Customer Reviews

Microsoft Student 2006 DVD [Old Version]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The previous versions of Encarta included a host of homework tools. These have now been made into a separate product called Microsoft Student.

Homework assignments are the bane of most students I know (not to mention their hard-pressed and nescient parents). This is mainly because of the tedious and mind-numbing chores of data mining and composition. Additionally, as knowledge multiplies every 5-10 years, few parents and teachers are able to keep up.

Enter Microsoft Student 2006 - a productivity suite which includes the Encarta Encyclopedia, assignment templates, tutorials, graphing calculator software and a Web Companion.

Similar to the Encarta, MS Student's Web Companion obtains search results from all the major search engines without launching any additional applications (like a browser). Content from both the Encyclopedia (the full Encarta encyclopedia is built into MS Student) and the Web is presented side by side. This augmentation explicitly adopts the Internet and incorporates it as an important source of reference - as 80% of students have already done.

This may raise important and interesting issues of intellectual property, though. Web content copyright-holders may demand royalties from Microsoft for the use it makes of their wares in its commercial products.

MS Student would do well to also integrate with new desktop search tools from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others. Students will benefit from seamless access to content from all over - their desktop, their encyclopedias, and the Web - using a single, intuitive interface.

MS Student's templates are actually clever adaptations of the popular Office suite of products - Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. They help the student produce homework plans and schedules, projects, book reports, presentations, research reports, charts, and analyses of problems in math, physics, and chemistry. Detailed step-by-step tutorials, Quick Starters, and pop-up toolbars (menus) guide the student along the way in a friendly, non-intrusive manner.

The graphing calculator is a wonder. It has both 2-D and 3-D capabilities and makes use of the full screen. Aided by an extensive Equations Library, it does everything except cook: trigonometry, calculus, math, charting, geometry, physics, and chemistry. And everything in full color!

And if this is not enough, the lucky owner is entitled to one year of Online Math Homework Help: step by step instructions and hints for solving math problems (including algebra and geometry). The program addresses most math textbooks and more are added all the time.

For the student keen on the liberal arts and the humanities, Student 2006 provides detailed Book Summaries of dozens of classic works. Besides plot synopses, the student gets acquainted with the author's life, themes and characters in the tomes, and ideas for book reports. This is buttressed by a Book of Quotations and the entire corpus of the Encarta Encyclopedia, dictionary, and thesaurus.

This is the first release of a great contribution to learning. Inevitably, it has a few flaws and glitches.

Start with the price. As productivity suites go, it is reasonably priced had its target population been adult professional users. But, at $100, it is beyond the reach of most poor students and parents - its most immediate market niches.

Installation is not easy. MS Student 2006 makes use of Microsoft's .Net technology. As most home computers lack it, the installer insists on adding it to the anyhow bloated Windows Operating System. There is worse to come: the .Net version installed by Encarta 2006 is plagued with security holes and vulnerabilities. Users have to download service packs and patches from Windows Update if they do not wish to run the risk of having their computers compromised by hackers.

Fully installed, Microsoft Student 2006 gobbles up more than 4 Gb. That's a lot - even in an age of ever cheaper storage. Most homesteads still sport PCs with 20-40 Gb hard disks. This makes the Encarta less suitable for installation on older PCs and on many laptops. Despite the hype, relatively few users possess DVD drives (but those who do, find the entire encyclopedia available on one DVD).

Finally, there is the question of personal creativity and originality. Luckily, MS Student does not spoon-feed its users. It does not substitute for thinking or for study. On the contrary, by providing structured stimuli, it encourages the student to express his or her ideas. It does not do the homework assignments for the student - it merely helps rid them of time-consuming and machine-like functions. And it opens up to both student and family the wonderful twin universes of knowledge: the Encarta and the Web. Sam Vaknin, author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited"

The encyclopedia membership for Encarta ends on Oct. 2006, so don't bother buying this if you plan to use it for a later school year. Also, keep in mind that this is a subscription software that will need to be renewed each year. On Microsoft's web site, the monthly membership price is $4.95 per month, the cost of the software includes the membership. But it is not based on when you buy the software. It is based on the academic school year.

Don't bother buying this unless you already own MS Office 2003 and a PC running Windows XP. Many of the advanced study and homework features won't work on their own if you don't have Office 2003.

The Encarta encyclopedia is a great program, but you can save some money by purchasing Encarta by itself, looking up information for free through the search.msn.com web site, or buy an enhanced subscription to the online version of Encarta ($30/yr.,$5/mo.) Parents with grade-school age children may want their own copy of Encarta so children can enjoy extra multimedia and look up information without having to visit any internet sites first. Teenagers and adults who just need an easy way to look up basic information can probably use the free web access just fine.

A good 1.0 effort, but targeted at the mediocre middle-school student. For high-school, to say nothing of the college freshman, it should have the "adult" version of encarta rather than the "kiddie" version, and the math & physics sections should be expanded to handle at least fisrt-year calculus, if not AP calculus & AP physics.

I was disappointed in this product. I think it did everything advertised, but I expected more. The math part was pretty much useless withouth signing up for the additional cost service. It looks like the templates are very useful though. My 10th grader thinks it will help her a lot.

I bought this package primarily for my 14 year old highschool freshman, but my 8 year old 2nd grader has also been using it. Certainly the best learning aide I've seen. Great research features displaying results from both the encyclopedia and the web. The online math tools include a link that let's you pick the students course book. Once set up you can go to any review item by chapter and page and read a detailed explanantion of the question just with different numbers than in the book. It has almost eliminated the time I have to spend with him on his math homework. My 2nd grader loves the kids encyclopedia and browsing information on nature and science and even my 5 year old has been looking at the pictures and photo galleries.

They all seem to have fun using the software, which is certainly preferable to playing video games.

Even though I'm not even close to having explored all the features, whatever I've seen so far is outstanding. It's defintely worth every penny.

I was originally in the market for a good encylcopedia when this product came to my attention. In the past we had good experiences with Encarta. MS Student 2006 gives us all the benefits of Encarta and much more. We bought this for my son who is a 7th grader.

My son has already used this a number of times to help with his schoolwork and we have owned it less than a month. It has summaries of many novels that he has already read and many more well known titles he will be reading later down the road. It has a great math module. I also like the many links directly out of Encarta to the internet.

Overall this is a nice product and well worth the price.

We purchased this for our son who is in 8th grade. He has already used it several times. He loves the book report help. It is easy to use and offers a lot of suggestions on how to organize your work.

I would have loved an instruction manual and it didn't come with one (not even PDF file) so you have to kind of guess your way through it. It wasn't that hard but I keep feeling like there may be more to it that I'm not aware of and if I had a manual I'd be better able to help my son use the product. Other than that, I would highly suggest getting this it has already helped with homework.

I originally went to my local retail store in search of Encarta 2006 Premium. Then, next to it, I saw Student 2006, which features Encarta 2006 Premium. When I turned the boxes around for the customary comparison, I noticed that some of the features that were in Encarta 2005 Premium (Virtual Flights, Homework Starters, and Literature Guides to name a few) were taken out of Encarta 2006 Premium and instead put into Student 2006. Being an Encarta fan (and intrigued by the additional features), I picked this up instead.

When I brought it home, I didn't know what to expect. Will it be what I'm thinking it will? Was it worth it? Should I have waited until reviews came in? In the end, I believe it was pretty much worth it. The study tools come in handy, and the Encarta Encyclopedia and Dictionary Tools helped it greatly. Just how much was it worth? Read on.

At $100.00 ($80.00 here at Amazon.com, it certainly isn't cheap. But, one has to look at the price of all the features it offers. First, we have the featured inclusion of Encarta 2006. This is valued at a list price of $50.00 (after the $10.00 rebate you get for buying Encarta as a separate package, $40.00). Then, you get the Graphing Calculator. In the store, these sophisticated calculators usually are valued at over $100.00. Since it is the computerized version, and therefore harder to calculate equations, inequalities, and the like, I'll say it's priced at $25.00 (being conservative).

Next, we have the various tools in association with another of Microsoft's products, Office. Since these are really a companion, I'll value them at $5.00. Finally, we come to the online tools, which include updates through Encarta and online trivia games. Since this is a free online service you get with Student, it's a great deal. I'll value this at $10.00.

Here's the roundup:

List price of Microsoft Student 2006:
$100.00

Estimated value of items included:
$80.00

As you can see, it's worth (roughly) 80% of what you actually pay for it. That means Amazon.com's price is extremely fair. If you feel that's worth it, or if you feel this is a great program for your child (which in many respects, it is), go ahead. I'll give this 5 out of 5 stars.

Since I purchased Student 2006, I have found that it contains information that is not only helpful for me while I'm in college, but that my nephew can used the same programs but for kids to help with his home. It really meets all the needs of a student that needs quick access to information and don't have the time to go to the library. This software I would truly recommend to my friends and emmenies.