (i.e., you get their point of view not some political hack.) If you are looking for content and a fairer presentation of history buy Britannica.
Rating:
Summary: Light on Content and Yet Still Biased
Review: If you are looking for great presentation, lite content, and biased history, by all means by this product. I reviewed both Encarta and Britannica and found Britannica to more in depth and less biased in its history. Many of Brittanica's articles are by people Encarta only writes snippets about (i.e., you get their point of view not some political hack.) If you are looking for content and a fairer presentation of history buy Britannica.
Rating:
Summary: Building on an already attractive encyclopedia
Review: In my review for Encarta Deluxe 2004 my basic points were...
1. if you are a visual learner and not in upper division classes from High School onward Encarta has a great deal to offer at an attractive price.
2. if you need detailed articles Britianica is probably the better purchase as there are more subjects and more intensive treatment of them. If you are still hovering on which to get and you do not need the kind of detail Britanica has you will appreciate this expanded Resource package. In Encarta Reference Library 2004 Microsoft pulls out all the multimedia stops and delivers a highly entertaining and educating encyclopedia that is a pleasure to simply roam around. The additional African Encyclopedia, Maps, extra content and lots of additonal useful information such as quotes and a very nice section on world musical instruments complete with the sound and ensemble works of these exotic instruments most of us otherwise would be unexposed to. The dictionary and theasaurus are suited to the content and tie in nicely with the standard information. The result is a rich and involving multimedia learning experience. That makes Encarta Reference Library 2004 indespensible for casual and younger readers. While it is a nice gesture including the African Encarta the extra detail paid Africa at times seems disproportionate in it's importance compared to the rest of the reference libraries content. While this may be an unpopular thing to say it is almost verging on political correctness. While I applaud a deeper, and to some degree necesary involvement of African cultues contribution to the world I would have liked seeing a bit more attention paid the existing areas that are a little underdeveloped like political science, world history and the sciences. This is a minor quibble and the material on Africa is exceptionally well produced. Still, I think I'd rather hear and read more of Dr. King and Malcom X, or more detail about the Chicago 7 trial. No matter what, if you enjoy this well rounded multimedia experience. It is hard to imagine almost anyone not impressed with this exceptional program.
Rating:
Summary: Great Deal
Review: Just bought my copy at [a local store] in Houston for [$$$] and will get a [$$$] rebate. Imagine 2.65 gb of info for [$$$]!!!
Carries fewer articles and sounds than 2003 Encarta DVD but has several other features.
They finally fixed the researcher mode so that a project can be loaded with Encarta dvd and also the web info. The last three years I would receive a run time error.
The interface is more XP looking and they should look to building up much more info. The platform exists and is the best for this purpose. Perhaps too much info would slow the response time. A great product and a great value!!!!!
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