Encarta
Encarta was the name of an electronic multimedia encyclopedia which was published by the Microsoft Company from 1993 to 2009. She was available on both CD -ROM and DVD, as well as limited access on the World Wide Web. The CD-/DVD-Ausgabe was reissued annually and could partly be updated via the Internet. There were 50,000 items with a total of almost 20 million words, this should correspond printed a twenty volume encyclopaedia. 2009, Microsoft discontinued all Encarta offers. Many articles were based on those of the former radio -and- Wagnalls Encyclopedia and Collier's Encyclopedia, the online rights Microsoft acquired in 1998. After all longer articles the names and partly the qualifications of the authors were listed.
The Encarta released worldwide in different languages ; which the contents are processed by local editors and differed in their priorities and reviews. For example, the Dutch version contained texts from the Winkler Prins encyclopedia Encarta Africana set priorities in the field of African-American culture.
Naming
After the Encyclopedia has been developed for the time being under the code name Gandalf, created an advertising agency the name for Microsoft Encarta.
German edition of Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia
The German -language edition was released in three versions:
- Professional - the most extensive variant over 50,000 products with around 19 million words ( the 2004 edition ), the most extensive additions to multimedia elements and a detailed atlas; in the 2002 edition of the Professional version had 16.5 million words
- Standard - stripped down version with reduced text base ( approximately 37,300 articles in the edition of 2001, between 20% and 50 % less text ), less multimedia elements and very simple Atlas
- Update - reduced-priced upgrade for owners of a previous version
- Plus - full text base ( in the 2001 edition, there were 13.9 million words), less multimedia elements, no Atlas; Set with the 2002 edition
It was additionally distinguished between CD and DVD versions. The Professional version on 4 CDs or 1 DVD cost about 120 €, from 2004, still about 90 €. The standard version was part of the Microsoft Works Suite edition to 2006.
From the 2003 edition of a bilingual English dictionary was integrated, which was licensed by Langenscheidt.
For the 2004 edition 31 video films of the Discovery Channel television in the fields of biology and the natural sciences have been licensed.
In the 2005 version, a children's encyclopedia, Encarta Kids, with over 500 articles has been integrated. The CD version consisted of two ( standard version ) or four CDs ( Professional version only):
- 1 CD containing the installation routine, the software and text based. It could be used independently.
- CD 2 contains multimedia elements such as bigger pictures, videos, animations, sounds and 360 ° rotating QuickTime panoramas.
- CD 3 and 4 contained more multimedia elements: more than 25,000 media items, including 20,500 pictures, 300 videos and animations, some 2,750 Musik-/Audioclips, 2,000 charts and tables, as well as over 5,600 web links.
In Encarta 2007, there were no Plus or Professional version more. Encarta 2007 corresponded to the Professional version of its predecessor. The normal version was given the additional name standard.
In mid-2008 the German Encarta editors was disbanded after thirteen years.
In early 2009, Microsoft announced that Encarta will set the course of the year. By June of the software sales should be stopped, the online version has been turned off in all languages except Japanese on 31 October 2009. The shutdown of the Japanese version followed the year 2009. Encarta Premium 2009 version was hence the last commercially available version dar.
Encarta World Atlas
The Encarta World Atlas was adjusted using the 2001 edition as a separate product, and was thereafter only with the reference library available. He recorded 1.8 million places and offered zoomable maps with additional information such as a glossary countries as well as statistics.
Additions
However, further additions were a so-called Research Organizer, chart wizard, the Learning Center and from the 2004 edition of the Knowledge Compass ( an equivalent of the knowledge network of the Brockhaus, according to c't (test in edition 13/2003 ) a gimmick without utility ) and Englishtown, access to online English courses. In addition, Encarta 2007 provided in the special learning and knowledge - version a kind of equation calculator that could solve mathematical equations quickly and easily.
Encarta Online
The online edition of the Encarta was involved in Microsoft's MSN portal and accessible via de.encarta.msn.com. However, the text base was lower compared to the CD -ROM edition and recently stood at about 47,000 articles available. The online version was shut down in October 2009.