The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary

Incredible! The praises many reviewers showered on this "The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary CD-ROM", (NSOED CD-ROM), makes me wonder if the item they were describing is different from the one I saw. Not at all!
As regards English references and definitions, this CD-ROM presents unsurpassed coverage. But of what use is a good item that remains elusive? Minimal features and stunted flexibility ensured that the potentials of this NSOED e-book cannot be fully exploited. It is hard to understand the reason why an esteemed publisher like the Oxford University Press, (OUP), chose to deprive consumers of the complete joy that this CD would have offered. The poor accessibility options they included in it is annoying. That is the reason why I mistook it for an imitation (i.e.: a faked version). But it is the real thing! OUP confirmed it when I complained via phone. This is quite unlike the print version. Quite unlike other OUP products! Is OUP too blind and too deaf to notice that her hard-earned reputation (on prints) is being consumed by this lacklustre CD?
Anyway, until I see a retouched version, I will not advice anybody to buy NSOED CD-ROM. The print version offers a better value for your money. The three stars I scored this CD-ROM is because of its rich contents. Flexibility is zero!

I have never been compelled to write a review before, but I want to clear up something in an earlier review.

This dictionary represents the British pronunciation, so the pronunciation of 'weird' is correct - no /r/ because it is not pronounced in this position in British English.

I have used this resource at my univerity library and am seriously considering buying it because it is so useful.

I also really like The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM (NSOED). It's not perfect, but if you really appreciate a good dictionary, this one will satisfy you.

Some notes:
1. My main complaint about using NSOED is that the pronunciation key is not intuitive. For example, NSOED pronounces weird as "wi*d", while my Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary shows the pronunciation as "wi(*)rd". To gain any useful information from the NSOED pronunciation key, you must remember that the "*" character includes an "r" sound. I admit that English is a complicated language, but I don't want to be referring to the help file continually to get a pronunciation. (The "*" character didn't print for this review. It is an upside-down "e".)
2. The instructions with NSOED on how to use the macro with WordPerfect 7 were incorrect. It's a minor problem, but you can't follow the instructions to the letter. The correct way to use the macro is: Open WordPerfect preferences from the EDIT menu. Select FILES. Select the MERGE/MACRO tab. Write down the DEFAULT MACRO FOLDER location. Copy the file NEWSOED7.WCM from the CD-ROM to the DEFAULT MACRO FOLDER. Then follow the instructions provided to add the macro to the toolbar, EXCEPT choose the macro file that is in the DEFAULT MACRO FOLDER location, not the one on the CD-ROM.
3. The comments about speeding up access by copying the files to your hard drive are true. Access is slow, and the original CD-ROM is required to use the CD-ROM. I copied all three of the folders from my CD-ROM to the location where NSOED was installed. The first time you run NSOED after copying the files to your hard drive leave the CD-ROM out of the drive. NSOED will ask you to insert the CD-ROM into the drive. Select CANCEL. Then you will get a window which will allow you to find the data file (on the DATA directory that you copied) and select that file. This will tell NSOED to look for data at the new location on the hard drive. If you have installed the macro to access NSOED from WordPerfect 7, you will not need to adjust anything in the macro. Access to the dictionary will be MUCH faster.
4. All-in-all, this is an excellent program, especially if you travel and need a dictionary with your laptop. I still like my Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, but I am not going to carry it on trips. NSOED is much more convenient to use while writing at the computer, but if the computer isn't on, Webster's Seventh gets the nod.
5. My dictionary test words: omphaloskepsis, zarf, and sesquipedalian are all in NSOED, but zarf is not in my Webster's Seventh. (Omphaloskepsis is found in NSOED under omphalo-.)
[Edit - Added the following, May 2009]
6. Much to my dismay I have discovered that NSOED will not run under Vista. I have tried "Concise Oxford Dictionary" and found that it does not have ANY of my test words. I am still looking for a reasonably priced, electronic dictionary that has 500,000 or more words.
7. Most descriptions of dictionaries leave out a critical piece of information - How many entries? The NSOED claims to have "half a million definitions". It seems to be enough.

A very impressive dictionary - hardly justifies 'shorter'. I have the full unabridged OED on CD at work and bought this version for my own use at home. I've found the shorter version just as good in practice. The search and hyperlinking facilities are good, better than on the full version in mt view and of course even those can't be compared to using the reference on paper, which will surely become a lost art before long. (At a full bookshelf's worth of paper the unabridged OED doesn't even have the usual 'you can read it in the bath' benefit of printed books when compared to CDs - it wouldn't even fit in my bath).

All in all I rate this as the best dictionary available in its price range - in any format.

I got the SOED as a gift. It ran fine as a stand alone program. When I tried to install it to work as a macro within WordPerfect 7.0 it was not compatible. I sent an e-mail to the Oxford English Dictionary and they offered to "post" a diskette patch to me. Gee, why wasn't it included? I'd rather use the books instead of having to constantly cut out of WordPerfect 7.0.