<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Encarta	I-Application
is	O
a	O
discontinued	O
digital	B-General_Concept
multimedia	O
encyclopedia	O
published	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
from	O
1993	O
to	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
sold	O
on	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
or	O
DVD	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
also	O
available	O
online	O
via	O
annual	O
subscription	O
,	O
although	O
later	O
articles	O
could	O
also	O
be	O
viewed	O
for	O
free	O
online	O
with	O
advertisements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
2008	O
,	O
the	O
complete	O
English	O
version	O
,	O
Encarta	B-Application
Premium	O
,	O
consisted	O
of	O
more	O
than	O
62,000	O
articles	O
,	O
numerous	O
photos	O
and	O
illustrations	O
,	O
music	O
clips	O
,	O
videos	O
,	O
interactive	B-General_Concept
content	O
,	O
timelines	O
,	O
maps	O
,	O
atlases	O
and	O
homework	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
published	O
similar	O
encyclopedias	O
under	O
the	O
Encarta	B-Application
trademark	O
in	O
various	O
languages	O
,	O
including	O
German	O
,	O
French	O
,	O
Spanish	O
,	O
Dutch	O
,	O
Italian	O
,	O
Portuguese	O
and	O
Japanese	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2009	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
announced	O
it	O
was	O
discontinuing	O
both	O
the	O
Encarta	B-Application
disc	O
and	O
online	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MSN	B-Application
Encarta	I-Application
site	O
was	O
closed	O
on	O
October	O
31	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
in	O
all	O
countries	O
except	O
Japan	O
,	O
where	O
it	O
was	O
closed	O
on	O
December	O
31	O
,	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
continued	O
to	O
operate	O
the	O
Encarta	B-Application
online	O
dictionary	O
until	O
2011	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
successes	O
of	O
Compton	O
's	O
Multimedia	O
Encyclopedia	O
(	O
1989	O
)	O
and	O
The	O
New	O
Grolier	O
Multimedia	O
Encyclopedia	O
(	O
1992	O
)	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
initiated	O
Encarta	B-Application
,	O
under	O
the	O
internal	O
codename	O
"	O
Gandalf	O
"	O
,	O
by	O
purchasing	O
non-exclusive	O
rights	O
to	O
the	O
Funk	O
&	O
Wagnalls	O
Encyclopedia	O
,	O
incorporating	O
it	O
into	O
its	O
first	O
edition	O
in	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Funk	O
&	O
Wagnalls	O
continued	O
to	O
publish	O
revised	O
editions	O
for	O
several	O
years	O
independently	O
of	O
Encarta	B-Application
,	O
but	O
ceased	O
printing	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
attempted	O
to	O
establish	O
a	O
partnership	O
with	O
Encyclopædia	O
Britannica	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
version	O
of	O
Britannica	O
but	O
Britannica	O
rejected	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
offer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
Encarta	B-Application
was	O
created	O
for	O
Microsoft	O
by	O
an	O
advertising	O
agency	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
late	O
1990s	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
added	O
content	O
from	O
Collier	O
's	O
Encyclopedia	O
and	O
New	O
Merit	O
Scholar	O
's	O
Encyclopedia	O
from	O
Macmillan	O
into	O
Encarta	B-Application
after	O
purchasing	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
the	O
final	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Encarta	I-Application
can	O
be	O
considered	O
the	O
successor	O
of	O
the	O
Funk	O
and	O
Wagnalls	O
,	O
Collier	O
,	O
and	O
New	O
Merit	O
Scholar	O
encyclopedias	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
None	O
of	O
these	O
formerly	O
successful	O
encyclopedias	O
remained	O
in	O
print	O
for	O
long	O
after	O
being	O
merged	O
into	O
Encarta	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
introduced	O
several	O
regional	O
versions	O
of	O
Encarta	B-Application
localized	O
for	O
international	O
markets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2000	O
,	O
the	O
full	O
Encarta	B-Application
content	O
became	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
to	O
subscribers	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
subset	O
available	O
for	O
free	O
to	O
anyone	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2006	O
,	O
Websters	O
Multimedia	O
,	O
a	O
Bellevue	O
,	O
Washington	O
subsidiary	O
of	O
London-based	O
Websters	O
International	O
Publishers	O
,	O
took	O
over	O
maintenance	O
of	O
Encarta	B-Application
from	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
last	O
version	O
was	O
Encarta	B-Application
Premium	O
2009	O
,	O
released	O
in	O
August	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
announced	O
in	O
April	O
2009	O
that	O
it	O
would	O
cease	O
to	O
sell	O
Microsoft	B-Device
Student	I-Device
and	O
all	O
editions	O
of	O
Encarta	B-Application
Premium	O
software	O
products	O
worldwide	O
by	O
June	O
2009	O
,	O
citing	O
changes	O
in	O
the	O
way	O
people	O
seek	O
information	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
the	O
traditional	O
encyclopedia	O
and	O
reference	O
material	O
market	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
key	O
reasons	O
behind	O
the	O
termination	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Updates	O
for	O
Encarta	B-Application
were	O
offered	O
until	O
October	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
MSN	B-Application
Encarta	I-Application
web	O
sites	O
were	O
discontinued	O
around	O
October	O
31	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
exception	O
of	O
Encarta	B-Application
Japan	O
which	O
was	O
discontinued	O
on	O
December	O
31	O
,	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Existing	O
MSN	B-Application
Encarta	I-Application
Premium	O
(	O
part	O
of	O
MSN	B-Protocol
Premium	O
)	O
subscribers	O
were	O
refunded	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
demise	O
of	O
Encarta	B-Application
was	O
widely	O
attributed	O
to	O
competition	O
from	O
the	O
free	O
and	O
user-generated	O
Wikipedia	O
,	O
which	O
grew	O
to	O
be	O
larger	O
than	O
Encarta	B-Application
from	O
its	O
early	O
beginnings	O
in	O
2001	O
thanks	O
to	O
popularization	O
by	O
web	O
search	O
services	O
like	O
Google	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
its	O
closure	O
in	O
2009	O
,	O
Encarta	B-Application
had	O
about	O
62,000	O
articles	O
,	O
most	O
behind	O
a	O
paywall	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
English-language	O
Wikipedia	O
had	O
over	O
2.8	O
million	O
articles	O
in	O
open	O
access	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encarta	B-Application
standard	O
edition	O
included	O
approximately	O
50,000	O
articles	O
,	O
with	O
additional	O
images	O
,	O
videos	O
and	O
sounds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
premium	O
editions	O
contained	O
over	O
62,000	O
articles	O
and	O
other	O
multimedia	O
content	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
25,000	O
pictures	O
and	O
illustrations	O
,	O
over	O
300	O
videos	O
and	O
animations	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
interactive	B-General_Concept
atlas	O
with	O
1.8	O
million	O
locations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encarta	B-Application
articles	O
in	O
general	O
were	O
less	O
lengthy	O
and	O
more	O
summarized	O
than	O
the	O
printed	O
version	O
of	O
Encyclopædia	O
Britannica	O
or	O
the	O
online	O
Wikipedia	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
most	O
multimedia	O
encyclopedias	O
,	O
Encarta	B-Application
articles	O
tended	O
to	O
provide	O
an	O
overview	O
of	O
the	O
subject	O
rather	O
than	O
an	O
exhaustive	O
coverage	O
and	O
can	O
only	O
be	O
viewed	O
one	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encarta	B-Application
also	O
supported	O
closed	O
captioning	O
for	O
the	O
hearing	O
impaired	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
separate	O
program	O
,	O
called	O
Encarta	B-Application
Research	O
Organizer	O
was	O
included	O
in	O
early	O
versions	O
for	O
gathering	O
and	O
organizing	O
information	O
and	O
constructing	O
a	O
Word	O
document-based	O
report	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
versions	O
included	O
Encarta	B-Application
Researcher	O
,	O
a	O
browser	O
plugin	O
to	O
organize	O
information	O
from	O
Encarta	B-Application
articles	O
and	O
web	O
pages	O
into	O
research	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Content	O
copied	O
from	O
Encarta	B-Application
was	O
appended	O
with	O
a	O
copyright	O
boilerplate	O
message	O
after	O
the	O
selection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
user	O
interface	O
allowed	O
for	O
viewing	O
content	O
with	O
only	O
images	O
,	O
videos	O
,	O
sounds	O
,	O
animations	O
,	O
360-degree	O
views	O
,	O
virtual	O
tours	O
,	O
charts	O
and	O
tables	O
or	O
only	O
interactives	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encarta	B-Application
was	O
originally	O
available	O
for	O
sale	O
on	O
1-5	O
CD-ROMs	B-Device
or	O
a	O
DVD	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
new	O
PCs	O
were	O
shipped	O
with	O
an	O
OEM	O
edition	O
of	O
Encarta	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encarta	B-Application
2000	O
and	O
later	O
had	O
"	O
Map	O
Treks	O
"	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
tours	O
of	O
geographic	O
features	O
and	O
concepts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
also	O
had	O
for	O
a	O
brief	O
period	O
a	O
separate	O
product	O
known	O
as	O
Encarta	B-Application
Africana	O
which	O
was	O
an	O
encyclopedia	O
of	O
black	O
history	O
and	O
culture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
with	O
the	O
2001	O
version	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
integrated	O
into	O
the	O
main	O
Encarta	B-Application
Reference	O
Suite	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encarta	B-Application
2002	O
and	O
onward	O
featured	O
3D	O
Virtual	O
Tours	O
of	O
ancient	O
structures	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
the	O
Acropolis	O
;	O
2D	O
panoramic	O
images	O
of	O
world	O
wonders	O
or	O
major	O
cities	O
;	O
and	O
a	O
virtual	O
flight	O
feature	O
which	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
fly	O
a	O
virtual	O
airplane	O
over	O
a	O
coarsely	O
generated	O
artificial	O
landscape	O
area	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
2002	O
also	O
introduced	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
install	O
the	O
entire	O
encyclopedia	O
locally	O
to	O
the	O
hard	O
disk	O
drive	O
to	O
prevent	O
frequent	O
swapping	O
of	O
discs	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
updated	O
far	O
more	O
often	O
than	O
its	O
predecessors	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
rate	O
of	O
nearly	O
3-4	O
updates	O
per	O
week	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
monthly	O
updates	O
that	O
were	O
used	O
in	O
prior	O
versions	O
of	O
Encarta	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encarta	B-Application
2003	O
incorporated	O
literature	O
guides	O
and	O
book	O
summaries	O
,	O
foreign	O
language	O
translation	O
dictionaries	O
,	O
a	O
Homework	O
Center	O
and	O
Chart	O
Maker	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encarta	B-Application
Visual	O
Browser	O
,	O
available	O
since	O
the	O
2004	O
version	O
,	O
presented	O
a	O
user	O
with	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
related	O
topics	O
making	O
them	O
more	O
discoverable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encarta	B-Application
2005	O
introduced	O
another	O
program	O
called	O
Encarta	B-Application
Kids	O
aimed	O
at	O
children	O
to	O
make	O
learning	O
fun	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encarta	B-Application
also	O
included	O
a	O
trivia	O
game	O
called	O
"	O
MindMaze	O
"	O
(	O
accessible	O
through	O
Ctrl+Z	O
)	O
in	O
which	O
the	O
player	O
explores	O
a	O
castle	O
by	O
answering	O
questions	O
whose	O
answers	O
can	O
be	O
found	O
in	O
the	O
encyclopedia	O
's	O
articles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
was	O
also	O
a	O
"	O
Geography	O
Quiz	O
"	O
and	O
several	O
other	O
games	O
and	O
quizzes	O
,	O
some	O
quizzes	O
also	O
in	O
Encarta	B-Application
Kids	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Until	O
2005	O
,	O
Encarta	B-Application
came	O
in	O
three	O
primary	O
software	O
editions	O
:	O
Standard	O
,	O
Deluxe	O
,	O
and	O
Reference	O
Library	O
(	O
called	O
Reference	O
Suite	O
until	O
Encarta	B-Application
2002	O
)	O
(	O
price	O
and	O
features	O
in	O
that	O
order	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Beginning	O
with	O
Encarta	B-Application
2006	I-Application
,	O
however	O
,	O
when	O
Websters	O
Multimedia	O
took	O
over	O
its	O
maintenance	O
,	O
Encarta	B-Application
became	O
a	O
feature	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Device
Student	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
it	O
was	O
possible	O
to	O
purchase	O
only	O
the	O
Encarta	B-Application
encyclopedia	I-Application
separately	O
,	O
Microsoft	B-Device
Student	I-Device
bundles	O
together	O
Encarta	B-Application
Premium	O
with	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Math	I-Application
(	O
a	O
graphing-calculator	B-Application
program	O
)	O
and	O
Learning	O
Essentials	O
,	O
an	O
add-in	O
which	O
provides	O
templates	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Office	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encarta	B-Application
user	O
interface	O
was	O
shared	O
with	O
Microsoft	B-Device
Student	I-Device
,	O
and	O
was	O
streamlined	O
to	O
reduce	O
clutter	O
with	O
only	O
a	O
Search	O
box	O
which	O
returned	O
relevant	O
results	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
dynamic	O
maps	O
were	O
generated	O
with	O
the	O
same	O
engine	O
that	O
powered	O
Microsoft	B-Application
MapPoint	I-Application
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
map	O
was	O
a	O
virtual	B-Application
globe	I-Application
that	O
one	O
could	O
freely	O
rotate	O
and	O
magnify	O
to	O
any	O
location	O
down	O
to	O
major	O
streets	O
for	O
big	O
cities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
maps	O
contained	O
hyperlinks	O
to	O
related	O
articles	O
(	O
"	O
Map	O
Trek	O
"	O
)	O
and	O
also	O
supported	O
a	O
"	O
Dynamic	O
Sensor	O
"	O
that	O
provides	O
the	O
latitude	O
,	O
longitude	O
,	O
place	O
name	O
,	O
population	O
and	O
local	B-Device
time	I-Device
for	O
any	O
point	O
on	O
the	O
globe	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encarta	B-Application
also	O
generated	O
a	O
visible-light	O
moon	O
atlas	O
with	O
names	O
of	O
major	O
craters	O
and	O
hyperlinks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
it	O
did	O
not	O
include	O
a	O
planetarium	O
,	O
but	O
instead	O
had	O
a	O
small	O
interactive	B-General_Concept
constellation-only	O
map	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
database	O
generated	O
maps	O
,	O
many	O
other	O
illustrative	O
maps	O
in	O
Encarta	B-Application
(	O
"	O
Historical	O
Maps	O
"	O
)	O
were	O
drawn	O
by	O
artists	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
more	O
advanced	O
maps	O
were	O
interactive	B-General_Concept
:	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
large	O
African	O
map	O
for	O
Africana	O
could	O
display	O
information	O
such	O
as	O
political	O
boundaries	O
or	O
the	O
distribution	O
of	O
African	O
flora	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Robert	O
McHenry	O
,	O
while	O
Editor-in-Chief	O
of	O
the	O
Encyclopædia	O
Britannica	O
,	O
criticized	O
Encarta	B-Application
for	O
differences	O
in	O
factual	O
content	O
between	O
national	O
versions	O
of	O
Encarta	B-Application
,	O
accusing	O
Microsoft	O
of	O
"	O
pandering	O
to	O
local	O
prejudices	O
"	O
instead	O
of	O
presenting	O
subjects	O
objectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
hypertext	O
display	O
,	O
hyperlinking	O
and	O
search	O
software	O
was	O
created	O
by	O
a	O
team	O
of	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
Division	O
developers	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
1980s	O
who	O
designed	O
it	O
as	O
a	O
generalized	O
engine	O
for	O
uses	O
as	O
diverse	O
as	O
interactive	B-Protocol
help	I-Protocol
,	O
document	O
management	O
systems	O
and	O
as	O
ambitious	O
as	O
a	O
multimedia	O
encyclopedia	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encarta	B-Application
was	O
able	O
to	O
use	O
various	O
Microsoft	O
technologies	O
because	O
it	O
was	O
extensible	O
with	O
software	B-Architecture
components	I-Architecture
for	O
displaying	O
unique	O
types	O
of	O
multimedia	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
a	O
snap	O
in	O
map	O
engine	O
is	O
adapted	O
from	O
its	O
MapPoint	B-Application
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
hypertext	O
and	O
search	O
engine	O
used	O
by	O
Encarta	B-Application
also	O
powered	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Bookshelf	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encarta	B-Application
used	O
database	O
technologies	O
to	O
generate	O
much	O
of	O
its	O
multimedia	O
content	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
Encarta	B-Application
generated	O
each	O
zoomable	O
map	O
from	O
a	O
global	O
geographic	B-Application
information	I-Application
system	I-Application
database	O
on	O
demand	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
a	O
user	O
used	O
the	O
copy	B-General_Concept
and	I-General_Concept
paste	I-General_Concept
function	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
on	O
Encarta	B-Application
on	O
more	O
than	O
five	O
words	O
,	O
Encarta	B-Application
automatically	O
appended	O
a	O
copyright	O
boilerplate	O
message	O
after	O
the	O
paste	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
in	O
2005	O
,	O
Encarta	B-Application
's	O
editor-in-chief	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
Gary	O
Alt	O
,	O
announced	O
that	O
the	O
online	O
Encarta	B-Application
started	O
to	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
suggest	O
changes	O
to	O
existing	O
articles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encarta	B-Application
content	O
was	O
accessible	O
using	O
a	O
conversational	O
interface	O
on	O
Windows	B-Protocol
Live	I-Protocol
Messenger	I-Protocol
via	O
the	O
MSN	B-Protocol
Bot	B-Protocol
"	O
Encarta	B-Application
Instant	O
Answers	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
bot	B-Protocol
could	O
answer	O
many	O
encyclopedia	O
related	O
questions	O
directly	O
in	O
the	O
IM	O
window	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
used	O
short	O
sentences	O
from	O
the	O
Encarta	B-Application
website	O
,	O
and	O
sometimes	O
displays	O
full	O
articles	O
in	O
the	O
Internet	O
Explorer-based	O
browser	O
on	O
the	O
right	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
summer	O
Microsoft	O
published	O
a	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
Encarta	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
despite	O
the	O
inclusion	O
of	O
news-related	O
and	O
some	O
supplementary	O
articles	O
,	O
Encarta	B-Application
contents	O
had	O
not	O
been	O
changed	O
substantially	O
in	O
its	O
later	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
editors	O
of	O
PC	O
Gamer	O
US	O
nominated	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Encarta	I-Application
'	O
95	O
for	O
their	O
1994	O
"	O
Best	O
Educational	O
Product	O
"	O
award	O
,	O
although	O
it	O
lost	O
to	O
the	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
adaptation	O
of	O
The	O
Way	O
Things	O
Work	O
.	O
</s>
