Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2007 [Old Version]

by Microsoft

Product Features

• A full-featured 2-D and 3-D graphing calculator with tools for graphing scientific formulas and math equations from simple math to calculus
• Students can produce outstanding book reports, creative projects, essays and oral presentations using the wide range of reference materials
• Translation dictionaries for French, German, Spanish, and Italian
• A full version of Encarta Premium 2007 encyclopedia
• Online math homework help with a one-year subscription to Hotmath

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 5.6 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: B000GD8WKG
• Item model number: 96J-00065
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 10, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,229 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #62 in Software > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

Product Description

Amazon.com

Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2007 provides students with integrated homework tools and content. Features include online math homework help, a graphing calculator, Microsoft Office templates and tutorials designed specifically for students, foreign language help, and a Web search companion with trusted Encarta content to help them achieve academic confidence and success.

The Step-by-Step Equation Solver provides students with solutions to many math problems encountered in both middle school and high school. View larger.

The 3-D graphing calculator functions more efficiently than many stand-alone calculators costing up to $100. View larger.

Microsoft Student's book summaries give you insights that make for great book reports. View larger.

Many Encarta articles have links to photos, video, articles on related topics, and links to approved content on the Web. View larger.

Encarta Kids provides children ages 7-12 a safer place to explore all kinds of topics. View larger.

Microsoft Math can help with difficult math problems in math and science
Is your arithmetic a little rusty? Don't worry. Your kids will have all the help they need to confidently tackle the most difficult math problems in trigonometry, calculus, chemistry and physics using Microsoft Math.

The Step-by-Step Equation Solver provides students with step-by-step solutions to many math problems encountered in both middle and high school, including:

• Common Arithmetic
• Pre-algebra
• Algebra I
• Algebra II
• Geometry
• Trigonometry

Online math homework help is at your fingertips via instant access to Hotmath; a one-year subscription is included with your purchase of Micosoft Student. Hotmath works with more than 100 math textbooks (primarily US-based textbooks) and gives students assistance on specific problems from their textbook by selecting the textbook's publisher and title and then entering the chapter, page, and specific problem number

Microsoft Math also includes a full-featured 2-D and 3-D graphing calculator. This powerful tool functions more efficiently than many stand-alone calculators costing up to $100. Work can be saved to finish later, added to Word or PowerPoint documents, or shared with study groups. The graphing calculator also provides:

• Tools for graphing scientific formulas and math equations from simple math to calculus
• Enhanced 3D technology
• Changeable skins

The Triangle Solver tool helps develop geometry skills. Now students can easily input their own values. Based on input from the student, the calculator can determine the missing information and draw the triangle to scale. The Triangle Solver even provides the math rules it used to compute the missing values.

The Equation Library contains more than 125 interactive common math equations and formulas. Students can type in live inputs and the Library will provide the missing variable—and in some cases even graph the equation.

The Unit Conversion Tool is extremely useful in both math and sciences by making it easy for students to quickly convert units of measure such as:

• Length
• Area
• Volume
• Weight
• Temperature
• Pressure
• Energy
• Power
• Velocity
• Consumption

Language and Literature Resources
Students can produce outstanding book reports, creative projects, essays and oral presentations using the wide range of reference materials available in Microsoft Student. Other language and literature tools include:

• Encarta Style Guide
• Information on Document Design
• Quotations
• Foreign Language Tools in Spanish, French, German, Italian
• Book Summaries

Foreign Language Help
Microsoft Student includes translation dictionaries for:

• French
• German
• Spanish
• Italian

Verb conjugations are available for:

• French
• German
• Spanish

Learning Essentials
Microsoft Office applications like Word, Excel and PowerPoint (not included) work together with Learning Essentials to provide templates and tutorials that will help your student create top-quality reports and presentations.

Learning Essentials includes templates for different types of compositions, from social studies reports to informative essays. There are also organizational tools for applying to college. Additional tutorials include:

• How to use Excel
• How to conduct research
• Chart and graph basics
• Literary analysis tool

A full version of Encarta Premium 2007 encyclopedia
Microsoft Encarta Premium 2007 provides up-to-date content and engaging multimedia. Whether you’re searching online or offline, it’s the trusted way for everyone in the family to easily find relevant and reliable information on just about any subject. Encarta Premium 2007 features a new look and feel that makes it easy to use. You'll be able to get started right away exploring scholarly knowledge from one of the world’s most trusted encyclopedias.

Thousands of media-rich, up-to-date articles you can trust
When searching offline, you can access more than 64,000 articles on just about any topic—with links to related information. The authors of the detailed articles in Encarta Premium 2007 are experts in their field. And every time you go online, your Encarta Premium 2007 content is updated with automatic downloads that add new information directly into existing articles. Many Encarta articles are enhanced with rich multimedia content. Encarta Premium 2007 contains more multimedia resources than ever, including more than 300 videos, 3000 sound clips, 26,000 photos, and illustrations from trusted sources.

Want to watch wildlife? Explore Mars? Travel the globe from the comfort of your home? Microsoft Encarta Premium 2007 has the visual tools to help. See historic events and places with 2-and 3-D virtual tours. Get a new perspective on the past with the unique Dynamic Timeline, which illustrates key events from geologic time to the present day. Feel the excitement of swimming with the sharks and more. Enjoy the 32 captivating videos from the Discovery Channel which let you view a range of topics in detail. Some Encarta articles also include virtual tours: From our solar system to the ruins of Pompeii, special images guide you through the physical layout of the subjects that interest you.

Search more efficiently using Web Companion
Information is readily accessible thanks to the Encarta Search Bar. Results include trusted information from both Encarta Premium 2007 and the Web. Many Internet searches bring up links that aren’t relevant to the research subject. Using Web Companion to conduct searches, students instantly see links to related Encarta content.

Geopolitical, climatic, and topographical maps of the world
Zoom in and out to see more or less detail. Click anywhere on the map and find instant links to related information.

New equation solver
Stuck on a math problem? Input your own problems into the equation solver and get a quick answer and step-by-step help on how to solve it.

A wide range of trusted Encarta reference tools
Encarta Premium 2007 includes a dictionary, a thesaurus, and translation dictionaries.

Editorially approved content
Kids can use Web Links to over 29,000 Web sites, pre-selected by Encarta editors for relevant and age-appropriate research material.

Encarta Kids
This special area is for younger learners, ages 7 to 12. Packed with age-appropriate articles and lively multimedia, Encarta Kids provides your children with a safer place to explore all kinds of topics. Learning will become a lifetime activity. This colorful, easy to navigate environment has plenty of maps, photos, and interactive quizzes to engage your children's imaginations. With age-appropriate articles, maps, and photos, it’s a great place for children to explore their universe.

Product Description

Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2007 provides students with integrated homework tools and content, such as online math homework help, a graphing calculator, Microsoft Office templates and tutorials designed specifically for students, foreign language help, and a Web search companion with trusted Encarta content to help them achieve academic confidence and success.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Homework Made Fun, July 21, 2006

By 

Sam Vaknin (Skopje, Macedonia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2007 [Old Version] (DVD-ROM)

The previous versions of Encarta included a host of homework tools. Last year, these have been made into a separate product called Microsoft Student. It has now been gainfully repackaged and very much enhanced. Among the new or revamped features: free online access to MSN Encarta Premium, Step-by-Step Math Solutions calculator, Step-by-Step Math Textbook Solutions, Triangle Solver, Equations Library, tutorials, and foreign language help. MS Student comes replete with the entire Encarta Premium encyclopedia!

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 2007 - a productivity suite which, as we mentioned, includes the Encarta Encyclopedia, English and foreign language dictionaries, thesaurus, quotations library, 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 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.

I am not sure how Microsoft solved the weighty and interesting issues of intellectual property that the Web Companion raises, though. Copyright-holders of Web content may feel that they have the right to be compensated by 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!

For the student keen on the liberal arts and the humanities, Student 2007 provides detailed Book Summaries of almost 1000 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.

MS Student 2007 is 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 $70-100, it is beyond the reach of most poor students and parents - its most immediate market niches.

MS Student 2007 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 MS Student 2007 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 on the hard disk, MS Student 2007 gobbles up less than its predecessors but still a whopping 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 MS Student less suitable for installation on older PCs and on many laptops.

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".

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Set of Tools for Your Young Scholar, August 4, 2006

By 

Victor H. Rodriguez (Santa Clarita, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2007 [Old Version] (DVD-ROM)

As parents of three children, the oldest of whom will start junior high school this school year, we fully acknowledged the fact that we were in need of a toolbox that would facilitate the arduous homework process. High-performing schools demand much from its students today, since the high school curriculum of yesteryear now rears its head much earlier in a competitive educational milieu. Thus, it was with great expectations that we purchased this product. We have not been disappointed.

The homework tools are excellent and user-friendly. The math tools (including the graphing calculator, the equation solver, and the triangle solver) alone are tremendous aides. Remember the old days of graphing linear equations by calculating the slope and plotting points? Well, this feature performs this function instantaneously, so when you want to show your child how the slope-intercept form of an equation works, you have the right tools at your disposal. Remember the old days of memorizing a litany of trigonometric functions, yet not truly understanding their significance? This tool makes such knowledge meaningful, in that it graphically demonstrates its utility.

The Premium Encarta content is, of course, indispensible. We have been Encarta users for quite some time now, and have used this resource for many a school project. This feature alone will save you countless hours of research. The other tools are equally worthwhile: the literature reviews, the foreign language tools, the project templates, the charts/graphs feature, and the college ancillary materials are all very useful. The games are replete with educational fun, and Encarta Kids is wonderful for the primary school child.

All in all, this is an exceptionally valuable toolbox that you will undoubtedly turn to time and time again. We have installed the full program onto our desktop and our laptop. This way, when research papers are assigned on a frequent basis (and we all know that's inevitable in today's competitive academic culture), you can find the answers right inside your office's desktop. Also, rather than taking your daughter's study group to the local library, she can walk a few houses down the block to her friend's home with her laptop chock full of data and resources, ready to be mined and explored.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every student should have a copy, September 1, 2006

By 

Jane Bedinger (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2007 [Old Version] (DVD-ROM)

This product is a masterpiece. It's a testimony to early 21st century thinking about the world, the earth, learning, and software. It's a Swiss-Army knife of information with a kind of practical beauty that we associate with tools that work. Check out the map tool, and the view of the Earth at night. It's delight and a gift to an active mind.

Somebody has thought long and hard about what students need on their computer to succeed. What they've come up with is an awesome collection of innovative productivity tools for kids.

Take math. The math tool alone is worth the price of admission. This is where algebra class should start. Math lovers will eat it up. For the less than loving, Student includes really excellent tutorials on math concepts. It even links homework help for many of the major math books. You put in the textbook, the assignment, and it steps the student through the problems.

Homeschooling? Read no further. Just buy it.

Geography? The map tool, especially the statistical mapper lets you view the world from outer space, with or without political boundaries, and compares the performance of countries on a zillion measures. Literature? It's got summaries and readers guides for a huge list of required reading, and not just the stuffy Victorian novels, but Ursula LeGuin and even some titles that I didn't think were worth reading. The language tools -- you can hear a word pronounced in a surprising array of foreign languages,plus dictionaries and translators, and even plugins for MS Word that make it easy to write in French or Spanish. No more funny key combos to get a cedilla.

Plus Encarta encyclopedia -- which is safer and way more effective at leading kids to track down related ideas than a web search.

I'm sure I'm leaving something out.

The only problem is, it takes gigabytes of memory and really ought to be partnered with MS Office. That said, if you take education seriously, you ought to have this on your computer.