Encyclopedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite 2007 DVD-Rom (Win/Mac) | 
| From: Avanquest
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $15.40
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Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 1353
Format: Dvd-rom
Platforms: Mac Os X, Windows Vista Home Premium
Media: DVD-ROM
Edition: Ultimate Reference Suite - DVD Rom
Operating System: Mac OS X
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 1.5
MPN: 8012
UPC: 018059080126
EAN: 0018059080126
ASIN: B000H26H76
Release Date: June 30, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Sealed In Original Retail Packaging
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| Features:
| • | 3 Encyclopedias in One: Elementary, Student, and Adult | | • | 100,000+ Articles | | • | New! Virtual Notecards allow you to make notes around what you've read and keep track of where you have been | | • | New! Explore Interactive Articles and Media Tours | | • | Multimedia content, Atlas, Timelines, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA ULTIMATE REF 2007 MINIDVD
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 The Encyclopedia Britannica 2007 Opens to the Web September 25, 2006
Sam Vaknin (Skopje, Macedonia)
37 out of 39 found this review helpful
The Encyclopedia Britannica 2007 (established in 1768) is again a completely revamped product. The rate of innovation in the last two editions is impressive and welcome. Its interface is intuitive and uncluttered and it is great fun to use. For instance, it offers a date-based daily selection of relevant information and highly edifying interactive tours of articles and attendant media. The search box is persistent - no need to click on the toolbar's "search" button every time you want to find something in this vast storehouse of knowledge. Moreover, the user can save search results onto handy "Virtual Notecards".
The new Britannica's display is tab-based, avoiding the erstwhile confusing proliferation of new windows with every move. Most importantly, articles appear in full, not in sections. This major improvement facilitates the finding of relevant keywords in and the printing of entire texts. These are only a few of the numerous user-friendly alterations and enhancements. The Britannica seems to have got it entirely right.
Perhaps the most refreshing change is the Britannica's Update Center. Dozens of monthly updates and new, timely articles are made available online (subject to free registration). A special button alerts the user when an article in the base product has been updated. Regrettably, unlike in the Encarta, the updates cannot be downloaded to the user's computer or otherwise incorporated into the vast encyclopedia.
The Britannica provides considerably more text than any other extant encyclopedia, print or digital. But its has noticeably enhanced it non-textual content over the years (the 1994-7 editions had nothing or very little but words, words, and more words): it now boasts more than 17,000 images and illustrations and 700 video and audio clips.
The Britannica fully supports serious research. It is a sober assemblage of first-rate essays, up to date bibliographies, and relevant multimedia. It is a desktop university library: thorough, well-researched, comprehensive, trustworthy.
The Britannica's 80-100,000 articles (depending on the version) are long and thorough, supported by impressive bibliographies, and written by the best scholars in their respective fields. The company's Editorial Board of Advisors reads like the who's who of the global intellectual and scientific community.
The Britannica comes bundled with an atlas (between 1600 and 2530 maps and 287 World data Profiles of individual countries and territories), the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus, classic articles from previous editions, ten yearbooks, an Interactive Timeline, a Research Organizer, and a Knowledge Navigator (a Brain Stormer).
In its new form, the Britannica is as user-friendly as the Encarta. With monthly updates and 3 months of free access to its impressive powerhouse online Web site, it is bound to give the former close competition.
The Britannica is an embarrassment of riches. Users often find the wealth and breadth of information daunting and data mining is fast becoming an art form. This is why the Britannica incorporated the Brain Stormer to cope with this predicament. But an informal poll I conducted online shows that few know how to deploy it effectively.
The Britannica also sports Student and Elementary versions of its venerable flagship product, replete with a Homework Helpdesk - but it is far better geared to tackle the information needs of adults and, even more so, professionals. It provides unequalled coverage of its topics. Ironically, this is precisely why the market positioning of the Britannica's Elementary and Student Encyclopedias is problematic.
The current edition is fully integrated with the Internet. Apart from the updates, it offers additional and timely content and revisions on a dedicated Web site. The digital product includes a staggering number of links (165,808!) to third party content and articles on the Web. The GeoAnalyzer (compares national statistical data and generates charts and graphs) is now Web-based and greatly enhanced.
The Britannica would do well to offer a browser add-on search bar and integrate with 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.
Some minor gripes:
The atlas, dictionary, and thesaurus incorporated in the Britannica 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)?
Despite considerable improvement over the previous edition, the Britannica still consumes (not to say hogs) computer resource far in excess of the official specifications. This makes it less suitable for installation on older PCs and on many laptops.
The Britannica uses a new graphic and text renderer. On some systems, the user needs to modify his or her desktop settings to get rid of jagged fonts and blurry photos.
But that's it. Don't think twice. Run to the closest retail outlet (or surf to the Britannica's Web site) and purchase the 2007 edition now. It offers excellent value for money (less than $50) and significantly enhances you access to knowledge and wisdom accumulated over centuries all over the world. Sam Vaknin, author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited"
Fantastic Content, but annoyed by the install routine December 12, 2006
Aaron Lambert
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
I have always loved the Britannica content, but here are my gripes with the install routine.
(1) You cannot choose which components to install. You either get it all, or nothing. Already got the Merriam-Webster dictionary on your computer? Too bad. Get it again with the Britannica, whether you like it or not. And so on.
(2) If you choose one of the 'lite' install methods, whereby you keep the DVD in the drive for video and picture content (which can save over 2GB of space...) there is NO OPTION to tell the software which drive it looks in for the DVD. I have many optical drives, virtual drives, etc and I have the DVD in drive 'S'. I kept getting the stupid error message 'User action required, Please Insert Data Disc' despite the fact the the DVD was sitting there in the drive (the same drive I installed the product from, incidentally). This is a big problem for me, as I cannot use drive 'D' or 'E' (or whatever they are using as their unchangeable default - it's really amazing that the software would be so stupid).
(3) Once you have chosen your install type, whether 'lite' or 'full', there is NO way to change it afterwards. If you made a 'lite' install and you want to change it to a 'full' install, you have to UNINSTALL the entire product again and start all over. And given that the install takes about 15 minutes, or roughly how long it takes Microsoft Office to install, this is a major pain in the backside. (Note to Britannica developers: Microsoft Office provides LOTS of install options, i.e. which components to install, and you can EASILY change them after installing. Your product should do the same.)
To be honest, for a software package that has been in development since 1998 - only slightly less time than Windows itself - it is truly amazing that it is so incompetent.
Come on! It's Britannica! January 21, 2007
Phlogiston (West Hartford, CT USA)
15 out of 19 found this review helpful
The hard-copy of Britannica has been the standard in reference for centuries, now you can have all of that, with video, audio, tons of photos, and extra support from the web for a fraction of the price of the original. For what you get, it's an incredible deal and an indispensable part of any reference library.
 EB software does not work with Windows Vista March 3, 2007
Billy Budd (Boston, MA USA)
15 out of 25 found this review helpful
EB own words: "Unfortunately, at this time the Britannica software is not compatible with Windows Vista. We are working on developing another version of the 2007 software that will work on Windows Vista and we are planning to release this version in the upcoming months. Please check back with us in another month or so and we should have some more information about the Vista-compatible software. But, it is entirely possible that we will not have Windows Vista compatible version of the 2007 product available and that we will wait until the development of the 2008 software." They do NOT offer a reasonable on-line subscription.
They got it right! October 25, 2006
D. O'Rear
13 out of 17 found this review helpful
I did a review on the 2005 version when it was new. It was a horrible product then but was greatly improved in 2006. This trend continues in this new 2007 version. It has many new features from 2006 so I have not regretted making the upgrade. The above reviewer wrote a very complete and helpful review so let me just say he is dead on. This is an outstanding product and highly recommend it. You will not be disappointed in this new version.
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