Encarta

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In 1985, Microsoft attempted to establish a partnership with Encyclopædia Britannica to create a CD-ROM version of their publication. Since their management felt it would not fit in with their traditional print-based offerings, Britannica rejected Microsoft's offer.{{Cite journal |last=Greenstein |first=Shane |date=June 2016 |title=The reference wars: Encyclopaedia Britannica's decline and Encarta's emergence: Encyclopaedia Britannica's Decline and Encarta's Emergence |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.2552 |journal=Strategic Management Journal |language=en |volume=38 |issue=5 |pages=995–1017 |doi=10.1002/smj.2552 |access-date=2023-03-02 |archive-date=2023-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302212316/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.2552 |url-status=live }} By 1989, the software company struck a non-exclusive rights deal with the publishers of the Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia, and considered a rewrite of the material.{{cite web |last1=Stross |first1=Randall |title=Encyclopedic Knowledge, Then vs. Now |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/business/03digi.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=encarta&st=cse |website=The New York Times |access-date=28 November 2021 |date=2 May 2009 |archive-date=28 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128210446/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/business/03digi.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=encarta&st=cse |url-status=live }} Following the successes of Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia (1989; published by Britannica) and The New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia (1992),{{cite book|last=Kister|first=Kenneth|author-link=Kenneth Kister|year=1994|title=Kister's Best Encyclopedias}} Microsoft initiated their multimedia-encyclopedia project under the internal codename "Gandalf".{{cite web|url=http://www.seattlehistory.org/include/techpdfs/Jon%20Kertzer%20FINAL.pdf |title=Interview with Jon Kertzer, director of Smithsonian Global Sound, for the Smithsonian Center for Folk Life and Cultural Heritage. |access-date=2009-08-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810222131/http://www.seattlehistory.org/include/techpdfs/Jon%20Kertzer%20FINAL.pdf |archive-date=August 10, 2007 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/comphist/comp1993.htm|title=Chronology of personal computers|access-date=2009-08-24|archive-date=2009-04-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420132818/http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/comphist/comp1993.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://blogs.msdn.com/chrsmith/archive/2006/04/30/Some_Microsoft_codenames.aspx|title=Chris Smith blog post at MSDN.com|access-date=2009-08-24|archive-date=2010-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311072314/http://blogs.msdn.com/chrsmith/archive/2006/04/30/Some_Microsoft_codenames.aspx|url-status=live}}{{cite news | url=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/microsoft-encarta-dies-after-long-battle-with-wikipedia/?apage=2#comment-250889 | title=Patrick, Graphic design intern on Version 1.0 of Encarta | access-date=2009-08-24 | work=The New York Times | first=Noam | last=Cohen | date=March 30, 2009 | archive-date=2009-06-03 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603050618/http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/microsoft-encarta-dies-after-long-battle-with-wikipedia/?apage=2#comment-250889 | url-status=live }}

In 1993, "Gandalf" was officially launched as Encarta; the name was created for Microsoft by an advertising agency.Harvard Business School Case Study 'Blown to Bits' Encarta cost $395 upon release,[https://books.google.com/books?id=v9TVJ_G_sk8C&dq=encarta+%24395+launch+microsoft+1993&pg=RA1-PA349 "Coming Attractions: Encyclopedias"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004235955/https://books.google.com/books?id=v9TVJ_G_sk8C&dq=encarta+%24395+launch+microsoft+1993&pg=RA1-PA349#v=onepage&q=encarta%20%24395%20launch%20microsoft%201993&f=false |date=2023-10-04 }}, 22 Dec 1992, PC Mag although it soon dropped to $99, and was often bundled into the price of a new computer purchase.{{Cite news |last=Stross |first=Randall |date=2009-05-02 |title=Encyclopedic Knowledge, Then vs. Now |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/business/03digi.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316113052/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/business/03digi.html? |archive-date=2017-03-16 |access-date=2024-08-14 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}[https://www.britannica.com/blogs/2009/04/encarta-rip-cont-a-reply-from-tom-corddry/ Tom Corddry] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140829235929/http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2009/04/encarta-rip-cont-a-reply-from-tom-corddry/ |date=2014-08-29 }}: "Encarta was not given away but sold at retail for about $100, and sold wholesale to PC manufacturers who bundled it with new machines."{{cite web|title=The Crisis at Encyclopædia Britannica|url=http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/greenstein/images/htm/Research/Cases/EncyclopaediaBritannica.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325042059/http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/greenstein/images/htm/Research/Cases/EncyclopaediaBritannica.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-03-25|work=Kellogg School of Management|publisher=Northwestern University|access-date=2008-08-05}} The text of Funk & Wagnalls served as the basis of its first edition; Funk & Wagnalls continued to publish revised editions for several years independently of Encarta, but ceased printing in the late 1990s.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Later that decade, Microsoft added content from Collier's Encyclopedia and New Merit Scholar's Encyclopedia from Macmillan into Encarta after purchasing them. Thus the final Microsoft Encarta can be considered the successor of the Funk and Wagnalls, Collier, and New Merit Scholar encyclopedias. None of these formerly successful encyclopedias remained in print for long after being merged into Encarta.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Microsoft introduced several regional versions of Encarta localized for international markets. For example, the Brazilian Portuguese version was introduced in 1999 and suspended in 2002.{{cite web |url=http://www.microsoft.com/brasil/encarta/ |title=Bem-vindo à Microsoft Brasil |publisher=Microsoft.com |access-date=2012-03-13 |archive-date=2012-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124135648/http://www.microsoft.com/brasil/encarta/ |url-status=live }} The Spanish version was somewhat smaller than the English one, at 42,000 articles.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

In 2000, the full Encarta content became available on the World Wide Web to subscribers, with a subset available for free to anyone. In 2006, Websters Multimedia, a Bellevue, Washington subsidiary of London-based Websters International Publishers, took over maintenance of Encarta from Microsoft.{{cite web |url=https://www.websters.co.uk/why-websters |title=Websters International Publishers – Where it all began |publisher=Webstersmultimedia.com |access-date=2012-03-13 |archive-date=2022-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302163226/https://www.websters.co.uk/why-websters |url-status=live }} The last version was Encarta Premium 2009, released in August 2008.

{{anchor|Closure}}

Microsoft announced in April 2009 that it would cease to sell Microsoft Student and all editions of Encarta Premium software products worldwide by June 2009, citing changes in the way people seek information, and in the traditional encyclopedia and reference material market, as the key reasons behind the termination. Updates for Encarta were offered until October 2009. Additionally, MSN Encarta web sites were discontinued around October 31, 2009, with the exception of Encarta Japan which was discontinued on December 31, 2009. Existing MSN Encarta Premium (part of MSN Premium) subscribers were refunded.

The demise of Encarta was widely attributed to competition from the free and user-generated Wikipedia,{{cite magazine|url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/162320/what_was_encarta_look_it_up_on_wikipedia.html|title=What Was Encarta? Look It Up on Wikipedia|last=Gralla|first=Preston|date=March 31, 2009|magazine=PC World|access-date=2009-11-12|archive-date=2012-10-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017083138/http://www.pcworld.com/article/162320/what_was_encarta_look_it_up_on_wikipedia.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=http://www.informationweek.com/applications/microsoft-encarta-is-web-20s-latest-victim/d/d-id/1078156|title=Microsoft Encarta Is Web 2.0's Latest Victim|last=McDougall|first=Paul|date=March 31, 2009|publisher=InformationWeek|access-date=2017-01-25|archive-date=2017-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202043216/http://www.informationweek.com/applications/microsoft-encarta-is-web-20s-latest-victim/d/d-id/1078156|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/apr/07/wikipedia-encarta|title=Encarta's failure is no tragedy: Wikipedia has succeeded where Microsoft's Encarta failed, and seems to be a reversal of the 'tragedy of the commons'|last=Alderman|first=Naomi|date=7 April 2009|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=April 29, 2010|location=London|archive-date=22 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822221228/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/apr/07/wikipedia-encarta|url-status=live}} which grew to be larger than Encarta from its early beginnings in 2001Noam Cohen. [http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/microsoft-encarta-dies-after-long-battle-with-wikipedia/ "Microsoft Encarta Dies After Long Battle With Wikipedia"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423113923/http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/microsoft-encarta-dies-after-long-battle-with-wikipedia/ |date=2009-04-23 }} New York Times due to the popularization by web search services like Google.

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Encarta{{'s}} standard edition{{cite web |title=Microsoft Encarta Product Details |url=http://www.microsoft.com/products/encarta/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041212142837/http://www.microsoft.com/products/encarta/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=001 |archive-date=2004-12-12 |access-date=2012-03-13 |publisher=Microsoft.com}} included approximately 50,000 articles, with additional images, videos and sounds. The premium editions contained over 62,000 articles and other multimedia content, such as 25,000 pictures and illustrations, over 300 videos and animations, and an interactive atlas with 1.8 million locations. Its articles were integrated with multimedia content and could include links to websites selected by its editors. Encarta{{'s}} articles in general were less lengthy and more summarized than the printed version of Encyclopædia Britannica or the online Wikipedia. Like most multimedia encyclopedias, Encarta{{'s}} articles tended to provide an overview of the subject rather than an exhaustive coverage and can only be viewed one at a time.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

A sidebar could display alternative views, essays, journals or original materials relevant to the topic. For example, when reading about computers, it featured annals since 1967 of the computer industry. Encarta also supported closed captioning for the hearing impaired. A separate program, called Encarta Research Organizer was included in early versions for gathering and organizing information and constructing a Word document-based report. Later versions included Encarta Researcher, a browser plugin to organize information from Encarta articles and web pages into research projects. Content copied from Encarta was appended with a copyright boilerplate message after the selection. The user interface allowed for viewing content with only images, videos, sounds, animations, 360-degree views, virtual tours, charts and tables or only interactives.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Encarta was originally available for sale on 1–5 CD-ROMs or a DVD.{{cite web|url=https://thejournal.com/articles/1997/04/01/encarta-97-adds-content-extra-cd.aspx|title=Encarta 97 Adds Content, Extra CD|quote=Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia now comes in two versions: the award-winning Encarta 97 Encyclopedia on a single compact disc, and the new two-CD Encarta 97 Encyclopedia, Deluxe Edition.|access-date=2018-05-02|archive-date=2018-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502141048/https://thejournal.com/articles/1997/04/01/encarta-97-adds-content-extra-cd.aspx|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://news.microsoft.com/2002/06/27/microsoft-encarta-reference-library-2003-takes-the-work-out-of-homework/|title=Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2003 Takes the Work Out of Homework|date=27 June 2002|quote=The Encarta Reference Library 2003 five-disc CD-ROM and single-disk DVD have an estimated retail price** of $74.95 (U.S.) before a $10 (U.S.) mail-in rebate.|access-date=2 May 2018|archive-date=4 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004235956/https://news.microsoft.com/2002/06/27/microsoft-encarta-reference-library-2003-takes-the-work-out-of-homework/|url-status=live}} Some new PCs were shipped with an OEM edition of Encarta.{{cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Packard+Bell+ups+the+value+of+its+computers+with+huge+new+software...-a017230846|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626083003/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Packard+Bell+ups+the+value+of+its+computers+with+huge+new+software...-a017230846|archive-date=2018-06-26|title=Packard Bell ups the value of its computers with huge new software bundle.|quote=For pure reference, Packard Bell is providing 'Microsoft(R) Encarta(TM) '95,'}}

Encarta 2000 and later had "Map Treks", which were tours of geographic features and concepts. Microsoft also had for a brief period a separate product known as Encarta Africana which was an encyclopedia of black history and culture. Starting with the 2001 version, it was integrated into the main Encarta Reference Suite.{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2000/aug00/encartaexpandedpr.mspx |title=Award-Winning Encarta Africana Included in Suite for the First Time |publisher=Microsoft.com |access-date=2012-03-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604164331/http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2000/aug00/encartaexpandedpr.mspx |archive-date=2011-06-04 }} Encarta 2002 and onward featured 3D Virtual Tours of ancient structures, for example the Acropolis; 2D panoramic images of world wonders or major cities; and a virtual flight feature which allowed users to fly a virtual airplane over a coarsely generated artificial landscape area. Version 2002 also introduced the ability to install the entire encyclopedia locally to the hard disk drive to prevent frequent swapping of discs, and it updated far more often than its predecessors, with a rate of nearly 3–4 updates per week compared to the monthly updates that were used in prior versions of Encarta.{{cite web |last1=Byron |first1=Hinson |title=Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2002 DVD- Review |url=http://www.activewin.com/reviews/software/apps/ms/encarta/2002_dvd/ |website=ActiveWin |access-date=7 December 2020 |archive-date=15 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210315200429/http://www.activewin.com/reviews/software/apps/ms/encarta/2002_dvd/ |url-status=live }}

Encarta 2003 incorporated literature guides and book summaries, foreign language translation dictionaries, a Homework Center and Chart Maker. Encarta{{'s}} Visual Browser, available since the 2004 version, presented a user with a list of related topics making them more discoverable. A collection of 32 Discovery Channel videos were also later added. Encarta 2005 introduced another program called Encarta Kids aimed at children to make learning fun.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Encarta also included a trivia game called "MindMaze"{{cite web |title=Have You Played...Encarta's MindMaze? |first1=Brendan |last1=Caldwell |date=April 4, 2017 |website=Rock Paper Shotgun |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/have-you-played-encartas-mindmaze |access-date=August 3, 2022 |archive-date=December 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208173851/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/have-you-played-encartas-mindmaze |url-status=live }} (accessible through Ctrl+Z){{cite magazine |title=The Encarta MindMaze Witch |first1=Deirdre |last1=Coyle |date=November 21, 2018 |issn=2572-5572 |oclc=981250105 |issue=109 |magazine=Unwinnable Monthly |url=https://unwinnable.com/2018/11/21/the-encarta-mindmaze-witch/ |access-date=August 3, 2022 |archive-date=June 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626175600/https://unwinnable.com/2018/11/21/the-encarta-mindmaze-witch/ |url-status=live }} in which the player explores a castle by answering questions whose answers can be found in the encyclopedia's articles.{{cite web |title=Encarta MindMaze: The Kotaku Australia Review |first1=Leah J. |last1=Williams |date=July 1, 2020 |website=Kotaku Australia |url=https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/07/encarta-mindmaze-94-95-the-kotaku-australia-review/ |access-date=August 3, 2022 |archive-date=August 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220803000330/https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/07/encarta-mindmaze-94-95-the-kotaku-australia-review/ |url-status=dead }} There was also a "Geography Quiz" and several other games and quizzes, some quizzes also in Encarta Kids.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Until 2005, Encarta came in three primary software editions: Standard, Deluxe, and Reference Library (called Reference Suite until Encarta 2002) (price and features in that order). Beginning with Encarta 2006, however, when Websters Multimedia took over its maintenance, Encarta became a feature of Microsoft Student. Although it was possible to purchase only the Encarta encyclopedia separately, Microsoft Student bundles together Encarta Premium with Microsoft Math (a graphing-calculator program) and Learning Essentials, an add-in which provides templates for Microsoft Office. In addition, the Deluxe and Reference Library editions were discontinued: absorbed into a new, more comprehensive Premium package. Encarta{{'s}} user interface was shared with Microsoft Student, and was streamlined to reduce clutter with only a Search box which returned relevant results. However, it became no longer possible to simply browse all the encyclopedia articles alphabetically.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

The dynamic maps were generated with the same engine that powered Microsoft MapPoint software. The map was a virtual globe that one could freely rotate and magnify to any location down to major streets for big cities. The globe had multiple surfaces displaying political boundaries, physical landmarks, historical maps and statistical information. One could selectively display statistical values on the globe surface or in a tabular form, different sized cities, various geological or human-made features and reference lines in a map.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

The maps contained hyperlinks to related articles ("Map Trek") and also supported a "Dynamic Sensor" that provides the latitude, longitude, place name, population and local time for any point on the globe. Encarta also generated a visible-light moon atlas with names of major craters and hyperlinks. However, it did not include a planetarium, but instead had a small interactive constellation-only map.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

In addition to database generated maps, many other illustrative maps in Encarta ("Historical Maps") were drawn by artists. Some more advanced maps were interactive: for example, the large African map for Africana could display information such as political boundaries or the distribution of African flora.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Robert McHenry, while Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopædia Britannica, criticized Encarta for differences in factual content between national versions of Encarta, accusing Microsoft of "pandering to local prejudices" instead of presenting subjects objectively.{{cite web|url=http://www.howtoknow.com/contragates.html|title=The Microsoft Way|last=McHenry|first=Robert|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927080452/http://www.howtoknow.com/contragates.html|archive-date=2007-09-27}}, essay by Robert McHenry An article written by Bill Gates addressed the nature of writing encyclopedias for different regions.{{cite web|url=http://www.btimes.co.za/97/0406/tech/tech6.htm|title=The facts depend on where you are coming from|last=Gates|first=Bill|date=April 6, 1997|work=The Sunday Times|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629032909/http://www.btimes.co.za/97/0406/tech/tech6.htm|archive-date=June 29, 2012|access-date=April 13, 2020}}

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Before the emergence of the World Wide Web for information browsing, Microsoft recognized the importance of having an engine that supported a multimedia markup language, full text search, and extensibility using software objects. The hypertext display, hyperlinking and search software was created by a team of CD-ROM Division developers in the late 1980s who designed it as a generalized engine for uses as diverse as interactive help, document management systems and as ambitious as a multimedia encyclopedia.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Encarta was able to use various Microsoft technologies because it was extensible with software components for displaying unique types of multimedia information. For example, a snap in map engine is adapted from its MapPoint software. The hypertext and search engine used by Encarta also powered Microsoft Bookshelf.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Encarta used database technologies to generate much of its multimedia content. For example, Encarta generated each zoomable map from a global geographic information system database on demand.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

When a user used the copy and paste function of Microsoft Windows on Encarta on more than five words, Encarta automatically appended a copyright boilerplate message after the paste.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Early in 2005, Encarta's editor-in-chief at the time, Gary Alt, announced that the online Encarta started to allow users to suggest changes to existing articles.[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7502883 "Encarta Encyclopedia Test Edit System"], 15 April 2005, Associated Press

Encarta{{'s}} content was accessible using a conversational interface on Windows Live Messenger via the MSN Bot "Encarta Instant Answers".MSN screenname: encarta@conversagent.com and encarta@botmetro.net The bot could answer many encyclopedia related questions directly in the IM window. It used short sentences from the Encarta website, and sometimes displays full articles in the Internet Explorer-based browser on the right. It also could complete simple mathematical and advanced algebra problems. This service was also available in German,MSN screenname: de.encarta@botmetro.net Spanish,MSN screenname: es.encarta@botmetro.net FrenchMSN screenname: fr.encarta@botmetro.net and Japanese.MSN screenname: jp.encarta@botmetro.net

Each summer Microsoft published a new version of Encarta. However, despite the inclusion of news-related and some supplementary articles, Encarta{{'s}} contents had not been changed substantially in its later years. Besides the yearly update, the installed offline copy could be updated over the Internet for a certain period for free depending on the edition. Some articles (usually about 2,000) were updated to reflect important changes or events. When the update period expired, an advertisement prompting to upgrade to the new version was displayed to the user occasionally.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

The editors of PC Gamer US nominated Microsoft Encarta '95 for their 1994 "Best Educational Product" award, although it lost to the CD-ROM adaptation of The Way Things Work.{{cite journal|date=March 1995|title=The First Annual PC Gamer Awards|pages=44, 45, 47, 48, 51|journal=PC Gamer|author=Staff|volume=2|issue=3}}

Encarta is referenced in the title of the podcast Encarta & Chill in which the hosts discuss the 90s including memories of Encarta.{{cite web|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/encarta-chill-a-90s-podcast/id1777818139|title=Encarta & Chill {{!}} A 90s Podcast|publisher=Apple Podcasts|access-date=February 9, 2025}}

Microsoft's recent Civilization Competitor Ara: History Untold calls its in-game encyclopedia Encarta

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