Microsoft Encarta World Atlas 2000 [OLD VERSION]

by Microsoft

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00002SSUL
• Item model number: 219-00190
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 24, 1999
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,225 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #53 in Software > Education & Reference > Geography
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From Children's Software Revue® -- "Subscribe Now!"

Still the best multimedia atlas available, this upgrade offers 500,000 new place names, which means the atlas now presents over 1.7 million in total. That's a lot of places to visit! Also new are multimedia features that display world music, flags and national anthems directly on the map. Informative new map "treks" explain key earth science topics like glaciers, volcanoes and deserts. The program offers 21 map styles, 11,000 articles and 6500 images, videos and audio files. Special features let you compare statistics of various locations, "fly" through three-dimensional views of the world and view slide show tours of fascinating places. Note that this atlas is part of the Microsoft Reference Suite 2000.
Teaches: reference, geography
Age Range: 8-up Copyright © 2000 Children's Software Revue

Amazon.com Review

How do you like to discover the world? Visually and audibly, or by knowing the longitude and latitude of the place under discussion? All breeds of desktop discoverers will enjoy the Encarta Interactive World Atlas 2000, which delivers information in just about every way that the PC makes possible.

While we haven't used the software to climb any nearby mountaintops, it's pretty clear that someone did in the course of researching this topnotch package. In fact, cartographers as well as a host of other specialists were involved, creating something that goes beyond mapmaking into a fleshed-out, real-world experience of what it's like to visit these spots on the globe. With the ability to zoom in and out, to understand the microcosms as well as the big picture, Encarta's atlas offers an astonishing desktop journey. --Jennifer Buckendorff

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Encarta is a very good product, February 9, 2000

By 

Sean Breazeal (Mt. Pleasant, UT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Encarta World Atlas 2000 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

I have to admit to holding some initial reservations about a Microsoft mapping product based on past experience with earlier attempts, but I have been a fan of the Virtual Globe series since back in 1997. The earlier reviewer brought up several points that I agree with and several I do not. I am a professional cartographer with the State of Utah and I really thought Microsoft did a good job of collecting and integrating a huge amount of data into this product.

First, it isn't meant to be an atlas in the traditional sense with varying projections. The projection is simply Orthographic, as you appear to be looking down on the globe from space. no matter what zoom level you choose, this is always the case. I do agree that it would be nice for the product to explain to geography neophytes why distances taken from the edge of the globe vary so greatly from those taken from the center using such a projection.

Second, there is a lot of valuable, up-to-date information on the various nations and particularly the larger world cities that would otherwise require a full set of encyclopedias to obtain. There is a lot more in-depth, well executed features to the product than half-hearted rainfall maps and anthems.

There are a lot of features that are of gee-whiz value, but of questionable educational benefit (the videos, world flyovers, anthems etc.) but on the whole I think this remains a solid product and excellent value.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent world reference., June 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Microsoft Encarta World Atlas 2000 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

Microsoft Interactive World Atlas is the best value software atlas on the market today. It returns with the globe and much more multimedia (but some people may call it somewhat excessive, due to varying processor speeds.) It contains more flyover tours of more regions, more pictures, sounds, and video, and also a special feature that allows you to measure distance on a global scale, find out the exact latitude and longitude of the place where your mouse is, and also tell the time in that zone. Something else that differs this product from print atlases is the fact that electronic globes are able to store much more information about cities and countries because they don't have a stringent space limit. I would highly recommend purchasing this over another atlas program or a print copy.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Piece of Software, May 25, 2000

By 

Jake - See all my reviews

This review is from: Microsoft Encarta World Atlas 2000 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

Microsoft's Virtual Globe is better than an actual globe, in my opinion, because it lets the user actually zoom into a particular area of the world, and gert facts on the country of city. It even lets one access the web for information it can't provide. I've used it on many occasions to help write a report, find out stats or just for leisure. It comes equipped with a virtual flight program, so the user can "fly" over a certain area. It is very helpful.