Customer Reviews

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary & Thesaurus 11th edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I installed this program on a computer with a Vista 32 bit O/S and registered it, but was unable to launch it as the start button was grayed out. I uninstalled & attempted to reinstall at which time the video went wacko with the program splash screen sliding off the left side of the monitor. I was finally able to click on help and was taken to a site under construction.
I uninstalled the program and attempted installation on a Win 7 64 bit computer with essentially the same results even after trying several different compatibility configurations on the installation file.
In 26 years of working with computers and software I've nearly always been able to make things work, but this program left such a bad taste in my mouth after the help button took me to the page under construction I didn't even bother to try contacting support. Amazon and prospective buyers would do well to avoid this mess.

In and of itself, the product is great. I had no problems installing it onto my computer and it runs without the disc in the disc drive. My problem is, it was advertised, and I quote, "Installs quickly onto your hard drive for instant access anytime-- including from Microsoft Word". This is not true. After numerous attempts to install the software into Microsoft Word, I contacted Merriam-Webster's tech support. I was told that this version does not have the macros needed to work within Microsoft Word. In addition, I was told that the older version does contain the macros and will install within Microsoft Word. I was very very disappointed because I made the purchase for that specific purpose, as advertised by Merriam Webster. Now, I'm stuck with a product that does not produce what it stated it would do.

I love mine. Ive had no problems with it. Everything works perfect. I couldnt ask for more. I bought mine at a computer retail store, and it says 'Compatible with Windows 7' on the front (which what Im running). I had another one (disc) a year ago that I ran on XP, and had no problems with that one either, but after I upgraded to Windows-7 I couldnt find the disc, so I bought this new one. It has a lot of words, and the 'audio' pronounciation is really nice; also the Thesaurus is on the same page as the definition.

I bought this software for my laptop, which in turn I bought with the intention of never hooking up to the internet. One of the key selling points about this Dictionary/Thesaurus CD was its ability to be completely loaded onto a computer for quick, instant access without having to insert the disk again and again. In that regard I'm very pleased with the software. However, the software keeps bugging me for registration codes that have already been entered a few times over. What's more is the software lest me know on a semi-regular basis that it would be happier on a computer with internet access. These little annoyances, plus the occasional missing word in the dictionary's directory, are the things I find holding this software back from four- or five-star greatness.

And if anyone from the software company should read this, might I suggest a feature that allows the user to add notes to each entry, and enter user-added words and definitions to the directory. I was somewhat disappointed that no such thing existed. That would have more than made up for the occasional shortcoming in the list of words in the dictionary.

I like the product. It works just fine now that it is installed. I installed it sucessfully on Windows 7 Pro but the installation process is the most involved I've seen and I've seen a lot. I'd recommend to the software producers that they also forward installation instructions. I had to use the help desk to get my questions answered.

Regards

I use the program on Windows 7 (x64). The icon is in my tray and the dictionary pops up quite quickly. I'm pretty satisfied with it as a supplementary dictionary/thesaurus.

Once you have logged on as the Administrator, the update button works well. You can have it update automatically depending on your preferences. If you are unsure about logging on as the Administrator, click "Help", scroll down, and click on "Tips on `update' function".

In Microsoft Word and other programs, I click the icon in the tray and have an added word source. If you highlight a word in MS Word and click a hot key chosen in Preferences (I like "Ctrl" and press "Insert" twice) the correct spelling is displayed for copy/paste. If the dictionary can't find the word, clicking "Spelling Help" will bring up a list of the most likely words you are looking for.

The additional options I seldom use, although they can be very helpful. For example, clicking the "Go Online" button will give you an opportunity to search a word a little further on the Merriam-Webster site. All in all, I'm pleased with the program.

1. Slow when launching it first time on Mac OS X 10.6.4. Beach ball appears and stays for a long time.

2. Fugly UI.

Simply put this so called dictionary is about the worst dictinary (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary & Thesaurus 11th edition CD) I have ever used. As an example I typed in "fungible" and received this as the response - ": something that is fungible - usually used in plural". While this is the worst response I have had, the normal response, while correct, hardly compares to what the real book dictionary supplies. I would rate this as DO NOT BUY.

This product is inferior to prior editions. The interface is slow and poorly thought out. The entries are minimal at the first level. The thesaurus should have been made part of the definition window.
To make matters worse, the activation key contained errors and the supplier had to be called to issue another.

People have different approaches to using dictionaries and for this reason it is unlikely that any computer dictionary will prove satisfying to all people or even most people. Using my Oxford English Dictionary drives me nuts. It is clunky and antiquated. I have several other dictionaries on my computer and each of them both irritate and please me.

On the whole, the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary & Thesaurus 11th edition has more pluses than minuses.

The interface is relatively easy to grasp intuitively which is good because the sparse online documentation for using the program is difficult to find. And when I say online, I mean internet accessible. Look hard: to get to it requires finding an unadorned link.

Load and search times are pretty quick.

Once you figure out how to do it - and the process is not intuitive - you actually do have a variety of search methods The publisher says there are 21 search options. I found only 19 that I could identify. Among the search options are rhyming, crossword, anagram and homophones, all of which can occasionally come in handy.

There are many audio pronunciations and they are clearly enunciated.

There is also a spelling helper: type in your nearest approximation of a word and the program. It works pretty well.

The thesaurus is actually a separate program. It is acceptable though no match for something like Rodale's Synonym Finder.

You can set a hot key sequence so that when you highlight a word in your word processing or email software, the dictionary can be invoked. Unlike some computer dictionaries, you can copy the correctly spelled word from the dictionary to your document.

The biggest minus is the silly activation program the publisher has. You must install it and it only serves to keep track of which of the publisher's applications you have installed. The dictionary is also a bit slow to load. The lack of useful documentation is also lamentable.

On the whole, a good dictionary. The corpus of definitions is small compared to some, but all the words I tried were found. There is also allegedly a program that will download a subset of the dictionary to your iPod, which I did not try.

Jerry