Microsoft's Encarta 2004 Premium Suite is a comprehensive encyclopedia which has a list of contents to die for. When I first read the packaging I thought there had been a mistake as the list includes a Book of Quotations, Dictionary, Thesaurus, Literature Guides, Project Starters, World Atlas, Dynamic Timeline and a Chart Maker. There are loads of interactive materials including huge supplies of video data. It is, as they say, feature packed.

 

Once inside the program I found the interface intuitive and, if you can believe it, even more features than advertised on the packaging. They weren't kidding when they said Encarta was an interactive paradise. I took a virtual tour of the Roman Colosseum as it was back then and as it is today, took a whiz around some Discovery Channel videos, inspected the World's natural wonders and did a quick mini trek around Jan Mayen in the artic circle. Phew. And I just kept saying to myself "Where were you Encarta when I was at school and doing projects."

Up until now I have not really spent a lot of time inspecting encyclopedia's of any sort, much less digital ones, so the whole Encarta experience is new to me and I must say I'm impressed. I dived into the Video library and watched the horrific Hindenburg crash, Houdini escaping and the Hubble Space Telescope repair, did I already say Phew? The sheer magnitude of this interactive multimedia package is breathtaking and it would be nigh on impossible for me to give it adequate coverage in just one review. A quick look at some of the statistics of the program and you will see what I mean ... 1.8 million map locations, over 20,000 quotations ... these figures alone are mind boggling.

It is in its "Search" feature that Encarta really comes into its own. As I said the interface is intuitive so it is easy to key in anything specific you want to search for and click "Go". What displays is every item available in the encyclopedia about whatever you have requested. Take a look at the image below, this is the screen which appeared following a search on Mussolini:

Across the top of the screen are the multimedia elements available, then below the screen is split into quotations, articles, web materials, more multimedia and further reading.

Content packed Encarta is an excellent purchase if you have school aged children. Not only can you search Encarta for information but Encarta will search the Web for you and display relevant information. Also, you don't need to worry about out of date information as you can join "Club Encarta" and get free updates for at least 10 months after purchase. There is also an "Update" button on the Home page of the program, I clicked and received some free downloaded updates from the Encarta Website. I couldn't find any information about these free updates so I'm not sure how long they will remain free after purchase.

For old Encarta users and newbies like myself Encarta 2004 Premium Suite gets a thumbs up. Oh and I've just discovered a "Music" section of the encyclopedia and I'm just off to start exploring.