Customer Reviews

Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM (Windows)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I was an English major during my undergraduate college years. And long after the other more practical professional pursuits had occupied my time and interest, I still remembered one important piece of wisdom from those years. The two best dictionaries of the English language are the Oxford English Dictionary and the Webster's Third New International Unabridged.

For as much as two decades, I have owned the "Compact Edition" of the printed OED. And during that time, I passed into middle age, and my eyes followed. It becomes more and more of an inconvenience to pull the dictionary from its box, grab the magnifier and search for a word. I found myself reaching for the switch to a second reading light. That was one reason I purchased the CD-ROM version.

Wanting to have the resources from at least one of these available on my computer, and given the very reasonable price for the Webster's 3rd, I purchased both. In the case of the OED CDROM version, there are some drawbacks of which the prospective purchaser should inform himself/herself. The data CD is both encrypted and watermarked. This means that you cannot make a backup copy of the data CD. Those honest users of computer hardware and software may nevertheless wince at this obstacle. If one plans to keep the data CD in the drive at all times, one worries just how long the original data CD will last under constant use. I assume that OUP provides replacement disks in the event that the data disk becomes damaged, yet the worry persists, especially given the price of the software (at least $230 even with discounts and rebates).

The second irritation, related somewhat to the first, is that each time you wish to use the OED software, it must check the data disk and "verify" or "validate" it. This causes some delay in loading the software, and it occasionally fails, requiring the user to reiterate the verification sequence.

It is understandable that the publishers wish to "guarantee the integrity" of the CDROM and prevent duplication of a work which has always been costly to develop and maintain. The obstacle to copyright violation for the printed edition -- time, effort and the inconvenience of using photocopied pages of a dictionary -- is so enormous and impractical that it could not be a major worry to any publisher. But the potential for piracy in a CDROM version is great, the costs are not insurmountable to the potential copyright violator, and there would be no inconvenience to the user of duplicates. Therefore and again, the justification for encryption and watermarking of the data disk can be easily understood.

There are other shortcomings of the software. Despite the glitzy windows surfaces and nifty-looking pushbuttons, the authors did not enable the tab-key navigation from button to button, and one therefore needs to use the mouse in order to shift software focus from the text-entry (word-search) text-box to the "Search" button. Despite the sophisticated research tools built into the software, these are important considerations that determine whether or not a software package is "robust." I cannot, therefore, make that assertion about the OED -- it lacks "robustness" as a software application. One wonders how much better the program would work if the resources channeled toward encryption and watermarking of the disks were instead expended on software design.

Those who feel the need for a reliable and respected unabridged CDROM dictionary should take a closer look at the Webster's 3rd New International implementation for CD-ROM. The price is less than a fifth of that for the OED. There are just as many entries; there is the equivalent use of quotations from our literary tradition (American and English) to demonstrate the use of words; the software, though simpler and less ornate, has the robustness one would certainly expect for something as costly as a CDROM OED. Once installed, the Webster's user can remove the CD from the computer and store it away for the duration. The Webster's places its data files directly on the user's hard disk.

If literary research or some related need points you in the direction of the OED, just remember to keep current on OUP's contact information. You may need it. You may even need it if, upon delivery of the package, the mailman leaves it baking in the sun on your front doorstep.

For that, the OED gets a 3-star rating from me. Computer dictionary enthusiasts should take a serious look at Merriam-Webster Publishing's $60 3rd New International Unabridged.

I purchased the "Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition on CD-ROM Version 3.0" with a nervous heart.
I am a lover of the English language and sometimes sit and read the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) for hours at a time (I have the 2 volume compact edition). However I am advancing in years and can no longer suffer the small type of said "Compact Edition."
I really wanted something easier to read but do not have the room nor the money to purchase the 20 volume set, thus I jumped on the information super highway and zoomed over to [...]read through [...] "customers reviews" and was disappointed to learn that OED had a "C-dilla copy protection program" that reportedly ruined an otherwise beautiful product!
I was crushed and appalled that OED would cripple such a wonderful work with an overbearing and abusive "protection program."
Months went by and I eventually gathered up enough courage to buy the "OED Second Edition on CD-ROM Version 3.0" despite everything I had read.
After receiving item in the mail, I quickly installed the entire 2 disks onto my hard drive so I would NOT have to dig up the CD-ROM every time I wanted to look up a ord.
Installation was a breeze and I had no problems at all.
When I clicked on the icon to use the program for the first time, it required me to install the "data CD" for verification. After doing so the program operated flawlessly.
I have used the "OED 3.0" many times and it has never again asked for such verification, but I have been informed that it will ask for said disk once every 90 days (or 4 times a year). This to me is no big deal and a small price to pay for all 20 volumes plus the search capabilities allowed in version 3.0.
While the computer is not as intimate as curling up with the book, it is much more efficient to simply type in a word and BAM the definition is before your eyes. Not to mention that many times while looking up a word, I often run into other words that I also need/want to look up. If I had the 20 volumes set I would be trekking back and forth digging out the correct book, then thumbing through thousands of pages to find a particular definition!
With the "OED 3.0" all one needs to do is double click on any given word in the definition of interest and again BAM, you are at the new definition!
This allows one to cover considerably more material in the same amount of time.
Actually I find I read the OED more now than I did before because I don't get thumb weary turning the pages.
All in all, do yourself a favor and buy a copy of the "OED 3.0," it seems to this consumer that they have worked out all the major issues giving us a fine product.

UPDATE:
I gave a positive review to this product on 7-29-2003 and at the time I was very happy with it. However since then it seems that the overbearing C-dilla program has reared its ugly head… This software that I took a chance on no longer works!
I am very disappointed, and of course received no help from the vendor. Yes I was left out in the cold!
My apologies to anyone (those 93 people who gave this review a favorable rating) if you were swayed, because of me, to buy this product.
I am truly sorry.
For those of you who have not yet wasted your money on it… DON’T!!
It might work for a couple of years/months but in the end the C-dilla program will come back and bite you in the rear.
I am VERY sorry I gave them a chance… and a positive review.

It pains me to say it, but I hate the Oxford English Dictionary on CD, version 2. I have the OED2, v 1.4 and decided to upgrade. Only to discover that in their zeal to copy-protect the software, the publishers have rendered OED v2 useless. The installation process is tortuous, and the startup is absolutely the slowest of any software I'm running including Photoshop and kindred hardware-intesive applications.

As with all copy-protected software, each time you run it, it grinds through the copy authentication process. Go get a cup of coffee.

What's more, the CDs are watermarked, which means that you can't make a backup (or heaven forbid, another copy to use on your other computer at home).

The glowing reviews are all right -- about OED2, v1 -- they just don't tell you that this OED v2 CD is a dawg.

Ah, well, there are some improved functions, but looky here, is it too much to ask to be able to search a term by typing it in and hitting RETURN (instead of having to use a mouse click). I mean, chaps, some of us troglodytes still use the keyboard.

Troglodyte 1. One of various races or tribes of men (chiefly ancient or prehistoric) inhabiting caves or dens (natural or artificial); a cave-dweller, cave-man. [from the snappy OED2,v 1.4, it's right there running much faster on my AMD 500 w/a slow CD/DVD than the OED2,v2 on my PIII 750 w/a 52X CD rom drive.]

The OED2, v2 is sick, crippled software, presumably the wave of the future.

For years I wanted to own this wonderful dictionary and when I had saved up my pennies, I jumped at the chance to order it.

What's most striking about it is how often I DO NOT use it, rather than use it. The copy protection scheme is so awful that it takes 60 seconds for the software to come up on my 266 mhz thinkpad. Furthermore, because the CD costs so much, and because I can't back it up due to the copy proection, I fear to take it with me in my laptop bag in case of loss or damage. Hence I rarely use the dictionary unless I am at home, and instead use my simple hard-disk-resident American Heritage dictionary. Just today I saw the word "putsch" while I was reading something online. American Heritage gave a simple definition but I would have loved to look it up in the OED. Alas, I can't.

So I wouldn't recommend this software until they get rid of the most horrible copy protection scheme I have ever seen.

Great tool for authors, readers and the curious. Too bad the product is spoiled by the employment of intrusive heavy-handed copy protection.

OED uses the controversial Cdilla copy protect software, which installs a very intrusive and tenacious presence on your computer. After installing OED on my computer, there appeared ten separate Cdilla related files and programs. I discovered that Cdilla is incompatible with many printer drivers. My HP LaserJet 4100 would not work after Cdilla got through with my computer. OED support is not very helpful when it comes to Cdilla related problems. To me they seemed unconcerned and a bit aloof. It appeared they knew of the problems with Cdilla and were told to stonewall the issue.

Because Cdilla must run every time you start OED, there is an annoying lag before the OED screen comes up. Frequently error messages appear when starting and stopping OED but the product seems to work anyway. Also the installed product, from time to time, wants to authenticate your computer to the original CD. Too bad if you have misplaced the CD or are using a remote laptop.

For the price one pays for this product, Oxford University Press should do a better job on the software engineering side of the OED. They have protected their product well but at the expense of the customer and end user.

The content of this package is, of course, unparalleled. As for format, well - with current technology you're never going to lose an evening curled up by the fire delighting in the texture of the digital interface under your fingertips, but as a research tool the potential for this CD is enormous. Sure, you can't savour the onionskin pages, but nor do you have to walk up and down a book case the length of a city block hunting down the right volume to look up 'oat'. And there is something perversely satisfying in knowing someone once chopped his what-not off so you could have this knowledge at your finger tips. Sort of.

But that said, the realisation of the potential isn't terrific. The default word search function is narrow - woe betide should you assume a plural: search on 'oats', and the full, digital version of the twenty-two volume Oxford English Dictionary will announce: 'no entries found'. To me, that's pretty stunning.

The better approach is to use the full text search, but this is buried in an obscure tab at the bottom of the screen, and it took me quite a few goes before I even noticed it. Full text search allows you to search on an text in the definition, which is where the real strength of a CD-ROM version lies. But even this is limited - only a certain amount of Boolean searching is possible, where a simple 'google' style search engine would allow far more flexibility in customising searches.

But for me, the biggest drawback of this product is having to have the CD-ROM actually occupying your CD player the whole time you use the dictionary.

At the best of time, CD-ROMs orbit my computer according to the laws of quantum mechanics and never actually exist in any given place at any given time - their whereabouts can only be described in terms of probabilities. So having to suddenly locate a given CD-ROM in a given place at a given time presents certain epistemological difficulties.

And besides, if I fancy a spot of dictionary browsing of an evening, there's nothing I like better than some light music to go with it. Even if I correctly predict the whereabouts of said CD-ROM, I then have to turf the Inkspots' Greatest Hits out of the CD tray and browse in silence.

Do I worry? You can your bet your life I do.

The OED is one of the great intellectual achievements of civilization. The software on this CD-ROM, however, represents one of the low-points in intellectual history. It is slow, cumbersome, idiotic, thoughtless, counterintuitive. Either the people who wrote the software have never used a dictionary, or else the administrator who had total authority over the project has never used a computer. It is difficult to come up with a third possible explanation for this monstrosity. The software is so bad I don't know where to start with my criticism. How about the fact that each time you click the icon it does a very slow check of the CD-ROM in your drive to make sure it is an original copy? How about the fact that once it gets past that it does not allow you to start typing the word you wish to look up? Look up a word? Now, why would anyone using a dictionary want to do that? Of course, if you do want to look up a word, and are willing to click enough times, you can eventually do that. It's not worth going on. Don't buy this CD-ROM unless you want to torture yourself.

This could be a decent product if it were not for the copy protection scheme used to "validate" the product each time you use it. For the amount of money you spend on this product, you would think that it should be available for use whenever you wanted to use it. The sad news is that the copy protection scheme MAY WORK for a period of time, then it stops validating (watermark or something on the CD, my CD is still perfectly clean). You are then out of your purchase price and left with a useless CD. DON'T BUY THIS PRODUCT!

When I purchased this CD, I was under the strong impression that I could load it on my hard drive. Oh, what a costly and irrecoverable mistake! In order to use this CD, one must leave it in the CD drive. So if one, as I, uses the CD drive for other purposes and then needs to look-up a word on the fly, one is required to first look-up the CD and then load the CD. Although the CD is nice, Oxford neglected to simultaneously use informed state of the art technology to prevent piracy and allow friendly, appropriate access to those of us who are OED lovers. At this writing, OED has slightly modified their website to note this "feature," but it is still slightly less than buried. When I purchased it, there were no such hints. I would expect better behaviour from Oxford University Press. I have tried taking this issue to Oxford, and they won't reply. Their customer service is appalling. No one is in charge. What a shame.

OED 3.0 comes on two CD-ROM discs. It works fine, and it is fast and easy to master its use. It's supposed to work either through a full install (where all data files can go on a hard disk) or with a minimum install of a hard disk file, forcing use of the data disk in the CD-ROM drive. For reasons I don't understand, only the second worked well for me. Full install didn't work because of memory problems on my computer, but I don't know if that is the program's problem or my computer's.

The main reason I uninstalled OED after using it for many months is that it contains a security program that is called Cdilla which is installed on a computer automatically along with the dictionary. The dictionary will not work without it. Cdilla seems controversial if articles on the Web are pursued, but SpyBot, a respected spyware detecting program, insists that it is spyware. I asked tech support at OED about it, and they denied it was spyware. I'm not knowledgable enough to know either way, but I finally removed both the Cdilla and OED programs from my computer.

Cdilla is extraordinarily difficult to remove once installed. It does not come with an uninstall program although I have read that an uninstall program has been recently written for that purpose and can be obtained

Manny Nosowsky
San Francisco