Encyclopedia Britannica 2003 Ultimate Reference Suite

Rating:
Summary: Digital Albatross
Review: Horrible interface, startling paucity of content... and here's the kicker. Encyclopaedia Britannica creates (and I kid you not here) 1.97 MILLION files for your anti-virus software to try to deal with every time you do a system scan. To put this in perspective, after un-installing Britannica my machine dropped from 2,016,819 files to 41,209... and mind you, my computer is loaded - I've got about 50 GB of (non-Britannica) data on my drives! In real time, we are talking about a difference of SEVERAL HOURS for Norton to complete a full system scan.

On top of this, I hate to say it, but Encarta has better and more thorough content (and as a Ph.D. student in cultural history, I can assure you that I am used to evaluating content under awkward circumstances). I would also hasten to add that I am not a fan of Bill Gates, so it is with a certain amount of pain that I have to admit that his product is FAR superior in this case.