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(More customer reviews)If you love words, there is no equal
At least Oxford University Press keeps trying. This is the 4th electronic version of the venerable Oxford English Dictionary. Each of the earlier versions had problems galore that Oxford was very lax in resolving or sometimes even admitting. Among the many small cruelties, you had to reinsert the data disk every 90 days. Or the failure to adapt to Windows Vista. Ah, well, if you want all those words at your fingertips, such suffering is a price to be paid.
Happily, 4.0 seems pretty stable. Gone is the insanity of needing to reinsert the data disk. OED 4.0 runs smoothly on Vista. Still missing are synonyms. Oxford is missing a profit opportunity by not including a thesaurus add-on. They have a print version: why not make it electronic?
The user interface is cleaned up from earlier versions.
Spelling errors still result in no match rather than presenting you with a list of possibilities. Using the two wildcards is your own option.
The advanced Search is a relatively primitive Boolean mechanism that provides you three terms to match in either the word entries or quotations using AND/OR/NOT operators. Frankly, it isn't all that advanced, but it will do.
When the OED is open, you can double-click on any word and the OED will display the definition. (Windows-only feature.) Mac users need to copy the word to the clipboard.
Speaking of copying, you can only copy the entire OED entry, which can be huge in many cases. Thus, you transfer it to a note application and then extract what you need. Cumbersome to say the least, but as paranoid as Oxford is about illegal copying, it keeps people from easily creating their own dictionaries.
The help function is browser based and reasonably thorough. There is, happily, a list for all the abbreviations used in the OED and any serious word hunter will be using it.
The joy of the OED, of course, is the words. More than 500,000 words defined and 2.5 million quotations demonstrating their use. Paradise for a writer or anyone entranced with the English language. Although, in terms of use, there are other electronic dictionaries that I prefer for ease of use and online references as well, the OED remains the absolute authority and I treasure it. Warts and all, I have grown up with it in print (the tiny print version with the magnifying glass) and all its electronic versions.
The OED is and remains the superlative resource for the English language.
Jerry
Click Here to see more reviews about: Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition, Version 4.0 (Windows & Mac)
The Oxford English Dictionary is the internationally recognized authority on the English Language, defining more than 500,000 words and tracing their usage through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of literary and other sources. The text on the CD-ROM comprises the full text of the OED 2nd Edition , plus the three Additions volumes, as well as 7,000 new entries from the OED's continuing research. Most importantly, OED v4.0 on CD-ROM boasts superb search-and-retrieval software, designed specifically for the electronic version, enabling you to investigate the Dictionary in ways not possible with the print edition. Questions which might have taken years of patient research can now be answered in seconds. Existing functionality retained from earlier versions includes: Installation to the hard drive, so the CD is not required during use of the Dictionary Options to customize the entry display and show or hide pronunciations, spellings, etymology, and quotation text Flexible full text search options, with search filters and an option to rank entries and search results alphabetically or by date New to this version: Now compatible for Mac users as well as PC users Now compatible for Windows 7 operating system Flash-base Smoother and faster performance providing instantaneous search results New word-wheel which supports incremental letter-by-letter browsing 7,000 new words and meanings System Requirements Windows: Intel Pentium 4 1.6GHz processor or equivalent (2GHz recommended); Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000. Macintosh: Power PC G4 867MHz or faster processor; Intel Core Duo 2.13GHz or faster processor; Mac OS X v.10.4x or 10.5x. All platforms: 512MB of RAM; 1Gb free hard disk space; minimum monitor capability: 1024 x 768 pixels and high color (16 bits per pixel, ie 65,536 colors); local CD-ROM/DVD drive (for installation); runs from hard drive only.
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