Be advised: if you are considering buying a used copy, you need both the installation CDs and a working, legal Registration Code licensed for only two activations and included with new copies in the clamshell case. Without a good code number, you will not be able to use or even try this software. For this reason, it is risky to buy any Stedman's software program that has been previously opened or used.
This 4th edition is a 2009 CD-ROM version of Stedman's Medical Abbreviations text. The software installs on the hard drive, so the disc is not needed to run the program after installation. Once activated successfully by web, phone, or e-mail, it runs without further Internet access needed or other requests for proof of ownership. The software cannot be updated on the web to add new or corrected abbreviations since publication; you would have to buy a newer version once it is released to get updated entries.
The biggest advantage of Stedman's Abbreviations software is its speedy searchability. For example, type "INR" and mouse-click it to search, and in a split second it responds: "immediate nasal response" and "international normalized ratio," much faster than you could look up INR in the printed Stedman's text. You can also copy and paste the entry you want to another document, if needed, and be confident in the spelling. You can append notes to entries which are saved on your hard drive. Within this software, you can also interact reasonably easily with other Stedman's software packages you've bought and installed as well.
If you're new to Stedman's Medical Abbreviations, be aware that this software, like the reference book, offers no definitions of those two terms for INR; another resource (such as another Stedman's software product or book, or a free websearch on someone else's website) would be needed to look up definitions of "immediate nasal response" or "international normalized ratio," if you were still uncertain which term INR referred to in the context you found it.
The clamshell indicates one can install Stedman's into Vista, WinXP, Win2000, or WinNT. I installed this software in Win 7 Professional 64-bit mode, and it does work there, though not easily for my PC. This software presents a couple of uncommon installation and use snafus for users like me who have set up their PCs in the most secure fashion with both an administrator account and a separate standard limited user account for everyday use. If you have, say, a Windows XP PC or even a Win 7 PC and have not set up limited user accounts, this is not a problem; Stedman's will install and run more easily on such a machine. But if you have a Vista PC or a Win7 PC with both an administrator account and a separate limited or standard user account, you must read and carefully follow the manual's instructions for Vista installation and for starting the software. There are several extra hoops to jump through in setting up this software. If you don't, Stedman's will not start. Even after successful hoop-jumping when you install, you will still need to enter an administrator password each time you run the software on such a PC, a minor annoyance.
All this nonsense is a legacy of the design of the interface for Stedman's back in the WinXP days. Stedman's cheaped out in allowing a 2009 edition to go out the door the same way. Let's hope in the next edition they take the trouble to fix this. In the meantime, this software is worth these hassles as the currently best way to search medical abbreviations for those who need them translated instantly.
