Ars Technica is reporting that Microsoft is pulling the plug on the Encarta multimedia encyclopedia software by June 2009. The Encarta website however will stay online until October 31, 2009.
Although I haven’t used Encarta in years, the news that it is going to be gone forever very soon is sad to hear. To be honest, Encarta was one of the earliest programs I ever used on the computer and the Encarta 95 CD is one of the main reasons why I think I have grown to love learning about everything and anything.
I used to sit at the computer with Encarta open doing absolutely nothing but diving into facts and encyclopedia articles, going from one article to the next via hyperlinks (which was a relatively new concept to me back in those days). Encarta made the Britannica encyclopedia look old and outdated especially when videos, sound, music, and words came together coherently in the Encarta contents.
To this day, I owe a great deal to Microsoft and its Encarta product for making me enjoy learning at home and for helping me complete essays and reports in a timely manner. Check out the box photos I dug up of the Encarta 95 box below.
What a touching ode to Encarta…. :,(