Reference & Education Software - Product Reviews

benlips - (June 24, 2005) It's filled with ads and offers that would be difficult for a new user to spot and remove. These are placed on the desktop, in the Start Menu, and in the Programs Menu (maybe more!) Removing all the junk that's thrown in after installation involves going into Start Menu -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs and removing "Special Offers". Even then, there might be junk left in the Start Menu or on the desktop. While installing it, it asks for lots of personal information, which will undoubtedly be used for marketing. The non-savvy user would be tempted to fill in this info. bad idea. To cancel out of these screens involve much frustration (but it's obviously worth it). Confusing

craigpratt - (March 28, 2004) This is the third mapping program I've used in 3 years and it is definitely the best. You can enter a street address for anywhere in the US and have it on the map in just a few seconds. Sometime you have to make sure to use just house number and street name to obtain a successful search. Still, though, to be able to this kind of search w/o a huge online database is amazing. The points of interest database is also very good. Most major restaurants and stores are listed. Public resources are more limited. State and national campsites don't seem to be listed in the Points of Interest database. What's most frustrating about these programs is that they don't have a way for you to add po

brlittle - (October 30, 2005) I have used MS office products for several years and have generally been satisfied. I know many people do not like MS for various reasons, but it is hard not to recommend a product that is so widely used in business and academic circles. We had tried the Open Office freeware products as an alternative and found them to be very commendable, but it was somewhat of a chore to convert files to MS format when needed for a school assigment or business need and we would occasionally lose something (formatting, etc) in the conversion. The Office XP/2003 incorporates some useful features over my previous Office 2000 suite, although the newer style may seem less "professional". One feature that h

windskisong - (07/08/09) Great fun, with a BIG BUT. Our homeschooled 4 yr old loves it, and has in about 3 weeks plowed thru BOTH of the EXCITING INCLUDED levels, with a little help from Dad. As a previous reviewer mentioned, this game is very heavy on the hand-eye coordination, getting arrow keys right in order (like the dancing games at arcades) to help your "pet" do tricks, etc. The lessons were fun, but not too challenging, honestly much easier than the 2002 vintage Jumpstart Advanced Kindergarten or the Broderbund Reader Rabbit Kindergarten and Math 4-6. The graphics are BEAUTIFUL, and my little one LOVES exploring the world. However, what you can't tell from the packaging or the on-line information is that this $15-25 game is little but a preview to entice you to buy the $70/yr "membership" to unlock the remaining 10 levels. I am profoundly disappointed at the 12 e-mails I have gotten, plus the fact that when they go to their "cabin" the "TV" they watch is more commercials for the "membership", the games and activities mention to ask your parents to upgrade, etc. This is a SCAM, and I would return it if I could, even with how much my little one enjoys it. Steer clear until they stop ripping off and using your kids as advertisers.

pnghiem - (30/10/08) I purchased Pharos Ostia GPS Navigation software to run on my Win CE 5.0 PNA and PocketPC 2002 PDA but it failed to run on both of them. Pharos CSR told me that I had to downgrade to a much older version to be able to run it on PocketPC 2002 but then the maps would be several years out of date. As far as Win CE 5.0 goes, there is no support. Pharos Ostia used to be a very competitive GPS navigation software for PDA which gave you enough features to map out routes and follow driving directions. You can even search and input destinations from Outlook Contacts, other databases and on the maps. The voice guidance and alert system have good timing, although the alert sound needs some improvement. Since the release of newer generations of GPS PNAs, Ostia is no longer the preferred GPS navigation software.

ayaperegoy - (06/10/08) I wish that the all the problems in text books have clues but seems like it's skipping the difficult ones that my daughter need clues in most. It asks for more money in tutoring or graphic tools. Graphic tools are probably reasonable still since it's under $30 annually. But I thought it was little bit pitty to skip the hardest problems to ask for more money.