Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Great resource but..., 2 Sep 2003
By A Customer
The OED on CD-ROM is a great resource. However there is a major let-down which was not mentioned on the box. The installation imposes draconian anti-piracy measures upon the end-user. A license management service is installed in Windows NT/2000/XP (which must be enabled), and the user must have Local Admin privileges to use the product. Finally, the software will request the original Data CD for "Authorisation" every 90 days. Given the wealth of information, this is justifiable... if not annoying.System administrators will find managing this package to be difficult, especially if they wish to secure their desktops. Other than the gripes above, the resource is very useful, although the interface is a bit untidy. The CD-ROM version is actually cheaper than a 1 year subscription to the on-line version.
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136 of 139 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great content appallingly presented, 25 Oct 2001
By A Customer
I've been a fan of the OED2 since it first appeared on CD-ROM in 1992, neatly replacing 90 kilograms of paper with a single CD. This version has no new content - just an updated interface. Despite this, it now comes on two CDs. The first installs over 700 megabytes of index files to your hard disk - ostensibly for speed of searching - whilst the second, containing the dictionary itself, can't be copied to the computer. It must be present in the CD drive, and a lengthy authentication ritual takes place each time you start. By contrast, the 1992 version loads almost instantly and takes about a megabyte of disk space.
The old interface was, to put it politely, idiosyncratic, but at least you could change the text size if you found it hard to read. No such luck with the new, Netscape-style version, which also manages to curtail the powers of the search engine so that you can no longer stipulate multiple criteria.
The content, however, is truly wonderful, being a history of the English language from mediaeval times to the present day, lavishly illustrated with quotations including over 30,000 from Shakespeare. Apart from serious work, just browsing through the 300,000 entries is a joyous pastime. The entry for 'nice', for example, runs to 5,000 words with quotes ranging from the 13th to 20th centuries illustrating a long and varied career of meanings that include stupid; shy; lazy; effeminate; dangerous; extravagant; unusual; wanton; fastidious; tender; dressy; modest; cultured and trivial as well as those we use today. OED2 is definitive, exhaustive and highly entertaining. What a shame the OUP and its partners have treated it so badly in this new guise.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great research masterpiece, 17 Jan 2005
I'm leaving this note to advise buyers of the OED dictionary that the annoying copy protection restriction has now changed into a rather painless procedure. You can now install the whole dictionary onto your hard disk and put away your CDs in a safe place. Your key-disc is needed only once every three months for authentication. I don't think this causes any issue at all and is quite acceptable. The programme warns you after seventy days of installation that an authentication will be needed and gives you the opportunity to perform it right away if you have your key CD at hand or postpone it. The programme runs smoothly on Windows XP and is very reliable. It's definately a MUST for all serious English speakers and learners. Thanks
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