Encyclopaedia Britannica 2007 Ultimate Reference Suite (PC/Mac)

The previous reviewer mentions the PC Advisor review of this software, and specifically its claim that the Britannica fails to mention the 7/7 bombings. This is not true - in fact there is an entire paragraph on the bombings (although no picture, but then, the Britannica is not really a visual encyclopedia - it's more for reading and taking in slowly). It pays to take what you read on the Web with a grain of salt - which is where Britannica comes in.Britannica's main strengths are its authoritativeness (Encarta, I'm afraid, just doesn't have the same cachet) and its breadth. Its weaknesses are the poor atlas and relatively small amount of multimedia material. PC Advisor's reviewer complained that a full install is necessary to access all the features without the disk, but memory is cheap these days.There probably is a slight bias towards US subjects in features such as the Timeline, but honestly, it's not noticeable in general use - are you going to perceive a US bias when researching tigers, or ancient Sumer? I doubt it. The dictionary is a US one, but it is superb - the Merriam-Webster was already one of my favourite dictionaries (and I'm a book editor, so I use a lot of dictionaries). Nobody uses a dictionary for spelling, anyway - do they?Unlike Encarta, Britannica doesn't install yet more junk into Explorer, although I really, really wish it would allow proper downloading of content updates, instead of just access to an online update centre as now. And finally, the Brainstormer feature is fantastic and aesthetically stunning - it really has to be seen to be believed.In short, I use this encyclopedia almost daily in my research and would recommend it.

This is something a lot of people want to know when trying to decide on an encyclopedia to buy as i have been also. There are lots of conflicting reviews here on amazon, one's got more articles the other more multimedia content blah blah blah.Basicaly I've just done a web search on the subject and found a review of both 2007 products from PC Advisor magazine. Basicaly the results were Encarta wins hands down. I won't list every single point on which one is better than the other because at the end of the day if you want to read the review you can easily find it with google and I'm trying to keep this brief. However the main issue they had with Britannica was that it was highly US biast (even the dictionary it says is in US English and maps only go ito detail for US and Canada) and Encarta has been largly rewritten for the UK verstion. A search for London on Britanica brings up much older info and Encarta brings up pictures of the 7/7 bombings not even mentioned in Britanica. Also it says that Encarta can be run from the disc and britannica takes half an hour to install upto 2G on the hardisc.So based on this I'm going with Encarta.

I purchased this as it was the only competitive reference programme for my Mac, and I have to say I was pretty disappointed. When compared to even older versions of MS Encarta, the Encyclopaedia Britannica 2007 was far less attracive, not so easy to use, and the maps were extremely low-fidelity - especially when compared to Wikipedia.I wouldn't say that this programme was 100% worthless, it provided some interesting browsing, but when combined with a slow, buggy install and de-install, and a selfish and obtrusive update procedure (for new content) that falls quite close to demanding you sign-up for monthly or yearly subscriptions to really use the software - I would recommend continuing to browse Amazon.co.uk for other, more value-for-money software packages!

I have bought the last three versions of the Britannica DVD and have to say they have really improved the latest version. The new Interface is marvelous - much easier to navigate and the new virtual notecard feature allows you to make notes as you carry out your research with ease. Of course the deapth of the content is second to none = more than twice as much than any competitor's. Trying to find all this information on the likes of Google would take you as long as Britannica has been around - over 235 years!

This encyclopaedia will provide a child, teenager and an adult with the most trusted, accurate and up-to- date comprehensive source. Britannia is easy-to-use and specfically designed for a child, teenager and adult - so simply choose the version you want! 3 in 1!!It contains:100,349 articles/55,803,351 words73,288 articles from Encyclopædia Britannica15,727 articles from Student2,229 articles from Elementary65 articles from Britannica Classics9,040 articles from Britannica Year In Review (1993-2005)20,198 photos, illustrations, tables, and special compositions2,523 maps435 video clips634 sound clips43 animations288 World Data Profiles1,098 Daily Content features165,808 Web linksMerriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary & ThesaurusDictionary: 165,000 entries/225,000 definitionsThesaurus: 50,000 entriesMerriam-Webster's Student Dictionary & ThesaurusDictionary: 75,000 entries/100,000 definitionsThesaurus: 30,000 entries7,172 indexed timeline entries4,157 EB2,548 Student467 ElementaryOnline Learning Games and ActivitiesStudent: 211 ActivitiesElementary: 246 ActivitiesThousands of magazine articles and videos onlineAND THERES MORE, BUT MY FINGERS STARTED TO GET SORE, FROM TYPING!Overall, this item is perfect for anyone who goes to school, or in further education, university or for someone who just wants to learn a few new things.!