Microsoft Student

***WINNER PICKED 3/10 WITH RANDOM.ORG***
CONGRATULATIONS to both winners:
ANNETTE
(We're homeschoolers and I think the MS Learner feature would be particularly useful.)
and
MICHELE
(Ooh, love that it has all that reference material included!)


One of the first programs I ever used on my own computer was Encarta. It was 1992 and I had a Mac Quadra. The internet was still pretty hard to navigate but the program unleashed its amazing powers, suddenly rendering all my previous encyclopedia-based research slow and tedious. I wished I'd had it while I was in high school and earlier. It would have revolutionized my pre-college report writing…

Well, it's even better now. The latest version of Microsoft Student includes Encarta Premium 2008, which blows the version I remember right out of the water. It comes complete with a wide range of reference tools, including a dynamic atlas, dictionary, thesaurus, and language translation dictionaries. It also features Encarta Kids - a separate encyclopedia geared to young learners ages 7 to 12!



Microsoft Student also has the amazing MS Math, which features a large collection of tools, tutorials, and instructions designed to help students learn mathematical concepts while quickly solving math problems. If I'd had this, perhaps I would have gotten further than Geometry in high school.



MS Learning Essentials includes templates for reports and presentations, plus step-by-step writing tips, brainstorming tools and even guidelines for organizing college applications! Plus, there are foreign language translators that will also work with your current MS Office applications to help your budding linguist study. The only component of Microsoft Student I would raise my eyebrows at is the library of book summaries of over 1000 of the most commonly-studied works of literature… and that's only my mommy sense bristling at potential laziness. I can't say I wouldn't have loved to have a digital Cliff's Notes-style archive at my disposal once or twice…



Currently, Microsoft Student is only available for PC, but a Mac version will be available sometime in the near future. Hopefully before my kids need it!

To enter and win a full download of Microsoft Student software (a $50 value!), please comment on this post with your favorite feature! Keep in mind this software is currently PC only– check the system requirements.

Entries will be accepted through March 9th and I'll pick the two winners using Random.org.

Make sure you leave an email address in your comment or that you have one accessible on your blog so you can be contacted if you win! If I can't find your email, I will have to pick a new winner. Only one entry/comment per person, please.

If you prefer not to leave your email, you can also check for your name at Prizey.Fetch, a new site that compiles winners in one convenient place:

***Enter my other current giveaways here.***